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You are browsing the archive for Action.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D (2012) – Review

February 20, 2012 in Action, Family, Reviews, SciFi

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3 Stars

To 3d or not to see? That is the 12 dollar question for most casual moviegoers. The answer is …sort of. If you already harbor a disdain for this episode then no amount of visual trickery is going to change your mind. The negative critical reaction that greeted Phantom Menace when it premiered in May 1999 was as venomous as any in recent memory. Fanboys turned their back on the venerable franchise and focused their attention on the ‘fresh’ ideas presented by The Matrix.
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Hard Rain (1998) – Review

February 19, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

There was a brief moment in the mid 1990s when Christian Slater was being sold as (possibly) the next action star. Certainly in the wake of Keanu Reeves career making a turn in Speed and with action vets Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Seagal and Van Damme in career free fall studio heads began the search for an apt replacement. During this period we were treated to the goofy screen charms of Howie Long in Firestorm and Christian Slater in Hard Rain. To be fair Slater was a mini sensation after the surprising box office performance of 1996s Broken Arrow.
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Deathfight (1994) – Review

February 6, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 Stars

Deathfight is aimed at undiscriminating fans of Martial Arts B-movies. Even so the script is horrendous and the dialogue is unbearable. The saving grace of the film is the unique screen presence of Aussie karate master and action hero Richard Norton. Here he plays a wealthy business man falsely accused of murdering his mistress. Imprisoned and left to fend for himself Jack befriends a jailhouse snitch nicknames who serves as the film’s sidekick for the rest of the running time. The story is the usual nonsense involving two warring brothers and a bid to gain control of a Bangkok corporation. In truth there isn’t much in the death or fighting department for a film with both words in the title.
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2-Headed Shark Attack (2012) – Review

February 6, 2012 in Action, Horror, Reviews, SciFi

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1 Star

A group of students aboard a U.S. educational vessel on a ocean trip to study aquatic life discover the presence of the ultra rare and extra vicious 2 headed shark of the title. After an intial encounter with the sea beast causes damage to their vessel the students and their teacher abandon the ship for refuge on a deserted atoll. However, said land mass is suffering from some serious seismic activity, the ground seems to be opening up before them. Forcing these marooned students to enter the dangerous ocean waters in order to make it back aboard the ship they abandoned in the first place. If that seems a little redundant it’s appropriate as this whole movie borrows stock footage from other Asylum films to pad the stretched out plot points.
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Underworld: Awakening (2012) – Review

February 2, 2012 in Action, Horror, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

The fourth installment in the Underworld series finds the world of vampires and lycans encroached upon by humans. After discovering the existence of both inhuman species, mankind decides to hunt them down and obliterate them in what they call The Purge. Selene is captured and Michael’s whereabouts are unknown. She awakens (hence the title, which tells you how deep this movie’s gonna get) years later from a frozen state in a science lab. An unknown entity known as Subject 2 frees her and runs. Now Selene must adapt to this new world, and find Subject 2 if she is to locate her hybrid vampire and lycan lover Michael.
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Midnight Chronicles (2010) – Review

February 2, 2012 in Action, Family, Horror, Reviews, SciFi

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2 1/2 Stars

Midnight Chronicles is a curiously low-key, yet ambitiously mounted medieval drama with the complex mythology of a cable miniseries mixed with the off beat style of David Lynch’s eccentric Dune adaptation. Audience members not familiar with the source material may not recognize this film as having an association to the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game Midnight. It’s telling that the producers didn’t use the D&D moniker anywhere in the title. Perhaps it was a conscious effort to distance this movie from the horrendous previous films that have fallen under that banner. Whatever the case, Midnight Chronicles is a better picture that strains to tell its elaborate story within the limitations of its obviously inadequate budget.
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Tactical Force (2011) – Review

