Die Krieger des Tao-Universums

I watched "Warriors Of Virtue" with my 9 year old son a few nights ago, and I can only say that this is easily one of the worst films of any kind I have seen in my 50 plus years of avid film consumption. I enjoy kids movies, martial arts movies, action/adventure movies, fish-out-of-water movies, and just about any genre of film that "Warriors Of Virtue" could possibly belong to. Hell, I like a lot of just plain bad movies, but this was just dreadful. It may have been Shakespeare or perhaps Benny Hill who observed that comparisons are odious, but I couldn't help noticing the similarities between "Warriors Of Virtue" and your average episode of "Power Rangers"(my kid, god bless him, was a big fan in the first grade).

Half-baked and tone-deaf in conception, amateurish in execution, I can imagine simpletons the world over drew figurative lines in the sand in solidarity over their collective objection to the use of the word simplistic to describe this film. Half-wits would look at "Warriors Of Virtue" and wonder just where in hell the money went. It certainly wasn't spent on developing a narrative that makes any sense, three-dimensional characters, professional acting, staging, or direction. "Warriors" was pre-CGI, so I can accept that the special effects work was corny, but...kangaroos? Seriously? This movie is resolutely and resoundingly grind-your-teeth-into-nubbins stupid.

I agree whole heartedly with Gene Siskel that this was just a cheap and mediocre hybrid of Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a failed attempt to ride on the coattails of both franchises.

Ryan Jeffers (Mario Yedidia) is a young, disabled boy named who, after being goaded by school bullies, winds up falling into a whirlpool that transports him to a fantasy world called Tao. There he meets the Warriors of Virtue led by Master Chung (Chao-Li Chi). Together, they must defeat the evil overlord Komodo (Angus Macfadyen) before he can conquer Tao, and then move on to Earth itself.

The story moved at a sluggish pace. Ryan is largely useless and spends more time complaining and asking questions than actually helping the heroes or impacting the plot. In fact, the titular warriors aren't very complex and don't get much chance to shine, thanks to Ryan being in the spotlight most of the time. Speaking of which, the warrior costumes were cheesy and ugly with poor lip syncing and obviously fake prosthetic tails.

The stunts and martial arts moves were fairly impressive, but this was mitigated by choppy editing and excessive blurring in most of the fight scenes.

Admittingly, there was some nice scenery, such as the interior and exterior of Komodo's fortress and the lush, forested lifestream where the free people live. Plus, there were some pretty funny and over the top moments, such as when Ming used his flashy martial arts moves to prepare and deliver orders at the restaurant he works. Finally, Angus Macfadyen's hammy performance was better than the rest, and is by far the most enjoyable part of the movie.

Still, any kid who grew up in the 90s (such as myself) would have turned this down for TMNT or Power Rangers any day of the week.

This movie was actually very good for what it was trying to do, which is give a summary (very simply) of the VERY esoteric chinese philosophy of Taoism. Those who know nothing of Taoism will definitely find that this movie does not make much sense in some places.

All of the characters are embodiments of the virtues and faults presented in the Taoist Philosophy. Yes, this makes for quite the challenge to present it in childrens movie no less.

The movie is fun if you dont take it to seriously. It would seem that some of the people posting here thought they were there to see Gone With the Wind or some other Epic or adult piece. Take it as lighthearted and as a possible education on a foreign way of thought, if you are into that new things. (Then again you could just read books on Taoism to get a somewhat clearer view)

3 out of 5 for production, 4 out 5 for accomplishment

So many people are saying that this movie is not worth their time. I am a movie fanatic, and this movie is a perfect movie for people of all ages. It is similar to the Dark Crystal, and many others like it. But what makes this one different is that actual little kids or people with disabilities that have never fit in with the crowd can watch this movie and get some confidence from it. I sure that we all need something or other to show us that we're all right for who we are and maybe that the real message this movie was sending. Go on and think that this movie is horrible, but no matter what I'll show it to my kid and my grandkids, because I enjoyed this movie.

This film is one of those forgotten 90s rip-offs from the Ninja Turtle fall out. It's easy to forget how insane the turtle craze was but it is also easy to forget that the original TMNT movie was actually pretty decent. Most of it's sequels and copies were not.

Which brings us to this little gem...

It's a film so bad it's good. The fight scenes are sloe-mo with wind-blown leaves for no reason other than effect. The warriors of virtue are kangaroos with martial art skills, they personify the virtues eg patience....and it's fight to the death between good and evil. All told it's a great movie for kids that the adults can enjoy while pretending to be too old for it.