Bruce Lee... versus Brad Pitt?. The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino's latest film just dropped, and it seems to be the moment everybody's talking about. But did the badassest guy who ever lived have to be the comic relief?
Plot details are still pretty scant, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follows faded television actor Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his stunt double Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, striving to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.
Amidst a lot of quick cut vintage Hollywood imagery, the teaser shows a black-clad Bruce Lee, played by Mike Moh, claiming his hands are registered lethal weapons. "We get into a fight, I accidentally kill you... I go to jail."
Pitt, unimpressed, retorts, "Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail. It's called manslaughter."
Cut to the two engaging in some gung fu tusslin'.
Historically speaking, it checks out that Bruce Lee would be in this movie, circa 1969. He was acting and teaching martial arts in Hollywood during this time, and was a contemporary of the likes of Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Sharon Tate. However, in the trailer, he appears to be wearing his costume from The Green Hornet, which filmed in 1966 to 1967, though his hair length seems closer to the style he rocked around 1969.
Mike Moh looks, sounds and moves great as Bruce Lee -- always a challenging task for any performer to get just right. But dammit, I hate that he isn't taken very seriously in this footage. A genuine Asian American icon, doing what he does best... and reduced to the butt of a joke? It comes off rather silly. Yes, it's only like 15 seconds of the film, but I get a little sensitive when it comes to Bruce.
Then again, maybe we'll get to see Bruce kick Brad Pitt's ass. Hey, they killed Hitler in Inglourious Basterds (spoiler alert!). To hell with history. Maybe Bruce will kick Charles Manson's ass.
