Customer Reviews

Warriors of Virtue

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The story of WOV is about a boy who always wished he was something more. Ryan is a boy who has a crippled knee, and has always dreamed of playing football and just being normal. His friend gives him a book, telling him it is his way to "finding himself." Ryan scoffs at it, but takes it. But when he is sucked into a churning water pool in a freak accident, it transports him to a world unlike any other. There, he must aid the Warriors of Virtue, a band of Roos who command the forces of nature. In the end, it becomes a quest to defeat the forces of evil, and a journey to find his way back home.

This movie greatly focuses on the idea of not what you have on the outside, but what is inside. Ryan's quest to become stronger on the outside becomes a quest to get home, which can only be done by understanding what was inside him.

I have seen this movie several times, and I still rewatch it. After seeing it the first time rented; I immediately went ut and bought it. This movie is not for some because it takes an imagination to truly enjoy. If you truly enjoy fantasy and a movie that makes you think about the message, this may be one for you.

To be frank, this movie gives the feeling of a thrown together, have a happy ending kid movie. But when u see its villain, all conventions disappear. Komodo has to be one of the best villains in this genre of film. I find myself renting it over and over , just to watch the scenes with him in it. Angus Macfayden brings a quirky and somewhat comedic attitude but thats balanced by the sadistic evil we know lies in Komodo because of his ruthlessness. Now i admit, parents may not like choice scenes in the movie such as Alicia's new outfits as she joins Komodo and the sex kitten attitude. Now this is to parents looking to buy this movie. There is a curse word and i myself, who watched it before as a child, did not remember it being there so be on the watch. There is only one so it wont do much damage to the young viewer. But it might get them repeating it. There is a good bit of violence and some bloodshed, which is what i meant by conventions being shattered as the villain enters the story. To be honest i find Angus in this role to be dangerous and sexy, which keeps my coming back. As for the heroes, i do like how they made them non conventional ie kangaroos. It twists the story a bit and gets the kids rooting for the cute karate kangaroos, which is the aim of the filmakers. The fight sequences are spectacular. With a director like John Woo, you come to find great action sequences and here is no exception. My one probablem, which is why there is one less star, is the abysmal script. Even though there are memorable lines, the rest of it drags the story down like the titanic and leaves you going huh? Other then that the rest is all good and i thank John Woo for giving a non forgetable villain.

This film is just boring in every comprehension of the word. The Kangaroos have no character. The lead kid isn't interesting. The philosophy is phoned in. The magic world is unimaginative. The only thing that you might like is the weirdo villain and that's because he's so over the top bad. I give this film a 1 out of 10.

"Warriors of Virtue" is a hilariously cheesy movie with martial arts kangaroos, a Chinese cook who puts the Iron Chefs to shame, and the most flamboyant villain this side of the Castro. It steals heavily from "The Neverending Story",a mishmash of what might be Taoist philosophy,and even "Tank Girl" when it comes to the warrior kangaroos. As in "Neverending",a nerdy boy battles the forces of Evil thanks to a magic book. Mario Yedida stars as said nerdy hero, Ryan Jeffers. Angus Macfayden,who's apparently done better work, stars as the flamboyant villain Komodo, who has memorable lines like "does purple suit me?"

There's plenty of exposition. Some long scenes are spent in conversation... with some battle scenes thrown in. For a kiddie movie, it's boring. Being boring and sappy are NOT virtues,despite what this movie might say!

Yes, I am aware of it's imperfections, but still I love that film. It's miles above the majority of kiddie productions.

My son has a collection of action figures from movies and video games and the Roos are the best. Their design is so strikingly unexpected!

The action sequences are shot very artfully - all these leaves floating in the streams of Power, the resolved fighting of these who HAVE to fight, the total absence of JackyChanesque "funny" grimaces.

My son and nephew were obsessed by the movie for days, confronting each other with these - You came uninvited! - - Come on and pla-ay!!!- phrases, having their try at the art of flying kicks.

The film is kind, the baddies are redempted at the end but all that with the minimal level of saccharine preaching.

