I love this movie. There is no way for me to give an objective review of The Last Dragon because it’s one of my favorite films of all time. Is it a cinematic classic? Well, that depends on who you’re asking but no Oscars will ever be thrown its way and that’s fine. My love is still true and this Weekend Rewind will be an ode to a movie that in my eyes, stands the test of time.

The Last Dragon stars Taimak as Leroy Green, Julius Carry as Sho’nuff, Vanity as Laura Charles, and Christopher Murney as Eddie Arcadian. Our movie begins with a montage of Leroy training to the The Last Dragon song by Berry Gordy and it is awesome. Towards the end of his training Leroy must catch arrows with red and blue marks but he has to break the arrow with a blue mark. All of these tasks must be accomplished while Leroy is blindfolded and he achieves his goals without thinking or hesitation. Leroy has doubt because he was told when he reaches the final level of training, Leroy would obtain a glow but he does not see it in himself. I like how his sifu(shifu) tries to explain to Leroy that he has achieved what he was searching for but Leroy is blind to it because he hasn’t accepted it mentally. His sifu sends Leroy on a mission to find the master at Som Dom Guy in order to get a gold medallion and achieve the glow, (Didn’t I tell you this movie is awesome?).

Now, let’s talk about Sho’nuff! Sho-mother lovin-nuff is the self-alleged shogun of Harlem and his crew makes sure everyone knows “Who’s the meanest?”, “Sho-nuff! “Who’s the prettiest?”, “Sho-nuff!” “Who’s the baddest shogun in town?”, “Sho-nuff!”

Sho’nuff has a beef with Leroy because he has heard stories about him around Harlem being a martial arts master. Although Leroy never personally makes the claim, Sho’nuff doesn’t care because he won’t allow anyone to claim the title of master but himself. Which leads to one of the funniest scenes in the movie. While an enthusiastic audience are in a theater watching Enter The Dragon, Sho’nuff interrupts looking for a challenge and finds Leroy in the theater. Unfornutaley for him, Leroy is not interested in fighting and is only there to enjoy seeing his idol Bruce Lee kick some behind. No matter how much Sho’nuff goads he won’t fight him and the other moviegoers become agitated with Sho’nuff for interrupting their movie. What else is the shogun to do but challenge everyone who has a problem to come and make him leave. They come, oh boy do they come, and every last one of the challengers get knocked down.

I thought it was pretty cool how the scene of Bruce Lee taking on a dojo full of fighters was playing in the background while Sho’nuff was taking on a theater full of fighters. That particular scene portrayed the contrast of where Sho’nuff was at in his training compared to Leroy. While Leroy wanted to be who Bruce Lee was on screen, Shonuff was already that person. Leroy was in flux, his training was complete but he was unsure of himself and still searching for a master. Juxtapose to Sho’nuff who was full of confidence, ready to take on any and everyone because he believed in his heart that he was a master already. The Last Dragon is underrated because of moments like this in the film but I will not deny how cheesy the movie gets and when I say cheesy I mean dripping, gooey cheese. Enter Eddie Arcadian.

Eddie Arcadian has the persona of a stereotypical villain/Italian mob boss minus an actual mob behind him. The man has a tank of flesh eating piranhas in his penthouse like some kind of cartoonish villain and he even has the trademark diabolical bad guy laugh too. In actuality he is a video game mogul looking to further his career beyond the video game arena by promoting his girlfriend Angela as a new music artist. Angela is a terrible singer but Arcadian won’t let that get in the way as he hounds Laura Charles to get Angela’s video on her show. Laura hosts a music video show called 7th Heaven where she has a live dance audience similar to Soul Train. When Laura continues to ignore Eddie’s requests he decides to have her kidnapped but is foiled by Leroy who happened to be in the area and noticed what was happening. She is clearly attracted to him but Leroy is so into his martial arts that he’s never had time for relationships. Leroy leaves in a hurry but loses a special pendant given to him by his sifu and Laura takes it with her.

One day Sho’nuff and his crew show up at Leroy’s dojo where he’s teaching a class and they threaten his student and assistant, Johnny. Leroy doesn’t want to fight so Sho’nuff makes Leroy kiss his Converse sneakers in order for his crew to let Johnny go. A defeated Leroy walks to the studio where 7th Heaven is filmed to ask Laura if she has his pendant and arrives in time to witness a second kidnapping attempt on Ms. Charles. He finds Laura in Arcadian’s penthouse and rescues her for which she is very grateful. Laura asks Leroy to be her bodyguard but he turns down her request because he does not feel that he is capable of doing it. Unfortunately while Leroy was away his father’s pizza shop got destroyed by Sho’nuff and his crew who were searching for him. His irate younger brother Richie is disappointed with Leroy and loses what little respect he already had for him.

In the middle of all this Leroy visits Som Dom Guy to speak with the master but is blocked by three Asian men who are……let’s just say hip-hop heads. When the men see Leroy dressed in a martial arts uniform and bamboo hat they laugh at him for looking corny. The irony of this not-so-subtle scene is a hilarious allegory for the fast rising hip-hop culture and kung-fu craze of the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s. On one side there is a Black man steeped in the Asian martial arts culture and on the other are Asian men steeped in black hip-hop culture.

Leroy would return back to find the master but discover the master he is searching for is a machine printing out fortune’s for cookies. Enraged, Leroy returns to his sifu to discover why he lied to him and his sifu let’s Leroy know there is one place he hasn’t searched where he will find the master. Leroy returns to his dojo to discover from Johnny that Arcadian is holding Laura and Richie hostage at the 7th Heaven studio. Arcadian hired a bunch of goons that look like professional wrestlers to fight Leroy and should he get past them, a special main event against Sho’nuff was waiting for him. We get a fun fight scene between the goons and Leroy’s students because Johnny brought them along to help out Leroy. Was it a good idea to bring a bunch of kids to fight grown men, some of which are criminals? probably not but this was the 80’s so…

Finally we get the showdown we’ve been waiting for between Leroy and Sho’nuff and it is epic. It wasn’t the greatest fight scene on film but seeing Leroy finally get the glow was one of the most satisfying moments I’ve had watching a movie. His is the ultimate story of working hard, being dedicated to your craft and believing in yourself. If nothing else, this is a great motivational movie for kids as well as adults. There’s a master in all of us, we only have to look within to find it.

I give The Last Dragon a 9 out of 10!

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