Review of Big Trouble in Little China (1986) by James S — 14 Jun 2010

Watching Big Trouble in Little China is a bit like watching X-factor auditions - it's difficult to know if these people are trying to take the piss?

On the one hand, BTILC could have its tongue planted firmly in its cheek and knows only too well that it's coming off as a slightly camp homage to old school martial arts movies. On the other though, if it really thinks it's an 80s style action adventure, in the same league as The Goonies and Indiana Jones then it's failing with some aplomb.

Kurt Russell, presumably still smarting over the fact Harrison Ford was cast over him as Han Solo, may have thought he was launching his own movie franchise as Jack Burton, a truck driver who for no reason at all gets mixed up with some bad Chinese dudes in San Francisco and helps a guy who owes him money get his mail order bride back.

At first Russell is likeable and there are one or two cool street fighter-esque moments but the story soon begins to make less and less sense, Kim Cattrall shrieks her way through the film as Burton's female accomplice whom I think we're supposed to believe is a lawyer. The pacing of the movie is absolutely all over the place, sometimes coming to a complete stop. It veers from mildly entertaining to excruciatingly boring way too often.

John Carpenter, abandoning his regular horror mo, rather unwisely it seems, shows none of his directorial flair that he did on Halloween......and when a series of increasingly stupid monsters start to show up then there's really no going back.

Big Trouble In Little China heralds one good fight sequence and a sniff of a good character in Burton but a dire script, nonsensical plotting and lacklustre direction make this more of a mis-adventure.