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The Last Dragon remake with Jackson

TheLastDragon.jpgWhen I saw this story something flashed in my head, The Last Dragon? I'm sure I remember that film, and Samuel L. Jackson's name was attached so I thought I'd read it. Then I saw the picture of the villain and I remembered that I really enjoyed the movie when it first came out, I just couldn't remember much about it.

So I tracked down an extended trailer for the film, a trailer that actually gives away the entire original film! Luckily I found another one that's much less revealing. However cheesy it looks I like the idea of a remake...but Samuel L. Jackson? Not so sure.

You see the baddie in the film, Sho'nuff, or the Shogun of Harlem, does a fair bit of martial arts, is pretty fit, and without any offence intended to the great Samuel L. Jackson, he's a bit older for the role I would think...and does he know Kung-Fu? Just plug him in to the Hollywood Matrix.

The film is a pretty standard tale in the martial arts series of films that came out of Hollywood, but I liked this one a little more than Karate Kid et al, because it has a much more advanced martial artist good guy, and contains a lot more Bruce Lee nods and references. It's more like the final chapter in the artist's journey, rather than the opening ones.

You know I've said that and it sounds pretty good, but to be honest, looking at the trailers now it looks cheesy and dated. However that still means fun! Looking at a modern remake might be a great idea, the question is could Samuel L. Jackson really pull off the lead bad guy?

Apparently so. According to /Film he's signed for the part and the film is being written by Dallas Jackson, the head of the record label DJ Classicz and RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan is producing. Now considering how much music was involved in the original, I would guess that this is a good move, and that we're going to see a much more Hip-Hop inspired film.

The original starred Taimak as Leroy Green, a young black martial arts artist who is searching for the final level of his training, a mysterious energy called The Glow. On the way he becomes involved in the rescuing of a singer called Laura Charles, played by Vanity, from her rather insane music promoter, and battle another martial artist called Sho'nuff, played by Julius Carry, who seems to be on a similar quest, albeit a much darker one.