Three Good Scenes and No Bad Scenes: BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986)
One of my heroes, Howard Hawks, once said, “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes.” I have subscribed to that philosophy in my own work and now I’d like to look back at some good movies and think about those ”three good scenes”.
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986)
It’s appropriate to discuss John Carpenter’s work through the lens of the Howard Hawks theory since Carpenter is such a devotee of Hawks, citing several of the master’s movies as his favorites. He took inspiration from RIO BRAVO for several of his siege-themed thrillers and even remade a film Hawks produced.
- The Alleyway Ambush
It’s not easy to establish a plot, especially one with multiple characters and conflicting sides. Often times, long expository scenes at the beginning of movies will bore the audience but Carpenter finds a way to do it in BIG TROUBLE that never gets dull. Chasing the kidnappers, Jack Burton and Wang Chi find themselves in a back alley of Chinatown during a gang war. This is an opportunity for Chang to explain all the players of Carpenter’s plot, from the rival Chinese factions to the three “storms” who come to wreak havoc to the film’s villain, Lo Pan. It all gets spit out in less than ten minutes during a fantastic fight scene and it doesn’t feel for a single second like screenplay exposition. Carpenter also establishes a funny dynamic between Burton and Chi that continues throughout the film: that whenever the audience needs to know something, Wang will magically explain it to Burton. He turns info dropping into a comedic gag.
- The Subversive Finale
The good guys get all pumped up for the final fight with Egg Chen’s potion but as soon as they walk in to disrupt the evil ceremony, Kurt Russell’s Jack Burton knocks himself out with a block of concrete after firing his uzi at the ceiling. It’s the ultimate example of how Carpenter subverts type in this action comedy, making the comic relief (Jack) the “hero” and the traditional hero (Wang) the sidekick. Jack is unconscious for the first portion of the fight, then he gets his knife stuck in one of the baddies, then manages to play the remainder of the climax with red lipstick on his lips. Yet somehow, he saves the day. And somehow Carpenter challenges genre conventions but still gives us an action-packed, exciting finale!
- “We really shook the pillars of heaven”
The ending of BIG TROUBLE is surprisingly melancholic. After a huge win, the protagonists gather once more at the restaurant hideout. Jack Burton dismisses a final kiss with leading lady Kim Cattrall (a pure Howard Hawks move and another subversive decision by Carpenter). At the door, Jack says goodbye to his friend Wang and there’s a real sense of both friendship and melancholy that permeates from the scene. “We really shook the pillars of heaven,” Jack tells his sidekick with a feeling of accomplishment and the emptiness of victory. It’s a touching moment and that in itself is evidence of how good Carpenter’s work here is… he’s managed to make one of the silliest action films of all time, filled with gags galore and the most ridiculous story beats, yet somehow he still captures a poignant farewell with these characters we will never forget.
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