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Cast:
Jackie
Chan
Jose
Ferrer
Kristine
DeBell
Mako
Ron
Max
Action:
Jackie
Chan
Producer:
Raymond
Chow
Director:
Robert
Clouse
Score:
 
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BATTLECREEK
BRAWL
AKA:
The Big Brawl ||
Battle Creek Brawl
Year:
1980 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Having
already secured his place as one of the box-office kings of
Asia with hits like 'Drunken
Master' and Fearless Hyena, Jackie Chan looked west in an
effort to break the highly lucrative American market. With his
last film, 'The
Young Master', smashing numerous box-office records
throughout Asia, hopes were naturally high that he could
imitate the feat in Hollywood. Following a similar path as
Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan starred in this Robert Clouse directed
action-comedy which was an attempt to create the kind of buzz
about its star that 'Enter
The Dragon' certainly did achieve. The result failed to
cause any major ripples in Hollywood and as is well
documented, Chan would have to wait a number of years before
he would finally become the global star that his talent
deserves. It is interesting though to look back and see what
this 1981 production has to offer to present audiences.
Jerry
Kwan (Chan) is an eager Chinese-American resident of
crime-plagued 1930's Chicago who concentrates his time on
learning martial arts from his uncle, spending time with his
girlfriend and helping his father in the family restaurant.
Although his father is opposed to him wasting his time on
learning kung-fu and points to his more successful brother as
an appropriate role-model, Jerry finds his skills come in very
useful when local mobsters come to the restaurant for
protection money; Jerry sends them away bruised and battered
after a clever display of his acrobatic kung-fu dexterity. The
mobsters soon realise that instead of getting rid of this
tricky foe, they would be better served by using him to fight
for them in the upcoming 'Battlecreek Brawl'. This Texas-based
fighting competition promises untold wealth in betting revenue
and prize money for the mobsters and therefore they concoct a
plan to get Jerry on their side. With this in mind, they
kidnap Jerry's future sister-in-law and persuade him to win
the contest in return for her safety. Unfortunately even this
soon proves to be more complicated than it first seems when a
rival gang kidnap Jerry's uncle so that he will throw the
final bout against their own fighter.
It's
fair to say that 'Battlecreek Brawl' is an unfair
representation of Jackie Chan's undoubted talents. Certainly
within the action department, Chan is given very little
opportunity to shine and is instead restricted by average
choreography and unimaginative opponents. Much blame should be
on the shoulders of Robert Clouse's pedestrian direction that
simply refuses to allow the film to spark into the kind of
life that it sometimes suggests. The combination of narrative
thrust and heroic misadventures would be more successfully
fused in Chan's self-directed 'Dragon Lord' made a year after
this, where the main storyline is deviated from by small-scale
sport scenes that serve the film far better than here. The
traditional directing that Clouse favours doesn't allow the
proper mixture of East and West so the main selling point of
the film - Jackie Chan's unique blend of action and comedy -
is found wanting. With these criticisms in mind though, there
are still aspects of 'Battlecreek Brawl' that make for an
entertaining film. The chemistry between the cast is
surprisingly fresh especially the boyfriend/girlfriend
combination of Chan and Kristine DeBell and the stern uncle,
Mako who gives one of his better performances of the 80's.
Jose Ferrer allows his considerable experience to show on the
screen and he plays his villainous role to the usual high
standard one expects from this seasoned veteran. Certain
twists in the narrative and relationships between the
characters prove to be pleasant deviations from stereotype and
do give Robert Clouse some kudos as director. Lalo Schifrin's
excellent score for the film - that sometimes recalls his work
on 'Bullit' - is final proof that this film isn't a waste of
viewing time. 'Battlecreek Brawl' scrapes into the 3 star
category after noticing these good points and Jackie Chan's
own charismatic persona signifies that, while this film is
nowhere near his best, it is still a diverting film.
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