I want to thank the Law brothers and Ronny Yu, stuntmen and designers, who made the miracle happen. I've bought the VHS and later the DVD, recommended the film to all my friends who have sons - I want to let the people behind that film know that their effort is very much appreciated.

While John Woo, Corey Yuen, Tsui Hark, and Ringo Lam chose relatively basic action movies to make their American mainstream debut, Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (Jet Li's Fearless) undertook an ambitious fantasy film about anthropomorphic kangaroos to introduce himself to the western world. As fun of an idea as this is and as much as I enjoyed this movie as a kid, a recent re-viewing was illuminating as to why this movie hasn't achieved accolades beyond its minor cult status. I want to like it, but its unsubstantiated deficiencies in writing, production, and action content weigh heavily on its watchability.

The story: a disabled young dreamer named Ryan (Mario Yedidia, Under Wraps) inexplicably enters the world of Tao - a fantastical realm housing the conflict between the tyrannical warlord Komodo (Angus Macfadyen, Braveheart) and the kung fu-practicing defenders of peace, the Roos. It will be Ryan's ability to read the mythical Manuscript of Legend that decides the outcome of the final battle for Komodo's supremacy of Tao.

You could argue either way about whether the storyline is widely encompassing in its expansiveness or if it's simply running off in too many directions, but I vote for the latter. It's difficult to determine what the movie is trying to focus on, since there are about five or six different subplots going on (e.g. Ryan's personal journey, the relationship between the Roos, Komodo's increasing mental instability, the inner conflict of Tom Towles' General Grillo, and more), few of which outweigh any of the others in terms of screentime. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if the characters were actually interesting, but I'm afraid that those who aren't bland (e.g. the Roos and their wizened old master, played by Chao Li Chi of Falcon Crest) are overdone and outright annoying to the point that you don't want to see them again (e.g. most of the primary henchmen and Marley Shelton of Planet Terror as a turncoat maiden). Somehow, Ryan manages to be both. Angus Macfadyen showed some potential by playing Komodo as a cross between Caligula and Alice Cooper, but he too lapses into periods of nonsensical screaming and giggling that won't intimidate anyone over the age of ten.

Mind you, the Roos could have been more interesting, had they been designed better (and, of course, if they had more time to interact with eachother, but that's not the point). Compared to the hyper-expressive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the animatronics governing the Roos' facial expressions are basic and don't convey as much as is necessary to make them seem like real beings. However, the suits look admirably good in fight scenes. There aren't too many of these battles, but the few that are present are choreographed by Siu Ming Tsui (Twin Dragons) and are pretty decent for an American film (the legendary Tony Ching is also credited in a "special thanks" capacity, so perhaps he had a hand in the action/stunt content as well). In turn, they are tarnished by having been filmed at a reduced frame rate, making the picture stylistically choppy and unflattering to fast-paced onscreen action. Apparently, American producers had yet to learn that a fight scene could simply be a fight scene, without the need for stupid post-production tricks to make you forget that you actually wanted to see kangaroos doing martial arts.

The production design ranges between impressive (e.g. Komodo's chamber) and "wow, that looks like a set" (e.g. the Life Spring village), making it difficult to go along with the film's tone at times. I felt pretty detached from the story and action and cared little for the fates of the characters, the majority of the time. The second 50 minutes of the movie are much better than the boring opening half, but good luck to you if you can get that far into the film without losing interest. "Warriors of Virtue" isn't a bad movie - some of my favorite people in the world consider it fantastic - but its appeal is limited and I can't help but think it didn't turn out the way the filmmakers were expecting. View with caution.

I'm all about cheesy/retro 90's kids movies, but this was just really boring and not likable. The villain, Komodo, is awesome, but one cool character does not save a movie.

Had it not been for the lead villian, this movie would have been boring for me. He was crazy, but a little charming as well. The fight scenes were teriffic also. Overall, the movie was okay to me.

this is the most ridiculously awesome movie i have seen in my entire life - kangaroo ninjas!!! it doesn't get any better than that. wow, what a trip ryan, what a trip. makes me want to grow some big back legs and a pouch and learn kung fu. great movie.