53
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceScott FoundasVillage VoiceScott FoundasBig Trouble in Little China is a far more enjoyable mash-up of classic Westerns, Saturday-morning serials, and Chinese wu xia than any of the Indiana Jones movies, with Kurt Russell in full bloom as Carpenter’s de rigueur hard-drinkin’, hard-gamblin’, wise-crackin’ loner hero—a bowling-alley John Wayne.
- There are two kinds of people: the ones who have seen — and love — Big Trouble in Little China, a John Carpenter kung fu Western buddy Chinese ghost love story, and those poor saps who aren’t burdened with having to try and describe it to the uninitiated.
- What matters is the stunts and the spirit, and this latest set of exotic exploits of an indomitable hero (Kurt Russell) and a spunky heroine (Kim Cattrall) gives good value.
- 70The A.V. ClubJosh ModellThe A.V. ClubJosh ModellBig Trouble is plenty conscious of its silliness, which it embraces fully. It sets up its own parameters of ridiculousness and then runs with them, winking a little, but sticking to its story.
- 60EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanIt falters a little in its confusing climactic battle, but is breathlessly paced, wittily scripted, amusingly played, action-packed and relentlessly spooky.
- 60Time Out LondonTime Out LondonCarpenter has always been a skilful genre mechanic, breathing life into old forms; if he stubs his toes up against the bamboo curtain this time, there is still more enjoyable sly humour than in most slug-fests.
- 60TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineWritten and directed in a campy, tongue-in-cheek style, it's a loving homage to those wild imports from Hong Kong--kung-fu movies.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe first 30 minutes of the movie gave me lots of room for hope. It was fast-moving, it was visually spectacular, it was exotic and lighthearted and filled with a spirit of adventure. But then, gradually, the movie began to recycle itself. It began to feel as if I was seeing the same thing more than once.
- 25Chicago TribuneRick KoganChicago TribuneRick KoganThough the film does contain a few minutes of patented Carpenter camera magic, it is unable to sustain either story or character. For all its flash and color, it is a dull film--an artless dig in the Spielberg garden. [02 July 1986, p.C3]