This movie is a strange time capsule of the late 1990s, falling into the odd little subgenre of "kids' fantasy movie" that was quite popular in that decade, but seems to have faded away into obscurity. At a time when Power Rangers was arguably at the height of it's popularity, this strange mix of late twentieth century adolescent filmmaking and classical Chinese philosophy might leave the average viewer perplexed. Originally conceived by Chinese superstar producing team the Law Brothers (more movies than I can count) after the passing of their father, Warriors of Virtue follows Ryan (Mario Yedidia; the very definition of milquetoast), your average kid from the suburbs who is magically transported to the mystical realm of Tao (the pronunciation of which the mostly-American cast seems incapable of nailing down), joining forces with a team of anthropomorphic kangaroos who know wire-fu (don't ask) in the struggle against the fashion-challenged warlord Komodo (Angus Macfayden, more on him later) and his army of generic goons. Mixed in are a series of periodic pop-philosophical platitudes that don't really seem to tie in to the overall story and characters. For a film where the Taoist philosophy is made the main focus, it feels incredibly artificial and tacked-on, as if the screenwriter(s) didn't fully understand it. This is compounded by the simple fact that no one seems to pronounce the word properly. (For the record, it's pronounced with a hard 'D' sound, as in 'Dao') You would think that a movie made by a mostly-Chinese crew partially filmed in China would have gotten this fairly noticeable detail right. It gives the impression that the filmmakers simply weren't trying. The set design comes across as bland and uninspired. It's every 'magical' forest you've ever seen in a movie or TV show. The movie wastes a potential opportunity to showcase some truly inspired production design, considering China's rich artistic and architectural history. The cinematography by powerhouse Hong Kong DP Peter Pau (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is equally disappointing, coming across as incredibly bland, flat, and lifeless, with an overuse of slow-motion and a strange blur effect that makes many of the action sequences difficult to watch. The acting ranges from unfathomably hammy (Komodo is simply a joy to watch every time he's on screen) to blandly competent (Ryan is every protagonist from every kids movie ever made). The suits used for the eponymous Warriors come across as more unsettling than memorable, though the legendary Doug Jones (as the warrior Yee) does make an admirable acting effort. The stunt-work, while skillfully handled, isn't anything we haven't seen before and fails to impress. Veteran director Ronny Yu (The Bride With White Hair, Freddy Vs Jason) makes an admirable effort, but fails to show off any of the same energy and talent that made his Hong Kong films stand out. The only aspect of the film that rises above average is the incredible score by Don Davis (The Matrix, House on Haunted Hill). If anything, it shows that even the most unremarkable of films can still have memorable music. And that's really what this film is, unremarkable. It's isn't particularly bad. The acting is fine overall, script moves a long at a swift pace, and the effects work is decent. But that's all it is. Decent. It's watchable, yes, but far from extraordinary. And for a film about Taoist Kangaroos who know martial arts, that is a sin greater than any other.
Review of Warriors of Virtue