February 2, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

Steve Austin has been carving out a sizable niche in the direct to DVD action film market, and Tactical Force is his latest offering to the masses or at least WWE enthusiasts. At first glance this movie seems like it could be another low budget entry into the SWAT franchise. It’s not. It is a Die Hard-esque B-movie with a wearhouse supplanting Nakatomi tower and instead of terrorists we get warring factions of ethnic mafia members. Tactical Force is the kind of movie that will play on male oriented cable channels like Spike and FX for years to come.
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Mission: Impossible (1996) – Review

February 2, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

Brain De Palma’s big screen incarnation of the venerable 1960′s television show arrived in theaters riding a wave of promotional hype. A high concept premise with roots to older audiences starring a proven box office draw (a mixture that proved successful for The Fugitive) had summer ticket buyers expecting a balls out action extravaganza. So inevitably audiences were greatly disappointed when Mission: Impossible turned out to be a quiet almost cerebral thriller more akin to 1970′s government paranoia thrillers like The Parallax View than the Bond films.
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Operation: Endgame (2010) – Review

February 1, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

A man shows up for his first day on the job as a government spy and is taken into a deep underground bunker known as The Factory. Within its walls are housed government documents on everything the Bush administration has done that are guarded by two teams of operatives overseen by The Devil. During the Obama inauguration The Devil is assassinated, the fortress goes into lock-down and sets to self destruct. Now he must find the killer and stop the countdown, or die trying. Given the operative name The Fool (everyone’s named after Tarot cards) the teams begin picking each other off one by one as they search for a way out. Explosions, blood and laughs ensue.
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The Double (2011) – Review

February 1, 2012 in Action, Drama, Reviews

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2 Stars

The Double is a low grade spy thriller that purports that Russian spies are trying to attack the US, and that throughout the years this has resulted in a ridiculous amount of assassinations. The latest being that of a US senator on US soil. These killings are all believed to be the work of one man known only as Cassius. Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere) is a long retired CIA operative, but now he’s being brought back to help search for the man he spent his career trying to find. Teamed with Ben Geary (Topher Grace), a young FBI agent who has devoted his career to profiling Cassius, they must track down the man everyone thought to be dead.
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Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor (1994) – Review

February 1, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

The third sequel to the popular 1990′s chop ‘em up low rent Kickboxer franchise is a pretty fun ride that serves as a great example of b-movie filmmaking during that era. Disregarding the exploits of the third entry this fourth film is a direct sequel to the events from part 2, are you still with me champ? David Sloane has been framed in a sketchy setup and is currently serving time in a state penitentiary. While incarcerated the villainous Tong Po (the heavily scarred kickboxing ace from the original) has kidnapped Sloane’s wife with the intention of imprisoning her at his hacienda deep within Mexico for his personal sexual amusement. The D.A. comes to Sloane and offers him a temporary parole if he agrees to travel across the border and participate in a fight tournament being held at Tong Po’s compound. So Sloane reluctantly agrees to enter the competion while secretly planning to free his enslaved wife and kill Tong Po.
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Contraband (2012) – Review

January 26, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

Mark Wahlberg returns to the screen for the first time since his turn as Mickey Ward in the Oscar nominated Fighter. Unfortunately Contraband is nowhere near as high class an affair. It’s an overly familiar so called action thriller with one of the strangest references to famed painter Jackson Pollock I’ve ever seen in a movie.
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Witness to a Kill (2001) – Review

January 26, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

Gary Daniels makes a smashing James Bond-esque secret agent in the very under rated (and little seen) B-movie gem titled Diamond Cut Diamond or Witness to a Kill, depending on what region of the world you live in. Here he plays Anthony Strong, an SAS leader and queens messenger. Strong had been assigned to accompany a German girl to South Africa on a diplomatic mission, however upon their arrival in the exotic location they are quickly targeted by a group of assassins working for a diabolical mercenary known as The Wolf. It turns out that The Wolf is in the diamond smuggling trade and business is good. He plans on overthrowing the current government, that is until Captain Strong throws a wrench in the scheme.
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Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010) – Review

