A wild and wacky dose of neon-shaded night club jams and inner-city kung fu action that snags the spirit of silly 1980s big-box cinema in a quaint, lower-budget bottle. Wearing its Hong Kong inspiration on both sleeves, _The Last Dragon_ tracks a skilled, naïve young martial artist in his quest to walk the honorable path through an increasingly dark, jaded urban streetscape. On an open-ended trek to discover and master an ill-defined mystical power, he dodges challenges and provocations, crosses a corporate bigwig, rescues a sorta-famous singer / late-night TV host and defends the honor of the family pizza parlor.

Clunky and awkward, but in precisely the ways that usually work for movies of this vintage, this plucky cult film draws strength from its many holes and missteps. Take the leading man, for example; Taimak (aka Bruce Leeroy) was lifted straight from the local martial arts scene and learned to act on the job. The inexperience shows - really, really shows - but his blunt delivery and vacant expressions jive with the ultra-pure, simplistic character he’s playing. And, when it comes time to put up or shut up in the final battle, his transformation from a vanilla do-gooder to a newly confident, empowered ass-kicker is all the more effective for it. He still can’t act, but that’s not so important when you’re just spitting cool lines and trading lightning-gold wheel kicks with the Shogun of Harlem.

In the end, this a decidedly mixed bag. The opening chapter is electric, a joyous helping of pure ‘80s mayhem that’s so deliciously ludicrous, I wanted to share clips with everyone in my address book. It lulls badly in the middle, where we’re assaulted by several atrocious musical numbers and the story does nothing but tread water, but the payoff is worth those labor-heavy scenes. Come to think of it, a more proficient production may have actually spoiled this sauce. Let’s call it enthusiastically flawed.

With "The Last Dragon" it really depends on when you saw it. If you saw it as a child in the 80s, well, it's crazy good. It's Chinatown excellent. It's one of the most beloved movies of your childhood and it lingers into your adult years with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

Honestly though, if you are walking into it now...it's a bit dated and in the cheesiest possible way. But then, even in the 80s it was trying hard to be cheesy, just, unlike it's peers, some of the cheese didn't age well.

Fortunately though, it holds it's own in that little notch, the Black-Fu subgenre of blacksploitation, and it holds its own in the funnest possible way.

The Bad Guys are over-the-top and hysterically so. The hero is brilliantly naive and pulls off the wang chung with an ease that is convincing for a kung fu movie. It's choreographed extremely well for the budget, making the action believable and blends seamlessly into the humor and cheese.

If you watched it as a child in the 80s, it will remain on of your absolute favorite films. If you're seeing it for the first time, well, it's not exactly timeless, you won't love it as much, but there is still enough there to amuse you and keep you entertained, it's still worth the time to watch.