Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Flashback Cinemas' presentation of Big Trouble in Little China.
This film celebrated its 32 birthday on July 2nd, so if a review still manages to spoil something for you, at this point I feel like that's kinda on you.
Truck driver Jack Burton and his friend Wang Chi face the dark magic of the Motherland to rescue Wang's fiance, the elusive girl with green eyes, when she disappears in San Francisco Chinatown.
Big Trouble in Little China is one of those movies that, if it's running on any channel, it's probably on at my house, so it's a familiar old favorite that we watch without really watching sometimes.
Revisiting such classics on the big screen is a great way to ensure they get the undivided attention they deserve.
From its synth-heavy score to its hero's mullet and lace-up boots, there's no mistaking Big Trouble in Little China's 1980s vintage. The picture's indelible time-stamp and campy nature make dated effects and clumsy animatronics seem quaint. Kurt Russell ticks all the boxes as Jack Burton: he’s dashing enough for the action hero, charming enough for the romantic lead, and just bumbling enough to generate good comedy, but it's Dennis Dun who steals the show as Wang Chi, Burton's friend who frequently is the real hero of the day. Kim Cattrall and Kate Burton are entertaining as gung-ho attorney Gracie Law and earnest reporter Margo Litzenberger, and James Hong’s David Lo Pan is nothing short of iconic. Impressive fight scenes with a martial arts flair never drag on too long (are you listening, 2018 Hollywood?), and, though the fashions may be dated, some of the cultural costumes are lovely. Finally, kids, if you *can* see the Three Storms come out of the sky on a big screen, you absolutely *should* see the Three Storms come out of the sky on a big screen.
Big Trouble in Little China runs a quick 99 minutes and is rated PG13 for “adult situations, language, and violence.”
Action, comedy, romance...Big Trouble in Little China has it all, and that is, in the immortal words of Wang Chi himself, “no horsesh**t.”
Of a possible nine Weasleys, Big Trouble in Little China gets nine.
Until next time...
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