The Big Boss takes a little time to get 'started' so to speak, by this I mean there is that frustrated mood that the filmmakers may or may not have intended (I'm leaning more toward the latter) as far as making the audience say to themselves/at the screen "Oh, come on, Bruce! Don't let those pigs get the workers like that, fight em!" And for a good at least 40 minutes it almost becomes comical how Lee's Cheung is standing around observing the workers and the supervisors fight it out with varying, as you might expect results... But this makes it all the more satisfying, naturally, by the time Lee has that "you made me bleed my own blood" reaction and gets to kicking ass (that moment halfway through is like if Bruce Banner barely changed appearance turning into Hulk, and it's awesome).
Oh, I'm sure if I put my big thinking Super-Critic cap on things in The Big Boss would appear all the more silly and ridiculous; the boss himself is like a villain out of a Double Dragon game (and boy the only thing Chieh is missing is a bigger mustache to twirl), the woman love interest is perfectly waif-like and innocent, and the (pretty funny) set piece where Bruce gets smashed on Hennessey shows what a gullible character he is. Hell, he even has a moment where he ponders by a little river and we get the narration following plenty of people killed (some he offed, others he discovers) where he proclaims his revenge to the audience and tosses something into the river to further point to his "IDGAF" mood.
But, you know what? It's all of a piece with a movie that blends a serious tale of worker exploitation and a wild drug smuggling plot (check the ice!) with the cathartic release of mayhem and violence for an audience that is clearly in one side and not the other. And maybe I unironically love a moment like when the dogs are coming at Bruce (some of them I assume being flung from right off camera at him) and he ducks and dodges and fights them off with... Class dare I say? And here's also that moment where the title character, just after Lee has dispatched his closest thugs and approaches him, flings that birdcage just so to that tree branch which, duh, Lee then knocks down. I mean, that *is* cinema, ain't it? Half-joking here, that's some stunning, comical movie magic, folks.
Bottom line here is, Bruce Lee burns right away on the screen with charisma and charm (bordering on too much but never quite), and projects menace 1000% when the time comes. Great action, fun Us vs Them story, and a cavalcade of over the top supporting turns. It's delightful junk food.
Oh, I'm sure if I put my big thinking Super-Critic cap on things in The Big Boss would appear all the more silly and ridiculous; the boss himself is like a villain out of a Double Dragon game (and boy the only thing Chieh is missing is a bigger mustache to twirl), the woman love interest is perfectly waif-like and innocent, and the (pretty funny) set piece where Bruce gets smashed on Hennessey shows what a gullible character he is. Hell, he even has a moment where he ponders by a little river and we get the narration following plenty of people killed (some he offed, others he discovers) where he proclaims his revenge to the audience and tosses something into the river to further point to his "IDGAF" mood.
But, you know what? It's all of a piece with a movie that blends a serious tale of worker exploitation and a wild drug smuggling plot (check the ice!) with the cathartic release of mayhem and violence for an audience that is clearly in one side and not the other. And maybe I unironically love a moment like when the dogs are coming at Bruce (some of them I assume being flung from right off camera at him) and he ducks and dodges and fights them off with... Class dare I say? And here's also that moment where the title character, just after Lee has dispatched his closest thugs and approaches him, flings that birdcage just so to that tree branch which, duh, Lee then knocks down. I mean, that *is* cinema, ain't it? Half-joking here, that's some stunning, comical movie magic, folks.
Bottom line here is, Bruce Lee burns right away on the screen with charisma and charm (bordering on too much but never quite), and projects menace 1000% when the time comes. Great action, fun Us vs Them story, and a cavalcade of over the top supporting turns. It's delightful junk food.