In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Sunday, 25 August 2019

Battle Creek Brawl (1980)

BCB's plot has Asian action star Jackie Chan in a 1930s Chicago setting. A skilled fighter, he's blackmailed by the mafia into entering the brawl of the title, but there's more on the line than just his honour.
Chan's first attempt to break the US market is notable for being just that; i.e. a first attempt. Dir. Clouse may have struck gold with Bruce Lee in '73, but Chan isn't Lee - his style is different and requires a different approach. But the filmmakers appear to have had an almost complete lack of understanding with regards how to assemble a scene to accentuate his abilities. It was produced by Raymond Chow, but I suspect he was mostly hands-off this time.
The latter half is better than the first in almost every way, but it fails to finish the story in any kind of satisfactory manner.

2 clichéd strongmen out of 5

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