Taika Waititi names the actor who “makes America great”
New Zealand director Taika Waititi has established himself as a key player in mainstream cinema over the last decade or out. He first came to attention with his early films, the romantic comedy Eagle vs Shark, the comedy-drama Boy and the adventure comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Waititi teamed up with another famous New Zealander, Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Concords fame, to create What We Do in the Shadows before he turned to mainstream cinema, taking on a Marvel superhero movie Thor: Ragnarok and its sequel Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi finally heard the biggest recognition of all in cinema by winning an Academy Award for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for his 2019 comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit.
When Waititi visited the JR Video store in Paris for Konbini, he picked out a classic action movie from the 1980s, John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, and discussed its impact on his own work and the cultural importance of its lead actor.
The film arrived in 1986 and stars Kurt Russell in the leader role alongside Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong. It tells of a truck driver who must help his friend rescue his fiancée from a gang of criminals in Chinatown in San Francisco. However, upon arriving in the famous district, they discover a strange underworld and an even stranger ancient sorcerer who makes a request of the pair.
Of Kurt Russell, Waititi said, “Kurt Russell is what makes American cinema great. I’ve never met him; maybe I don’t need to meet him. They say don’t meet your heroes. I don’t think I need to meet him, but I want you guys to know this is the guy.”
Waititi then explained that Big Trouble in Little China inspired one of his own action movies. “One of the inspirations for Thor: Ragnarok was this film. Big Trouble in Little China. We loved the nature of that character, and that’s something we wanted to try and emulate in Thor with Chris’ character.”
Thor: Ragnarok arrived in 2017 and served as the third film in the Thor Marvel film franchise. It sees Chris Hemsworth play Thor, who must escape from an Alien planet in order to save his world from a villain played by Cate Blanchett. And it just so happens that Waititi took great inspiration from Carpenter, Russell and Big Trouble in Little China.
Check out the trailer for Big Trouble in Little China, starring Kurt Russell, below.
