It's All in the Reflexes!

This classic 80's movie has been on my radar for years! Even so, until today I've never seen Big Trouble in Little China. I'd always had the impression that my generation often ranks this one up with the great nostalgic 80's movies like Ghostbusters and The Goonies. My main question was how would it hold up to someone who doesn't have that nostalgia potentially clouding their vision. Well I put that to the test today. This could either end up being a really fun ride, or a complete train wreck of a movie. See, I love Ghostbusters, but I certainly don't have any love for The Goonies. Hit the jump to see if I crush your dreams, or totally justify your childhood memories! Bwahahaha!


Time for me to break this movie down. First lets start with the story. It's fairly simple at the core, save the girl. And then later, save the other girl. In fact, there's a lot of girl saving going on in this movie now that I think about it. So that may seem really simple, but there ends up being a lot going on throughout the movie that keep it moving and it takes us through a wide and wild variety of places and situations. Never once did I expect them to end up walking through the bowels of the Earth, filled with rivers of black blood and giant monsters. I also never knew that place was just under the streets of Chinatown!

Most of the effects in this movie are practical effects, with a dash of special effects thrown in. Scenes like the above mentioned underworld are all real sets built with the full talent of the 80's. Sets generally look good, but the wire stunts, the "beast" and most of all, the expanding man just don't hold up anymore. There are a few good moments however, such as when "old man" LoPan glows from within making his bones show through his skin. Surprisingly, the special effects looked really good! The lightning, the magic, the pyrotechnics, and "ghost" LoPan's various tricks still looked great.

I'm not sure what he's doing, but it can't be good!

Now we come to the part that might hurt a little more than the rest, the acting. Sadly, I found this to be the weakest part of the movie. Highly inconsistent across the board, with some actors doing well, others coming off as really cheesy, and a few just plain awful. To be specific, I thought Kurt Russel was just insanely cheesy. His on again off again trucker accent was terrible and I wished he had just spoken normally. On the terrible side is pretty much the entire female cast. Every word that came out of their mouths was just hammy, and sometimes looked like they were just struggling to remember their lines.

This then leads me into the strange amount of sexism that goes on in this movie. I suppose it's a by-product of being made in the 80's, but when a clearly highly skilled weapons fighter comes out who also happens to be a woman, why is it that the guys can take a massive beating, but then take out this expert fighter with one lazy punch to the side of the head? You're telling me these trained fighters don't know how to dodge a punch? Lame.

Overall Big Trouble in Little China was fun. As harsh as I'm being on it, it still had a charm to it in the characters and managed to stay a fun adventure. It's certainly not as great as Ghostbusters, but I can totally see why people still hold it up, even to today.