Wendy Wu

The theme of Chinese marital arts on a Disney Original Movie caught the attention of my kids. I watched it with them last night when it was replayed. I also got hooked and entertained with the way the story developed. It was very interesting to see an Asian-American character as the girl to beat to become Homecoming Queen. She was frankly quite annoying in those scenes where she was trying her darnedest to shake off the Buddhist monk Shen, but the light mood of the whole movie made it tolerable. The scenes where Shen involved Wendy's teachers during training and the climactic fight were very action-packed yet with a sense of humor. You are willing just to overlook those impossible scenes (like how Wendy changed into her Chinese fighting garb at the museum that her Grandma brought for her, among many others). Oh well, it is all in good fun!

Brenda Song is probably best known for being London Tipton, the dimwitted daughter of a wealthy hotel owner in The Suite Life of Zach & Cody. She proves in this film she can do more than be a pretty face! She said in a behind the scenes documentary for this film that she took karate classes as a child (even though she wanted to do ballet) and the really paid off! She kicks major booty in this DCOM.

The Basic Plot: Wendy Wu (Song) is a young lady hopeful of being Homecoming queen, but it is not until a young monk (Shin Koyomada) reveals to her that she is part of a prophecy...and that an evil force has been released and it is her duty to bring it down...but Wendy will have to hang up her prom gown and her hopes of becoming homecoming queen as well...

This is unlike any DCOM I've ever seen! Amazing special effects and martial arts choreography. I give it and 8/10

This is basic Disney fare. Cute and kinda of funny...clearly aimed at teen and pre-teen audiences. No problem there..but I did have a problem with Brenda Song trying to step away fromo her "London Tipton" role...she barely pulled it off. At any moment I was expecting a dumb comment or one of those vauge "duh" looks to come over her. She obviously was playing a bit of a spoiled high school girl..not a real stretch I suppose. The idea of the story was nothing new...it was pure Disney. What always gets me in these films is while these magical things are going on..no normal person in the film seems to notice anything. In this one...I wondered why the Grandmother had not bothered to start training her granddaughter earlier if she khew what was going to happen? As always...Disney stories involve growing up and finding happy endings..which this one does...after quite a bit of annoying things in between.

This movie was a joy to see. An interesting story line with great action scenes. It should rank with The Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, and other successful Disney Channel films. Though some of the special effects were not the best (what can you expect with a TV movie) it still showed effort.It also showed the amazing acting skills of The Joy Luck Club star Tsai Chin playing the grandmother of Wendy. The true amazement was shown by Disney Channel veteran but not yet star Brenda Song. Her wonderful acting in this film will take her to new heights in the Disney Corporation. Shin Koyamada playing the very religious yet heartthrob monk-trainer Shen was also a good choice for the role. I hope that you will take my advice and make an effort to see this movie. I am sure you wont regret it.

I've always been a fan of kung fu kind of movies, and this movie really surprised me. For something off of Disney this movie felt totally geared towards teens or at least the older children group. There was a lot of humor in this and Disney did not cheat us out of special effects. It was pretty neat that they got Shin Koyamada ('The Last Samurai')to play in this movie and the plot of the story was very original. Normal Teenage girl finds out she's the next warrior to fight for good and tries to escape her fate at first. She gives in for training and does what she has to do basically, all while trying to win the title of Homecoming Queen. I loved it basically! ^_^ It's worth sitting down to watch!