The Last Dragon

The Last Dragon
by Michael Schultz

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Movie Reviews of The Last Dragon

Movie Review: Who da MASTER?! Bruce Leroy that's who!
Summary: 5 Stars

I have very fond memories of this movie being that I am a child of the 80's, and this film is an excellent piece of nostalgia for anyone old enough to experience the 80's in their teens or their 20's, or even for someone like me (who was simply a child).

The story itself is pretty basic, but very entertaining nonetheless. Would-be entertainment mogul Eddie Arkadian wishes to form an alliance with Video Disc Jockey Laura Charles, the host of a popular Soul Train-esque type show called
'7th Heaven', in order to make his girlfriend Angela (looking very much like Cindy Lauper's twin) a glitzy popstar goddess. When Laura refuses, he takes drastic measures to ensure her cooperation. thus Leroy enters the scene and becomes Laura's protector, and she in turn begins to fall for him despite his naivetee regarding the ways of romance. While all this is going on, Sho'Nuff with his crew want to proclaim dominance over the streets as the baddest mofo in town, and the only way to do that is to kick Leroy's ass through all Five Boroughs all the way to Shaghai.

Anyway, the film can be viewed on many different levels: it is pretty campy in parts (this is the 80's we're talking about), but it has a great deal of heart because in essence Taimak's character of Leroy is on a journey of self-discovery and a sort of spiritual coming of age type of ordeal. Leroy is someone that appears to be in his early to mid 20's, who has put a great deal of dedication into studying the martial arts and understanding the philosophy behind them. So much so that he is very much a pacifist, and only fights in self-defense or in the protection of another and refuses to be intimidated into fighting by another. This is evident by his blatant refusal to accept Sho'Nuff's challenges, even when his family's pizzaria is vandalized by Sho'Nuff and his crew. It is only when both his brother ad Laura are kidnapped by Eddie that he decides to try and rescue them alone, despite the fact that he knows that it is a trap. In addition, this level of dedication has made Leroy a bit naive about certain things in regular life, one of them being how to interact with women. when he begins to reciprocate his feelings for Laura, it is so sweet and innocent because of his lack of experience it is truly genuine that he loves her and towards the end of the film when he appears with a bouquet of white roses, he isn't afraid to make a fool out of himself when he shouts out to her 'COULD YOU TEACH ME SOME MOVES?!' which is obviously a more politically correct way of asking someone 'will you have sex with me'.

His younger brother Ritchie, is a lot smarter than Leroy when it comes to the world at large or at least, has a great deal of street smarts. Although he seemed more understanding of how things really are, and views his brother's take on life as 'weird', Ritchie himself is not without a sense of innocence and naivetee. The kid was 15 years old and thought that he himself was 'man enough' for a woman like Laura Charles when all it boiled down to was a simple teenage crush, and hormonal lust.

Laura Charles (as played by Vanity) epitomizes the strong-willed woman, she exudes with beauty, talent, and sex appeal, in addition to displaying a heart of gold. She displays her outright refusal to cave in to Arkadian's demands even from the beginning before meeting him and finding out what kind of a slimeball he truly is, her continued defiance of him is well conveyed. Her interactions with Leroy are filled with just the right amount of charm, warmth and romance without being too sappy or mushy.

Eddie Arkadian starts off as someone very cool, calm and collected, but definitely shows his malicious intent to anyone that crosses him in true mobster fashion. His descent into the depths of madness towards the end of the movie are well-conveyed with an appropriate over-the-top style that still displays the depth of his menace. The scene where Leroy sneaks into 7th Heaven, and suddenly the large vidscreens light up with Eddie's image, and his voice echoing from all around, its a moment that is truly terrifying in a Big Brother type of manner.

Sho'Nuff is definitely Yang to Leroy's Yin, someone simply obsessed in displaying his macho testosterone dominance over his enemies, and his single-minded pursuit that to be the best you must defeat the best and maintain your reputation as the one you should not mess with. It all comes to a head during his fight with Leroy and he displays that he is a true master, by being able to use the power of 'The Glow', something Leroy had been unable to achieve throughout his studies, and comes close to getting the stuffing beaten out of him each time he refuses to answer Sho'Nuff's question 'Who's the Master?' Leroy's conviction and spiritual journey ultimately comes to fruition during his battle with Sho'Nuff when he finally realizes that the master he should be looking for is within himself, which gives him the confidence to finally proclaim that he is indeed a true Kung-Fu Master, which then allows him to achieve 'The Glow' and proceed to beat the ever-living crap out of Sho'Nuff.

This is indeed a great movie, as something that both pays homage to and pokes fun at the martial arts genre by mixing it in with a bit of blaxploitation, a coming-of-age story and some romance to balance it all out. I highly recommend this film to anyone that loves the 80's and longs to be a bit nostalgic.

Summary of The Last Dragon