January 25, 2012 in Action, Reviews, SciFi

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1 Star

Albert Pyun’s Tales of an Ancient Empire is the biggest cinematic letdown of this young year and I fear it will end up on my worst of list next December. Not familiar with Pyun’s work? I’ll bet you’ve seen at least one of his movies on cable sometime during the last thirty years. Pyun’s biggest hits include Cyborg, Nemesis, and The Sword and the Sorcerer. If those titles don’t ring a bell than surely the names Charlie Sheen, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Rutger Hauer and Christopher Lambert are recognizable. These are just a handful of big names Pyun has worked with in the course of a career spanning three decades. Seemingly every actor ever assembled for a Pyun film makes an appearance in Tales of an Ancient Empire, the reported semi-sequel to The Sword and the Sorcerer.
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Hunted by Night (2010) – Review

January 18, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

Hunted by Night is a straightforward action-er about a group of friends who stumble across millions of recently dropped bails of drugs while on a hunting trip. An argument ensues as to if the trio should take the drugs and run, or leave them as surely the people these bails were meant for will come looking for them. Two of the friends decide to secretly gather the bails, against the protests of the other. Unfortunately that decision brings on the wrath of a cartel that will stop at nothing to regain their property.
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Rambo: Extended Cut (2008) – Review

January 18, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

I was so impressed with Rambo 4 upon my initial viewing that I had great expectations for this extended edition. Unfortunately I’m sorry to report that this version is a slower developing, less impactful and overall duller variation. I can understand the idea behind going back and tweaking the film, however the extra time devoted to deepening character development and additional dialogue do nothing for the story or pace of the film.
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In the Name of the King II: Two Worlds (2011) – Review

January 13, 2012 in Action, Reviews, SciFi

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3 Stars

Anyone who claims Uwe Boll is the worst director of all time hasn’t seen enough movies. I would argue that Roland Emmerich is just as critically derived, but alas that debate leads to madness. In the Name of the King II: Two Worlds is actually a much better film than the original. It’s true the first had a larger budget with a big name cast, but that picture moved in ebbs and flows and for the majority of it’s 156 minute running time it was just plain dull. This sequel is an outlandish tale that is far more streamlined and very amusing. Personally I loved the tongue in cheek touches in the witty script by longtime special effects guru turned scribe Michael Nachoff. If you’re wondering if this is a true sequel or a cash grab to pull in fans of the original, I’d say it’s both. There is no real reason this couldn’t have been titled just Two Worlds, however there is a minor revelation that Dolph’s character Granger is the son of Jason Statham’s character from the first film. Turns out old Dolph was born in the ancient days but hidden in an orphanage in present day America. Judging by that last sentence you’ll know if King 2 is your kind of movie.
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The Art of War II: Betrayal (2008) – Review

January 13, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

The Art of War II is directed by Josef Rusnak. A filmmaker that has had a curious career. His big screen films never took, yet he’s much too talented a craftsman to be stuck in the low rent world of straight to DVD action films. He’s like a David o’ Russell with a compelling inclination toward action thrillers. The Art of War II is the follow up to the minor hit from eight years ago. I have no idea why it took them almost a decade to package a sequel to an obviously franchise ready character. War 2 follows retired special agent Shaw, currently working as a technical advisor on an acton film. The star of the movie within a movie is a blockheaded ego maniac with a desire to run for senate (sound familiar Californian’s?). Soon after the actor makes his intentions to campaign public, embarrassing photos begin showing up in an effort to blackmail the star. He hires Shaw and his team to find out who’s behind the attempt to derail his political aspirations. This leads to a double-cross in which it appears that Shaw is responsible for murdering two senators. Forced to clear his name he springs into action and uncovers a web of conspiracy involving illegal arms sales.
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Knock Off (1998) – Review

