"Umbrella" chanteuse Rihanna has reportedly nabbed the role as a roundhouse-kicking dominatrix, in the upcoming remake of the 1985 R&B martial arts fantasy The Last Dragon.
Rihanna's character wasn't in the original film, but it's nice to see some star power attached to the project. The Last Dragon is one of those select 1980s movie that indistinguishably oscillates between "awesomely bad" and "awesomely awesome." You seriously cannot tell. You'll laugh at The Last Dragon, but you won't be sure whether you're laughing from ironic amusement or because you have Stendhal Syndrome and have been driven mad by the film's sheer aesthetic profundity.
Anyway, the 1985 film featured "Bruce Leroy," a budding martial artist who searches for the ultimate level of martial arts superiority, a.k.a. "The Glow." His nemesis Sho'nuff, "The Shogun of Harlem" (and Samuel L. Jackson in the remake!), pursues The Glow as well and seeks to best Bruce in battle. Prince's ex-girlfriend Vanity also sings a bunch of songs for no reason, other than the fact that the film was produced by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.
Here's the final scene of the original. Warning: the spectacle may cause your eyeballs to melt into little puddles of optical mush.
[via Hindustan Times]