Magic Marsupials Romp in Confused ‘Warriors of Virtue’

Strategically positioned for a line of its own lunch boxes, “Warriors of Virtue” is an ambitious kung fu fantasy with a muscular visual style, a fairly consistent level of hysteria and an admirable sense of its own goofiness. At the same time, its manufactured mythology is something less than archetypal and something close to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Kangaroos.”

That’s right, kangaroos. The Roo-Warriors of the land of Tao--who might in fact be refugee “humanimals” from the “Island of Dr. Moreau”--are each associated with a noble virtue and one of the Earth’s “five elements.” Yun (Jack Tate) represents benevolence and water; Yee (Doug Jones), righteousness and metal; Lai (Don W. Lewis), order and wood; Chi (J. Todd Adams), wisdom and fire; and Tsun (Adrienne Corcoran), loyalty and earth. This attempt at distinguishing one magic marsupial from the other is not something that will matter much to audiences or be remembered by them 10 seconds after it’s all been introduced. But it gives an indication of the level of mystical boiler-plate in which these warriors are cast.

Their wise leader is Master Chung (Chao-li Chi), who seems modeled after the Ninja Turtles’ own Master Splinter and, after one losing battle, the post-physical Obi Wan Kenobi. But recycling, of course, is as important a theme as any other imparted here, which includes the inherent cruelty of teenagers.

Ryan Jeffers (Mario Yedidia), a smart kid with a brace on his leg, provides his high school quarterback with the winning play and as a reward is goaded into an “initiation” in which he falls into an enchanted sewer and pops up in Tao. There, he’s befriended by the lovely but troubled Elysia (Marley Shelton) and gets involved in the warfare between the “people” of Tao and the evil Komodo (Angus Macfadyen), who is draining the Lifesprings of Zubrium, because Zubrium offers eternal youth and Komodo is a Zubrium junkie.

Much of the film is fun, but a lot is confusing. Hong Kong director Ronny Yu keeps things fluid in the pre-Tao sequences, and the scenes in which Ryan’s wise friend Ming (Dennis Dun) displays his kung fu cooking style in the kitchen of a neighborhood Chinese restaurant are electric. But the fight scenes in Tao are claustrophically tight, there’s little sense of space and the story bogs down in its own myth and moralizing.

Produced by the four Law brothers--medical doctors born in Hong Kong and working in the United States--the film was made almost entirely in Beijing, and may be a hint from China that the Hong Kong action film will be safe once the city is taken. It’s not entirely good news. Half fairy tale, half thriller, “Warriors of Virtue” is having as much of an identity crisis as Hong Kong itself.

* MPAA rating: PG for fantasy action violence and some language. Times guidelines: Action may be intense for younger children, but otherwise harmless.

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‘Warriors of Virtue’

Ryan Jeffers: Mario Yedidia

Komodo: Angus Macfadyen

Elysia: Marley Shelton

Yun: Jack Tate

Yee: Doug Jones

Lai: Don W. Lewis

Chi: J. Todd Adams

Tsun: Adrienne Corcoran

Master Chung: Chao-li Chi

Ming: Dennis Dun

A Law Brothers Production released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. Producers Dennis Law, Ronald Law, Christopher Law, Jeremy Law, Patricia Ruben. Director Ronny Yu. Screenplay Michael Vickerman, Hugh Kelley. Cinematography Peter Pau. Editing David Wu. Production design Eugenio Zanetti. Costumes Shirley Chan. Music Don Davis. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.