January 4, 2012 in Action, Reviews

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2 1/2 Stars

Knock Off is a strange concoction that was met with nearly unanimous critical scorn and absolute indifference from Van Damme’s once sizable fan-base at the time of its release. The second collaboration between heralded director Tsui Hark and Jean Claude Van Damme is (in hindsight) one of the most underrated films of his career. The picture is a fast, light and sometimes funny action film with a script from Die Hard scribe Steven E. de Souza. The story is set in the days leading up to Britain’s relinquishing control of Hong Kong to China in 1997. During this time local authorities have stumbled across a new type of terrorist threat, nano-bombs. The small miniature explosive device is the size of a watch battery yet packs the bang of half a stick of dynamite. Caught up in this is a local knock off king Marcus Ray (Van Damme). Unbeknownst to Ray and his over anxious, ever talking partner (Rob Schneider) the jeans their company produces are discovered to be the housing device for the explosives. All of this leads up to an extended sequence that takes place aboard a cargo ship full of bombs making its way from Hong Kong to America.
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Cowboys & Aliens (2011) – Review

December 11, 2011 in Action, Reviews, SciFi

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2 1/2 Stars

Cowboys & Aliens comes complete with all the elements needed to make a successful western and science fiction film; yet it’s unable to accomplish either. It arrives on the screen in a curiously low-key manner and just sits there. Professionally moving about its various plot points, but generating little interest and not before long, viewers discover this is going to be a paced derivative cowboy movie and a subpar alien invasion story. It is, dare I say, a traditional western in the style of silver screen classics of the genre. That is until those pesky aliens show up and turn the town and the film upside down. There was however an enormous amount of striking imagery throughout. Admittedly there is an eerie quality to shots of futuristic flying vessels hovering over a cattle town in the 1800′s. Daniel Craig inflicts an American accent very well, he struts through the role with a certain bravado and I think he is surprisingly well cast. It’s the story that fails them and director Favreau.
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48 Hrs. (1982) – Review

December 8, 2011 in Action, Comedy, Reviews

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3 1/2 Stars

Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs. is a modern classic most fondly remembered for being the impressive film debut of Eddie Murphy. The comic genius of Murphy aside, this is a violent crime thriller with atmospheric cinematography by Ric Waite, a rousing score from James Horner and top notch direction from Hill. Many point to this as the beginning of the ‘Buddy Cop’ sub genre and even the ‘High Concept’ film; each are valid arguments. However unlike the hundreds of sub-par imitations and variations that followed in its wake, 48 Hrs. is well written and acted.
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Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) – Review

December 8, 2011 in Action, Family, Reviews

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3 1/2 Stars

Recently I reviewed the new release Batman: Year One and praised its handsome animation techniques and efficient adult level storytelling, in short I proclaimed it the best feature to ever come out of the DC Comics studio. My colleague Trevor Anderson urged me to take a look at Batman: Under the Red Hood before I made such a bold proclamation. So I did and he was correct in the recommendation. If Year One played in the similar territory established by the Nolan directed Batman films, than Under the Red Hood is inspired by the darkness of Burton’s take on the character and the wall to wall action and abundance of villains from the Schumacher chapters.
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Death Wish 2 (1982) – Review

December 1, 2011 in Action, Reviews

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1/2 Star

Vigilante Paul Kersey (returning star Charles Bronson in arguably his signature role) has moved out west only to find more trouble and scumbags that need eliminating in Los Angeles. After surviving the horrific events of the original film, Kersey and his daughter are attempting to repair their lives when another vicious attack, including the rape and murder of a helpless maid (the picture’s most sympathetic character), sets the lone wolf in action.
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Drive (2011) – Review

December 1, 2011 in Action, Drama, Reviews

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4 Stars

Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive is one of the most intensely hypnotic films of this young decade. Don’t be deceived by the title that may suggest a rip-roaring motor mash-up in the vein of the Fast and Furious pictures. This is a far higher minded affair; Drive has more in common with Michael Mann classics than formulaic racing movies. In fact outside of a few sequences this is a slow moving film with little dialogue and scenes that sometimes go on for longer than necessary.
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Batman: Year One (2011) – Review

