Subject: REVIEW: WARRIORS OF VIRTUE (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Steve Rhodes)
Date: 6 May 1997 00:49:11 GMT

WARRIORS OF VIRTUE
                       A film review by Steve Rhodes
                        Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ** 1/2

     WARRIORS OF VIRTUE features five organic superheroes, who must
rely on the natural weapons of earth, water, metal, wood, and fire to
fight their battles.  They possess the classic virtues of benevolence,
righteousness, order, wisdom and loyalty, and their creed does not
permit them to kill, even in the heat of battle.  Their hokey latex
suits make them look like donkeys standing on their hind legs, but
actually they are supposed to be fighting kangaroos known as
Roo-Warriors.  As Dave Berry would say, "I am not making this up."

     Four brothers, Chris, Dennis, Jeremy, and Ron Law, who are medical
doctors from Hong Kong, had the idea for the film and are its
producers.  Although adults may be bored stiff by the confusing story
and find the outfits laughable, the film will undoubtedly find an eager
audience with the grade school group.

     The film starts off strongly with a highly imaginative kung fu
sequence inside the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant.  Peter Pau's
cinematography is stunning throughout the film, especially during the
food photography.  The images remind one of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.
A lavish food scene of sumptuous beauty is the last thing one expects
in a kids' movie, especially a magical, superhero one.  Another lavish
scene has moving lanterns in the distance against a bluish night.  This
one appears as though lifted out of a Metropolitan Opera production.

     Wide eyed Mario Yedidia, who was George in the movie JACK, plays
Ryan Jeffers, a boy with big ambitions but with a metal brace on one of
his legs.  "It's pretty hard to fly if you have a broken wing," he
explains to his friend and mentor from the restaurant.  Ryan, whom we
first meet reading on the toilet, is absorbed in his sword and sorcery
books.  His imaginary life has all the aspects missing from his real
life and more.

     One day, the school quarterback and local Lucifer, dares Ryan to
walk on a pipe over a treacherous whirlpool.  Ryan falls and "dies,"
but awakens in an underworld populated by the type of heroes whom he
has read about.  And, miracle of miracles, his leg has been cured and
the brace has disappeared.

     In Ryan's new and magical world, the Warriors of Virtue, led by
Master Chung (Chao Li Chi) fight the forces of evil controlled by a
warlord named Komodo, played by Angus MacFadyen, who was Robert the
Bruce in BRAVEHEART.  The less said about MacFadyen's atrocious acting,
the better.

     One of the people Ryan meets in this underworld kingdom is a
gorgeous girl named Elysia, played by Marley Shelton, who was Tricia
Nixon in NIXON.  Shirley Chan's costumes for her are luxurious gowns,
some in innocent white with high necks and some low cut and in
voluptuous colors.  Both are in strong contrast to the dull forest
colors on the rest of the actors.  My immediate reaction on seeing her
was a desire to tell the kid to lose those donkeys and grab the girl.

     Elysia gives Ryan a 30-second explanation of the characters and
their places in his new environment, but it makes about as much sense
as flipping through the Cliff's Notes version of "War and Peace."
Eventually, the story comes together somewhat, but the confusion
remains.  It feels like you are watching the twenty-fourth episode of a
dungeons and dragons series, where you missed the first twenty-three
episodes.

     As an adult, there is only one way to survive the film -- crank
your brain down to third grade level.  Ignoring the silly plot and
funny rubber heads, you can begin to appreciate the majesty of the rest
of the production.  The sets are by Academy Award winner Eugenio
Zanetti, who won the award this past year for his creations for
RESTORATION.  In both films, the sets are the most impressive parts of
the movie.  Zanetti's vision of a fantasy world has a forest of
gigantic trees all shrouded in fog.  A stream runs through the dense
forest, and the houses are build amongst the trees.  A tad too dark for
the preschool set, but beautiful nevertheless.  He and the director of
photography clearly worked together closely on the effect they wanted
to create.

     The film is at its most magical in the choreographing of the fight
sequences.  They are done in a blur with the characters whirling around
each other.  Golden, autumnal leaves swirl with them in a dazzle of
color.

     Finally, I must comment at length on the PG rating of the film,
which I fear may be too lenient.  There is a single bad cuss word in
the film, and it is used effectively for humor in one of the movie's
best lines.  Still, it is just the sort of inappropriate phrase that
your kid will repeat endlessly.  The film has several open mouth
kissing scenes, where the kisses are carefully aborted just before the
lips and tongues touch.  The biggest problem comes in several violent
scenes which would have worked just as well without the blood.  If you
make the mistake of taking kids younger than seven, they may repeat
Ryan's plea: "I don't want to be here anymore.  I don't want to see
death.  I just want to go home."

     WARRIORS OF VIRTUE runs 1:41.  It is rated PG.  The film's target
audience is the grade school crowd.  Younger ones may be frightened,
and older ones bored.  My son, Jeffrey (age 8), says the film is
"super," and wants me to take him to see it again soon.  The beauty of
the production convinced me to give the picture thumbs up and ** 1/2.

_______________________________________________________________________
**** = A must see film.
***  = Excellent show.  Look for it.
**   = Average movie.  Kind of enjoyable.
*    = Poor show.  Don't waste your money.
0    = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.

REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 28, 1997

Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.