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| This movie gets better as it goes on, ending up being a martial arts movie classic. |
The Last Dragon (also known as Berry Gordy's Last Dragon) is a martial arts comedy movie released in the United States in 1985 and stars Taimak Guarriello, Vanity, Julius Carry, Leo O'Brien, Christopher Murney, Faith Prince, Glen Eaton, Mike Starr, and Ernie Reyes Jr. The Last Dragon was directed by Michael Schultz, with martial arts choreographed by Torrance Mathis, Ernie Reyes Sr., and Ron Van Clief.
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| Taimak as Leroy Green. There is a lot of questionable cultural appropriation in this movie, by the way. |
In The Last Dragon, Taimak plays Leroy Green (nicknamed Bruce Leeroy), a kindhearted martial arts student who wants to become a master martial artist like his idol, Bruce Lee. Leroy's master tells him that he must find the "last dragon", the final level of martial arts mastery. At this level, a martial artist will be able to control his inner energy in such a way that his whole body will glow, giving him or her great power. The master tells him where the master of "The Glow" lives, so Leroy goes in search of him. With half of a gold medal that once belonged to Bruce Lee, Leroy goes on a quest to find this master, who has the other half of the medal and the knowledge to master "the glow". Leroy runs into a lot of wacky and zany characters in search of this final master, including the "Shogun of Harlem", Sho'nuff (played by Julius Carry). Sho'nuff loudly proclaims himself to be the top martial artist in the city and isn't above beating up innocent people to prove it. After finding out about Leroy Green's martial arts skill, he wants to fight him in a duel, but Leroy refuses to accept the challenge.
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| Leroy Green and Laura (played by Vanity) enjoying Bruce Lee clips playing on a video wall. I would have the same reaction! |
While all of this is happening, Eddie Arkadian (played by Christopher Murney), a sleazy arcade business owner, wants his girlfriend Angela Viracco's (played by Faith Prince) music videos played on Laura Charles' music video show. Laura (played by Vanity) refuses to play Angela's videos, so Eddie gets his henchmen to kidnap her. Leroy ends up saving Laura, and through this (and other circumstances) they become friends. Eventually, Eddie Arkadian and Sho'nuff join forces, and Leroy has to decide whether he should use his martial arts skill to stop them. Does Leroy find the final master and learn "the glow"? Can he defeat Sho'nuff and stop Eddie Arkadian's criminal activities?
The Last Dragon is one of those movies I've heard about for years, but never had a chance (or really a desire) to watch it. I saw some scenes of it on TV when my cousin was watching it randomly one day, but it didn't really look appealing to me. Decades later, I have decided to give this movie a chance. It was on Pluto TV On Demand, so I decided "why not?" After a shaky start, I ended up really liking this movie!
This movie shows a lot of respect towards Bruce Lee, with a lot of references to him throughout, and a lot of clips from his movies (even referred to by their correct titles, as they were known as at that time). Considering this movie was released by Columbia Tristar, it was surprising to see clips from Enter The Dragon (1973) in there along with clips from his Hong Kong films. Bruce Lee is the ultimate martial artist in this movie, despite what Sho'nuff thinks!
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| Sho'nuff (played by Julius Carry) is one of cinema's greatest villains! Julius Carry should have won some kind of acting award for this performance, not joking. |
This movie is mainly a comedy, and it is funny for the most part. Unfortunately, there is a lot of goofy comedy, too. For some people, all this comedy would make them not take the movie seriously. If you stick with the movie, a shift in the plot puts the comedy on the back burner, and it becomes more of a straight up martial arts movie. This is where I really became interested in The Last Dragon. When Leroy Green has to face everything he's been avoiding or has been unsure about, is when the movie becomes awesome. You really root for Leroy Green throughout the movie, and you always hope for the best for him.
The performances of the actors vary, though there is no one that is truly terrible. Taimak as Leroy mainly speaks in a calm, wise way. He says mainly dialogue that is full of wisdom. He is great at awkward comedy. The scene between him and Vanity in her car is probably Taimak's best non-action scene in the movie. Vanity as Laura is really likeable, while Christopher Murney as Eddie Arkadian is truly detestable. Glen Eaton as Johnny Yu, Leroy's martial arts student, is really funny (though some could find him annoying), and Faith Prince brings a lot of emotion to a very comedic role (and she has a great, cartoony voice). The best actors of the movie are Leo O'Brien as Richie, Leroy's younger brother, and Julius Carry as Sho'nuff. Leo says his dialogue so naturally, and is hilarious doing it. That kid should have become a bigger star. Julius Carry is charismatic to the max. Even though he is an over the top character, he is totally believable. Another actor that should have become a bigger star after this movie.
As for the action in The Last Dragon, it's okay. Not bad, but it doesn't compare to the Hong Kong fight scenes of the same period. In the early fight scenes of the movie, we get an idea of the skill levels of both Leroy and Sho'nuff. These fights are a bit more simple in choreography. When we get to the final fights, the choreography becomes a bit more complicated. As you can imagine, since this is an American movie, the editing and camera work do not showcase the fights in the best way. At the end, we get to see Ernie Reyes Jr. bust loose on some bad guys, in a huge group battle. Taimak takes part in the group fight, and then eventually faces off against Sho'nuff. Julius Carry was not a trained martial artist, but he really went all out in his fight scenes. Taimak is a really talented martial artist and stuntman, and he got to show it off throughout this movie. His final fight against Sho'nuff is definitely a classic martial arts battle that will have you cheering by the end.
In conclusion, I highly recommend watching The Last Dragon. It's good, clean fun! It is lighthearted, funny, action-packed, and respectful towards Black and Asian culture. This is a movie of it's time, though; with references to arcades (though not really showing any games), music videos, and hip hop in the 1980s. Taimak should've become a bigger star after this movie, as well as several of his co-stars. Watch this movie for the Bruce Lee homages, the final fight scenes, and to see Taimak glow for one brief moment in movie history.
Here is the movie trailer:
Reviewed by David Williams
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