The Big Boss

Starring: Bruce Lee, Maria Yi, James Tien, Marilyn Bautista, Ying-Chien Han, Tony Liu
Directed by: Wei Lo
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
1971

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young man (Bruce Lee) who has sworn a pact of nonviolence finds that promise difficult to keep when he faces off against a corrupt, murderous boss.

Review:

Tim: The Big Boss is an interesting little film. It's one of the earlier Bruce Lee movies and is really just an odd movie in many ways. It does feature some great Bruce Lee moments, but as a whole, this film is a bit too ridiculous. It's not one of Lee's better films.

I know there was some role swapping involved, but this is a film that doesn't feel like it has a great role for Lee. He obviously is the star of the film, but he doesn't fight until like 2/3 of the way through the film. The whole beginning of the film features him staying true to his nonviolence pact. There are a number of fight scenes, but Lee oddly stays out of them, just watching from the sidelines. I get the reason for that and it adheres to the story, but it was a little disappointing. If you are watching a Bruce Lee movie, you don't want to see him looking bored, standing around while other people are fighting. It's just an odd feature of the film.

The film features some pretty ridiculous moments that really hurt the overall quality. The basic premise is that all these cousins work for an ice factory. The boss order several of them to be murdered, on the down low, of course. So, these cousins mysteriously vanish, and not a whole lot happens. First, the other cousins are concerned, but rather than going to the authorities, they seek information from the ice factory boss. He clearly dismisses with them nice sounding statements, and the cousins believe it. This goes on and on and on, and only results in mild increases of concern. Even when more people disappear, the reaction of the other cousins is just ridiculous. Why wouldn't you go to the police if four of your cousins disappeared while at work? It's just so bizarre. There is also a scene after Bruce Lee's first fight where everyone is celebrating and partying... seemingly having forgotten about all the missing and presumed dead family members. It's things like this that really hurt the film.

There are some really good fight sequences throughout the film. It's fun to see Lee face off against a dozen opponents and come out victorious. The one thing that mars these fight scenes are these absurd, unrealistic jumps that various characters do. I don't know why the film felt the need to push the boundaries of reality so much. It ends up hurting the movie.

Look, The Big Boss will never be among Lee's better films. It is indeed a deeply flawed film and one that I really can't consider a good film. Even still, it's not terrible. This is just an average action drama.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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