If you’re unfamiliar with the flick, Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, the mulleted, fast-talking driver of the Pork Chop Express (an 18-wheeler hauling pigs). A stop in San Francisco’s Chinatown sees his friend’s wife abducted by members of a street gang known as the Lords Of Death – errand boys for a larger and more powerful organization with ties to an ancient Chinese warrior sect. The heroes soon find themselves in the middle of a heated battle filled with mystical creatures – including their mysterious leader, Lo-Pan, an 11-foot tall Chinese sorcerer.
One of the film’s best features is the inversion of classic ’80s action tropes, transforming the traditional, unstoppable, ultra-macho hero into a bumbling fish-out-of-water who thinks he’s saved by anything more than dumb luck. John Carpenter said it best: “This is a movie about a guy who thinks he’s the Action Hero when he’s really the comic sidekick.”
There’s no doubt the comedic aspects of Big Trouble In Little China are what appeals to Dwayne Johnson and suits his set of talents, but it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for whoever steps in to direct the film; capturing the energy and the weirdness of the original won’t be easy. Not to mention balancing competent use of horror, mysticism, slapstick comedy, and a heavy dose of top-notch martial arts.
Still, if anyone can channel Jack Burton’s bumbling braggadocio, it’s The Rock. It would be refreshing to see the musclebound Johnson get upstaged by a smaller, more acrobatic partner for once. Of course, today’s state-of-the-art CGI effects would add a new dimension of spectacle to lighting and thunder-wielding characters like “The Three Storms,” and with martial-arts choreography and stunt work in movies like The Raid, the fighting sequences between the Wing Kong and the Chang-Sings could be truly fast-paced and brutal.
And, since most of the film’s stars – Kim Catrall, Kurt Russell, and James Hong – are still around, perhaps they could make an appearance to satisfy long time Big Trouble fans? We’ll have to watch the progress on this remake closely and find out.
What do you think about a Big Trouble In Little China remake? Let us know in the comments below.
(Screen Rant)
See the original trailer: Big Trouble In Little China