November 29, 2011 in Action, Family, Reviews

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4 Stars

After the dismal Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, DC Comics animated division is back with perhaps their greatest release to date. Taking its script from the seminal 1987 comic series penned by Frank Miller this very adult tale is the cartoon equivalent to Nolan’s Batman films. It’s a dark, somewhat nihilistic journey filled with brutality and moments of high drama. Some viewers may be disappointed in the lack of screen-time for the Dark Knight, but those familiar with the source material already know this is essentially a origins story of James Gordon not Bruce Wayne. I have no problem with Batman being sidelined for a gritty tale of police corruption in the Gotham police department. Gordon is a true bad-ass as he fights off dirty cops, a commissioner on the take and a town overrun with crime.
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The Reunion (2011) – Review

November 29, 2011 in Action, Reviews

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2 Stars

The Reunion contains so many labored attempts at referencing the classic television show Bonanza that after a while you want to throw your hands up in submission. A more recent inspiration may have been the Mark Whalberg film Four Brothers, which itself was a loose remake of the John Wayne film The Sons of Kitty Elder. Do you see how confusing this can all get? The Reunion closely resembles those films story-wise in that the leads are three brothers who all share a common father and not much else. It is a lively little affair and since WWE Studios is behind the production there is some action, though it is curiously cartoonish in matters of violence and sex. The entire time the movie played I kept picturing pre-production meetings with Vince McMahon reading the script envisioning a semi-sequel to The Rundown with his Dwayne Johnson proto-type John Cena.
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Last Kung Fu Monk (2010) – Review

November 17, 2011 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

Movie over Jet Li, look out Steven Seagal, watch your back Van Damme there’s a new action hero in town and his name is Li Zhang. I love this guy. Zhang carries the physical build of a rollypolly bug, mixed with delicate features that give his face a constant sad frown. He slightly resembles a living Pixar creation, albeit one who is capable of double back-flips and helicopter kicks. I’ve seen the future of B grade Kung Fu films and its name is Li Zhang.
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Fist 2 Fist (2011) – Review

November 16, 2011 in Action, Reviews

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1 1/2 Stars

Originally titled Hand 2 Hand, it appears that all of the fighters in Fist 2 Fist are performing their own stunts. Typically that’s commendable, but here the stunts and fight choreography are so piss poor it’s hard to be impressed. Much like the recently released Assassins’ Code this film suffers from the same problems imposed by a minimized budget. However both movies have a charismatic villain (played here by the bullish Bill Duff), and enough action to make each picture almost worthwhile viewing.
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Immortals (2011) – Review

November 15, 2011 in Action, Reviews

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3 Stars

Visionary filmmaker Tarsem Sing’s latest effort, Immortals, is another stunningly designed and photographed film filled with extreme violence while bursting at the seams with ingenuity. Unfortunately the storyline isn’t as compelling as the striking images that often raise this mediocre film into the realm of greatness if only for brief periods. Taking its cues from popular hits like 300 and Clash of the Titans, this tale of men and gods warring amongst themselves and one another is a sometimes inspired exercise that doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its outrageous parts.
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Big Trouble in Little China (1986) – Review

November 6, 2011 in Action, Comedy, Reviews, SciFi

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3 1/2 Stars

“You know what ol’ Jack Burton always says in a time like this?” Enjoy the camp. Kurt Russell is Jack Burton in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. Jack Burton is a truck driver that stops in San Francisco’s Chinatown and hooks up with his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun). The two men head off to pick up Wang’s fiancée at the airport, but things go terribly wrong. A Chinatown gang led by an ancient supernatural being, David Lo Pan (James Hong), kidnaps Wang’s fiancée. Burton is dragged into a supernatural war between good and evil. However, Burton doesn’t go into the fight alone, he has Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) providing moral support and good-guy magician Egg Shen (Victor Wong) as back-up.
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