But, far from being a flimsy visual vehicle to hang some songs on, The Last Dragon is a brilliant piece of work that uses stylish silliness to put across some serious messages. It’s rooted in its time (the mid-80s) and place (New York) but has stood the test of time, remained unique and just celebrated its 30th anniversary with a series of conventions and screenings all across the US.
The hero of the film is Leroy Green (Taimak), known around Harlem as ‘Bruce Leroy’ due to his obsession with Bruce Lee and martial arts. He’s seeking the final level of enlightenment in his training but his master can teach him no more, so Leroy must find his own path in the world. Opportunity presents itself in the form of three unlikely characters. One is Sho’Nuff, The Shogun Of Harlem (Julius Carry), a flamboyant local thug who’s terrorizing the neighbourhood with his gang of crazy-haired minions. Another is Eddie Arkadian (Chris Murney), a Mafioso arcade game king looking to muscle his way into music videos. And finally there’s Laura Charles (Vanity), the hottest VJ in town whose Video Hotpix show brings all these characters together for an outlandish, neon-drenched climax. There’s a lot to love about The Last Dragon and part of that is because it has so much love of its own to give.
0 kommentar(er)
