The Last Dragon could have been called “the last shot.”
In 1985, record producer Berry Gordy and his legendary Motown Records were in steep decline.
The failure of The Wiz, the Motown-produced 1978 adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, was a massive black eye for the company. It tanked at the box office, bringing Gordy’s foray into film production to a stop.
And his record label was reeling, with talent like Diana Ross and Michael Jackson departing.
Yet Gordy, a former boxer, got up from the mat and convinced new player TriStar Pictures to finance his next effort: The Last Dragon.
And, oh, it’s hard to describe this strange beast.
It’s a mashup of everything a music producer can lump together to try and connect with the kids – comedy, Bruce Lee and martial arts, emerging hip-hop culture – and a vehicle for product placement – Motown’s Vanity in the cast, an embedded DeBarge music video, and “Coca-Cola” seen all over the film.
It’s also a movie where martial artists can glow, among other oddities.
But this is no hack job. Vaunted director Michael Schultz was at the helm, eager to deliver a film with a young black hero, a rarity in 1985.
And unlike many colorful films from the 1980s that are cult classics today, The Last Dragon was a bonafide success, bringing in $33 million against its $10 million budget.
But that doesn’t guarantee this late-stage Motown highlight is a classic film still worth your time today.
So is The Last Dragon a good movie?
The Plot of The Last Dragon:
Martial arts pupil “Bruce” Leroy Green’s (Taimak) master (Thomas Ikeda) sends him on a quest to find Sum Dum Goy, a mysterious figure who can help him unlock the power of “the glow.”
As Leroy searches for Goy, he is continually disrupted by martial artist and self-proclaimed “Shogun of Harlem” Sho’nuff (Julius Carry), who attempts to bait Leroy into accepting his challenge.
Meanwhile, arcade tycoon Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney) plots to strong-arm local VJ Laura Charles (Denise Katrina Matthews/Vanity). Arkadian wants Charles to air his girlfriend, Angela Viracco’s (Faith Prince), music video on her popular TV show.
Charles refuses to air the video, and Arkadian retaliates by sending his goons to kidnap her.
Luckily, Leroy rescues Laura from the kidnapping, but unluckily, he makes an enemy of the arcade boss.
And as Laura and Leroy grow closer, he tramples his brother Richie’s (Leo O’Brien) romantic ambitions.
Will Laura and Leroy fend off Arkadian? And will Leroy discover the power of “the glow” and defeat Sho’nuff?
The Rest of the Main Cast Includes:
- Glen Eaton as Johnny Yu
- Mike Starr as “Rock”
- Jim Moody as Daddy Green
- Andre D. Brown as “Beast”
- Kirk Taylor as “Crunch”
- David Claudio as “Cyclone”
- Ernie Reyes Jr. as Tai
- Lisa Loving as Sho’s Woman #3
- Queen Esther Marrow as Mama Green
- Keshia Knight Pulliam as Sophia Green
- Jamal Mason as Roy
- B.J. Barie as Jackie
- Ariel Reed as Hood #1
- Chazz Palminteri as Hood #2
- Fredric Mao as Du Yi
- William H. Macy as J.J.
- Henry Yuk as Hu Yi
- Michael G. Chin as Lu Yi
- Carl Anthony Payne II as Kid In Pizza Shop
- London Reyes as Dancer
- Jeffrey Dawson as Security Guard
- Verne Williams as Cujo
The Good Things:
Enter the Leroy (and Sho’nuff), +6 Points
The opening scenes set the tone for this goofy, good-time martial arts adventure and spin up all the plot gears.
As the credits roll, it’s a training montage of “Bruce” Leroy. Zippy whooshy sound effects punctuate his punches and kicks.
Soon, Leroy’s bashing a wooden dummy while his master inexplicably fires live arrows at him.
As Leroy chops the pointy missiles, the camera pulls a snap zoom, a martial arts film staple, to the fallen arrowhead.
Minutes later, we’re in a movie theater matinee of Bruce Lee’s iconic Enter the Dragon. Leroy munches his popcorn with chopsticks, and the lively audience breakdances in the aisles.
But Sho’Nuff, complete with his gang’s clap-and-stomp coordinated choreography, enters the theater to crack down on all the fun. And when he challenges anyone in the audience to shut him down, an over-the-top brawl breaks out.
Leroy should be impaled by his master’s arrows, and Sho’nuff laughed out of the theater. But they aren’t. The opening scenes establish the stretched reality the film is having fun in.
A Touch of the Surreal, + 3 Points
Hitting theaters in ’85, this movie landed smack dab in the middle of the flamboyant 1980s and is like a parade of its oddball wonders.
Yet, it also embraces a touch of the surreal.
Rock (Mike Starr, who I often mistake for Danny Aiello) gleefully feeds entire pig legs to piranha or perhaps mutated sea bass lurking in Eddie’s fish tank. Looks like you can’t get far in the arcade business without making a few threats.
Angela, a parody of Madonna or Cyndi Lauper, wears a nonsensical purple triangle on her head and seems wrapped up in a baby’s plush snake toys. Later in the film, she’s performing her horrible traffic light number with flashing lights over her chest.
