Big Trouble in Little China (1986, John Carpenter) (Patreon)

66/100

Second viewing, last seen during its original theatrical run. I was 18 at the time and had zero context for this—not only was it likely my first Carpenter (might or might not have seen Halloween edited for network TV by that point), but I hadn't yet discovered Hong Kong cinema and probably didn't guess that the film's fantastic elements were copied straight from the source. Now I can plainly see that Carpenter's doing his version of a Tsui Hark movie, which in hindsight seems kind of remarkable for 1986 (the year that Tsui made Peking Opera Blues). A bit like Blondie getting out ahead of the curve with "Rapture." And while it's maddening that no studio would ever have considered making Big Trouble in Little China without a white movie star in the lead, at least Jack Burton mostly gets treated as a clueless appendage, to the point where he immediately knocks himself unconscious (via a stereotypically American yee-ha! gesture) at the outset of the climactic battle. Russell puts exactly the right degree of spin on his John Wayne routine, suggesting the Duke's staccato drawl rather than doing a full-fledged impression; he plays Jack like a man who's consciously styled himself after his favorite movie star, as if Woody Allen's character in Play It Again, Sam had lightly incorporated Bogart's mannerisms into every waking moment. That self-mockery opens up heroic space for Dennis Dun, whose casually charismatic performance is an ideal blend of snark and bravado. Had the movie not done a big ol' box-office bellyflop. I'd happily have followed the further adventures of Jack Burton and Wang Chi. 

This particular adventure can sometimes be too much of a good thing. Writing credits were heavily arbitrated, but W.D. Richter apparently wrote most of what made it to the screen; while the dialogue occasionally has Carpenter's usual Hawks-influenced rhythm, the characters and narrative feel like Richter's attempt to mimic what Earl Mac Rauch did with Buckaroo Banzai (which Richter had just directed), viz. create an overstuffed mythology-in-progress featuring numerous barely explored appendices. Doesn't work as well for me here, for whatever reason—I don't need any more of Perfect Tommy than we see in Buckaroo Banzai, for example, but both Margo and Eddie get just enough attention in Big Trouble to make it feel as if a lot of their scenes wound up on the cutting-room floor. (At the very least, let Kate Burton deliver more blatant exposition at 300 words/minute.)  And the film only succeeds intermittently as kinetic spectacle, despite a fairly substantial budget and a great deal of effort. Carpenter's formal strength lies in static widescreen compositions, making him not the greatest fit for a genre that achieves most of its effects via quick editing; he does a reasonably good job of copying Tsui, but it's like watching Gosling and Stone dance in La La Land—impressive, given how little training or experience they had, but no substitute for the real thing. And then there's some overtly cartoonish stuff, like Thunder literally swelling and exploding in rage, that just doesn't appeal to me at all (and didn't 33 years ago, either). Throw in some discomfort with the cultural stereotypes—particularly re: Miao Yin, who remains entirely decorative even as Gracie, with whom she's explicitly mirrored, gets to be an occasional badass —and my enthusiasm wanes considerably.

Still, it's mostly pretty fun, right from Jack's opening CB monologue. Bought the soundtrack CD* right after first seeing it, and when I put together a mix tape for my high school peer group's six-hour drive from the Bay Area to Disneyland the following summer, Carpenter's "Pork Chop Express" cue was the first thing on side A. (Partly because we were leaving in the middle of the night, so as to arrive in the morning.) Set just the right mood of impending excitement, and I've continued to think of the film fondly since, even though I'd never been especially motivated to revisit it. Happy that finally doing so inspired more laughing than wincing.

* MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS I OWN TO MOVIES I DO NOT OWN:

The Big Lebowski (various)
Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter)
The Childhood of a Leader (Scott Walker)
Deep Red (Goblin)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (k.d. lang)
Little Man Tate (Mark Isham)
Magnolia (Aimee Mann)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (various)
The Piano (Michael Nyman)
Punch-Drunk Love (Jon Brion)
Requiem for a Dream (Clint Mansell)
Rumble Fish (Stewart Copeland)
A Shock to the System (Gary Chang)
Sing Street (various)
Waking Life (Tosca Tango Orchestra)