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The master of horror and low budget, John Carpenter, takes on a truly adventurous oriental-themed fantasy where pace, action, and fun are guaranteed, thanks to a successful mix of martial arts, magic, action, and comedy.
The truck driver Jack Burton, a made in USA braggart to the nth degree (ironically portrayed by the trusty Kurt Russell) finds himself facing an army of criminals, wizards, monsters, and sorcerers that emerge from ancient China to plague the Chinatown district (and then perhaps expand their dominion over the whole world). By his side is his friend Wang, the true hero and leader of the situation, the journalist Gracie (Kim Cattrall from “Sex and The City”), the wise old Egg Shen (Victor Wong from "The Last Emperor"), and a handful of valiant fighters for good. The plot is one of the most classic: the evil spirit Lo Pan (bound for time immemorial due to an ancient curse in the body of a decrepit old man) operates with a real army formed by men, spirits, and all kinds of rubbery creatures; he kidnaps Wang's woman to make her his bride, reincarnate, and dominate the universe. It will naturally be up to the protagonists to thwart the horde's plots by freeing the captive girl and penetrating the impregnable palace of Lo Pan.
What makes "Big Trouble in Little China" special (a far more interesting original title than the Italian one) are the surrounding elements and character development: along with the amiable Burton (a sort of caricature of Plissken from "Escape from New York"), we remember “the Three Storms,” Lo Pan's lieutenants endowed with supernatural powers that leave you amazed, especially the one that shoots lightning from every pore. The settings for the action are varied: from half-empty warehouses to junkyards, caves, royal chambers, oriental halls, long corridors, hovels, and whatever you can imagine. The pace is frenzied, the plot is neither pretentious nor unnecessarily intricate, and everything flows well for the film’s canonical hour and a half. There are many cult scenes both from action and comedy (thanks to Russell's not always witty lines), rich in cinematic quotes. The style of the film is heavily influenced by the techniques and tastes of the 80s (we are indeed in 1986), especially in terms of acting and scenography (the hall decorated for the wedding looks like the stage of Europe, Rockets, or thereabouts!). As usual, Carpenter finds a way to surprise the audience by inserting a rather bizarre ending (or pre-ending, actually) that, in my opinion, lends a certain dignity to Jack Burton and breaks the cliché of the happy end with kisses and wine. Another defining element is the striking contrast between the modern American style, pragmatic, cynical, somewhat vulgar and cheap, but self-assured, and the Chinese world, more tied to traditions, which confer a completely different moral order that might not be entirely compatible with the States. I don’t know how much Carpenter wants to promote a social critique, but I wouldn’t rule out remote contents of this type.
If on a rainy evening you don’t know what to do to spend an hour and a half without feeling bored, “Big Trouble in Little China” is what you need (whatever your age, social position, or educational background), without forgetting, however, that this movie offers much more than mere entertainment, which is why, 25 years after its not-so-successful release, it exerts a special and renewed charm, enriched by the patina of time.
The Italian poster is fabulous, truly captures the film.
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By ILM_igliore
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