Sho’nuff and his goon squad look like a gang Cyrus left off the guest list for the gathering in The Warriors. But they sure can dig their animal prints and studded accessories.
William H. Macy has a cameo in a tinfoil technicolor dreamcoat.
And, of course, there’s the Rotoscoping spirit of “the glow.” If you have the power inside, you can flare your own jazzy warm night light.
Fun Performances, +6 Points
Lee O’Brien’s Richie is Leroy’s hip smack-talking kid brother. The precocious loudmouth out to woo the much older TV star Laura is the perfect foil for his Eastern-culture-obsessed, naive sibling.
O’Brien’s charm lets him rip playfully on Leroy or dance-wiggle out of the ropes the villains try to tie him up with.
Despite starring as Leroy, this was Taimak’s first film, and he had no formal acting training. Schultz had to teach him the fundamentals as they went.
Yet Taimak’s awkward performance, so straight with silly material, feels innocent and makes
his fish-out-of-water-in-his-own-backyard performance work. Had it been more tongue-in-cheek, it could have fallen apart.
But the prize performance goes to Julius Carry’s Sho’nuff. He’s like a character you could slip into those loud and hilarious Old Spice commercials with Terry Crews.
Most of his scenes are pro-wrestling promos, and you can tell the actor is having a blast.
Like a villain from The Karate Kid, he shouts at full volume and never winks at the audience. He shows no mercy to Daddy Green’s pizza joint or when he’s ordering Leroy to “kiss my Converse.”
Actual Martial Arts, +2 Points
This is a comedy martial arts film, but it’s (thankfully) not a spoof.
Taimak is a real martial artist, and martial artist/actor Ron Van Clief did choreography. And Van Clief trained up the inexperienced Carry so that villain Sho’ nuff’s threats weren’t empty words.
Had the movie mailed in the fight scenes, it would have shattered the tone and slipped into slapstick.
The Not-As-Good Things:
Motown Missing the Mark, -3 Points
As a movie that’s a glorified Motown commercial, the entire music video for Debarge’s Billboard-topping hit, Rhythm of the Night, plays on Laura’s TV show.
But Motown really was on its way out if these were the best punches producer Gordy could throw.
The critics’ pick was Stevie Wonder’s “Upset Stomach.” And that title sounds like an unintentional warning about the rest of the soundtrack.
Two songs were nominated for awards – just the Golden Raspberry kind, not the Grammys.
The first is Vanity’s 7th Heaven, a song she performs not so much dancing as awkwardly gesturing and holding her ground. But you can’t blame her. The song’s a hot mess. You can’t find the beat against the blaring of synthesizers and horrible guitar.
The second is the forgettable title theme. It manages to be the most generic 80s tune you can make without stumbling into anything exciting. It’s upbeat but lacks a guitar or keyboard hook that can stick with you.
“Authentic” Doesn’t Mean Compelling, -3 Points
Just like “authentic” Asian takeout can get upstaged by fusion street eats from a trendy food truck, the film’s martial arts are legitimate but bland.
It’s a letdown. I wasn’t expecting flashy Hong Kong action film flare, but the movie is low on stunts or novel fighting environments. Bruce Lee imitations are its only trick (and those only work when it’s Shaolin Soccer).
And the ending goes 3-Ninjas or B-Movie anti-classic Tiger Heart.
Kids from Leroy’s dojo, short enough to fail the “You Must Be This Tall” test to ride solo at a theme park, take on Arkadian’s baddies, turning things into a playground of dumb chaos.
But at least there’s a cameo here from TMNT2’s Ernie Reyes, Jr. (Keno, who delivered the pizzas).
Time to Get Going, -4 Points
Like three Halloween parties in a week, the movie overstays its welcome. A film you’d peg at 90 minutes, tops, crawls its way to 107.
After an hour or so, it has milked the jokes from its solid premise and tries to grow up into being a movie, but it can’t find solid legs.
Since the combat isn’t breathtaking, you’re not awaiting that final showdown with Sho’nuff like a boxing match to end a Rocky movie.
And Leroy and Laura’s somewhat endearing romance is just a simple matter of getting over his shyness.
I wish the film would either have cut some of its scenes or found a way to trim their length.
Should I Watch The Last Dragon?
Total Arbitrary Points Score: 7 Points
The Last Dragon is a wacky, enjoyable mesh of Kung-Fu films and 80s culture with an at-times surreal touch.
But while it has some fun performances, the martial arts are pedestrian. It runs out of gas before it’s over, and the Motown soundtrack is the whimpers of a dying brand.
Casual filmgoers may not be in love here. Still, anyone nostalgic for the 80s will find total gold, as it’s a complete product of that decade.
So if you want a few laughs and want to see a genuinely odd idea to help connect
Kung-fu-loving kids with the magic of Motown, check out The Last Dragon.
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Disclaimer:
This review’s factual information was gathered through online sources, like Wikipedia, IMDB, or interviews. Misrepresentations and errors are possible but unintentional.
Making art is hard. This is a fan’s blog. Any criticisms are meant to be constructive.
