This movie was special. I don't mean special like 2 6-piece McNuggets for $2.22 special. I mean Olympics special. It's the classic tale of a martial arts student from Harlem trying to find the Master only to realize that the true Master is within.
Oops. Did I give it away? Darn.
So, we have an all-American brutha from Harlem who is trying to get to the final level in his Kung Fu training. His name is Leroy. His arch-rival is the Shogun of Harlem, Sho'nuff. Yes, that's his name. Now, the rivalry between Sho'nuff and "Bruce" Leroy is much like the rivalry between Eminem and Moby. Sho'nuff hates Leroy, and Leroy doesn't care.
Leroy also has a little brother who's in love with the pre-MTV video show host. Leroy has a habit of saving her life. She goes for Leroy. It's sort of a love triangle, only really lame. It's more of a love oval.
So, Sho'nuff keeps disrupting things and insists on looking more and more like a samurai version of Dee Snider. Bruce Leroy keeps looking for the Master. In his quest for the Master, he has gotten in touch with his roots as an African American from Harlem. He wears simpl Chinese garb and speaks only in broken English. I can see how the simple Chinese garb can have something to do with his martial arts training; the whole thing about embracing simplicity, but there's no need to talk like Commander Data throughout the entire movie. He is neither an immigrant nor an android.
Ultimately, he finds the Master within, starts glowing orange, and pretends to be Emperor Palpatine. He beats Sho'nuff and gets the girl. Now he needs to learn one last thing.
Dancing.
Watch for the small cameo by Academy Award Winner William H. Macy, and feel the beat of the rhythm of the night.