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| Big Trouble in Little China |
There's very little bad to say about Big Trouble in Little China, except that I've yet to see it in comic book form, and by that I mean even an adaptation. Jack Burton will always be an iconic character, however much a stereotype, and his tales deserve further telling - that is assuming he ever had any other tales that compare to the one in this movie (and that would be hard, though it is suggested he may have).
Yes, the dialogue is a bit cheesy, and a lot of it is exposition; Jack and Gracie's relationship - Eddie and Margo's, as well - is unrealistic; and everything moves too fast to be anything but a romp; but Big Trouble in Little China is as good as horror action movies get. It doesn't even fit firmly in that sub-genre, though.
Big Trouble in Little China was one of the last movies of its kind: One that wasn't completely focused into a narrow category meant to fulfill a specific need, or niche, and aimed at a target demographic. It's a genre-bending epic adventure story set in, and beneath, San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1980s. There are big guns, wisecracking heroes with wiser-cracking sidekicks, hot girls with shoulder pads, and neon lights. But don't write it off as a living comic book (and what would be wrong with that, anyway?).
Jack Burton is one of the few "thick" heroes. He was also one of the few true heroes - a reluctant sort who just wanted his truck and his money and to get the hell out of Dodge - not an anti-hero or total badass. Though archetypal and ultimately cardboard, he's not without his flaws. The relationships aren't as pat as they seem, and not everything works-out in the end (though it is satisfying).
Still, Big Trouble in Little China was shot on lush sets, includes scores of extras, and brought us some of the most iconic supernatural villains in pop-culture history. It's more than worth a viewing, it's worth several.
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
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