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Rating: 3 out of 5
Bruce Lee was a bad man! Bruce Lee made martial arts cool in the United States with his fast kicks, blinding punches, and the awesome noises he made. Have you seen Enter the Dragon? It is a straight-up CLASSIC! How about the Way of the Dragon? Chuck Norris and all his chest hair had nothing on Bruce. You can’t forget about Game of Death and Lee’s iconic yellow outfit. Bruce Lee has been an inspiration and modeled after in video games and other films.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a film where Bruce Lee’s legend continues in the Black community. Look no further than the one and only Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon. Leave it to my community to come through and add some 80s music; a character looking for the Glow and called Bruce Leroy. I can’t forget one of the meanest low down around this town, Sho’nuff. I really can’t forget the beautiful damsel in distress, Vanity.
Let’s get into this. The Last Dragon is set in New York City. Young martial artist Bruce “Leroy” Green (Taimak) has been training with his teacher, who shoots arrows at him. Leroy breaks many but catches one. With the catch, his teacher proclaims that his training is complete, and he is now ready to go out into the world. Leroy disagrees because he has yet to reach the final level: The Glow, in which a warrior’s body glows because he has become the best fighter in the world. The teacher gives Leroy a gold medallion and tells him to seek out Master Sum Dum Goy, who will help him achieve “the Glow.” Sum Dum Goy will provide training in exchange for the medallion.
Since we have the premise, we now need a villain. The film provides that with another martial artist, Sho’nuff, aka “The Shogun of Harlem” (Carry). Sho’nuff sees Leroy as a rival and one in the way of becoming the best. Sho’nuff constantly provokes Leroy to fight him, but Leroy never takes the bait, even when Sho’nuff disrespects Leroy in front of his students and destroys his family pizza restaurant.
But wait!!! You need a beauty that catches the eye of the main character but is also in “grave danger.” The film presents VJ Laura Charles (Vanity), who is kidnapped by video arcade mogul Eddie Arkadian (Murney), the token white man. Eddie wants Laura to play his awful music videos on her hit tv show “7th Heaven,” which is very similar to Soul Train. Well, things come to a head when Leroy saves Laura and becomes the new target of Eddie. Leroy better find the Glow quick.
I know what you are going to say. Is the Last Dragon a good movie? It is not an all-time classic, but damnit, it is entertaining. It shows the influence and inspiration Bruce Lee had on the Black community. The man was iconic, and why wouldn’t you have a film that shows his impact on a different race. This is a straight-up 80s movie, and it is all over the place.
As far as the story goes, it is entertaining, with a young martial artist trying to find his way in the world and become a martial arts master in his own right. The story connects with many people because we always self-doubt each other and sometimes can’t see when we really achieved our goal. Leroy goes through this. He goes on a journey to find a master and the Glow. It wasn’t until his fight with Sho’Nuff that he saw that he had achieved the goal and had to believe in himself.
That was the positive. The negative with the story is that the pace is off, and it has been told many times over and over again. Someone always going on some damn journey to find themselves, and then, in the end, they fight the bad guy and become the one. Same story, different film.
The acting was meh. Sometimes it was awful, and sometimes it was okay. That makes it meh. Taimak, as Leroy Green, was the innocent, never kissed a girl, and constantly training protagonist. He was okay, and this one film was the height of his career. Vanity as Laura Charles was a singer who acted in a few roles. She played the beauty in distress well for this film. Was she eye candy? You bet your ass she was, but that was mostly it. Homegirl had major hairspray going on.
The two villains are the ones where the movie was decent. Were they all-time great villains? Hell naw, but they made the film entertaining. First, Christopher Murney as Eddie Arkadian was the white man as in most blaxploitation films even though this one isn’t quite a blaxploitation film. Murney played Eddie as one who was ruthless and would do anything to get his videos played, even if they were straight-up trash. Dirty Girl by Angela, really, Eddie? His goon also had this big ass piranha.
Where it was at was Julius Carry as “Sho’nuff,” aka The Shogun of Harlem. Carry made Sho’nuff something else. When he first arrived on screen, you didn’t know if you should laugh or be scared. He was straight-up outrageous and fought anyone and everyone to prove he was the greatest. He has one of the best and iconic intros for a character.
The film has some good music once in a while. Hell, when you can get DeBarge’s song, “Rhythm of the Night,” you must be doing something right. Willie Hutch’s “The Glow” was also a catchy song. I have it on my playlist. Sometimes you have to find the Glow and hit that new level.
Finally, with any martial arts film, you need to talk about the final fight. The fight between Leroy and Sho’Nuff is fun to watch. Two people who manage to find the Glow. What does it mean? Two people who think they are the best. Is the fight funky to look at and stiff? Yes, it is, but that is why it is so good. You will laugh but also enjoy it until the very end.
Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon is one of those films that will make you laugh but also has a decent story. The film will grow on you as you watch. The acting is okay, but hey, it’s an 80s film and draws inspiration from the legendary Bruce Lee. What more could you want. This film could be the baddest mofo low down around this town?
