Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Last Dragon Overview

By Dwayne Todd

The Last Dragon was actually a film produced by Motown Records back in the eighties. It seems that one of the primary concerns of the film might actually have been to promote new talent, particularly that one song, "Oh Sheila", you know, "Let me love you til the morning comes". But that doesn't change the fact that it's really a fun, exciting Kung Fu movie, and one of the must download movies of the eighties.

The film follows Bruce Leroy, or so is his nickname. He's a young martial artist from Harlem who works for his father's pizza parlor while teaching Kung Fu to the local neighborhood kids. Throughout his adventures, he also has to keep his cool and composure while dealing with his rival, Sho'Nuff, who's always trying to get a rise out of him. Sho'Nuff, you see, is the Shogun of Harlem... Yep, the Shogun of Harlem. That's what he likes to call himself.

Sho'Nuff is really one of the all time great screen villains. Everything about him is just... Wild, ridiculous and hilarious. He walks around with a crew of lackeys, and wherever he enters the scene, he's preceded by a little call-and-response speech between himself and his crew, as if they were the mirror on the wall, he asks them if he is the prettiest, the meanest and the baddest, and Sho Nuff, he is. He wears shoulder pads, visor sunglasses and hakama, those baggy pants worn by samurai. For style and attitude, he's really one of the funniest heavies of all time.

The only downside to the movie is the comparatively less interesting subplot revolving around a really, really awful Cyndi Lauper style singer and her manager/boyfriend who's trying to get her some airtime on a local music show, produced and hosted by Bruce Leroy's would-be-lover. This subplot isn't the most interesting part of the film, but fortunately it's not a main focus.

But don't worry, it gets back to that soon enough when the promoter hires the meanest hombres in town to take Leroy down, culminating in a massive brawl with Leroy and his students on one side, and a gang of colorful thugs on the other, including a great big fat white guy with a gray Mr. T mohawk and a gold colored jumpsuit... Strange characters, indeed.

Besides the action and jokes, there are also some classic eighties scenes that you couldn't see in any other era, such as Leroy trying to find the man who writes the wise sayings on fortune cookies, only to find that the whole process is automated by a computer that prints them out.

Could the movie have been a bit better without the subplot about the record promoter and his girlfriend? Sure, but there's always something about every movie where it "could have been better". Regardless, what's there is a fun, funny, corny, exciting little gem of a film. Half kung fu, half spoof of kung fu, and all eighties.

Next time you want a goofy, fun eighties flick, and you want to see a little kung fu while you're at it, go ahead and give The Last Dragon a download. - 40732

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment