"Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior" has been compared to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in some respects because it concerns a popular cheerleader-type teenager who discovers that she is the latest descendant in a long line of demon-fighting warriors and is forced to bear the weight of the ongoing battle. I hardly think the comparisons are relevant. Obviously, the director John Liang has seen his fair share of Bruce Lee, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), and other kung-fu spectacles to make a decent, Disney-fied kung-fu flick.
As a guy, I'll be the first here to admit that Brenda Song is a little cute, even though she doesn't look remotely Chinese, and is in fact actually Thai/Hmong, but it hardly matters. She's also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a Korean fighting art, yet her character supposedly has consummate fighting skills in Crane, Eagle Claw, and other Chinese kung-fu arts. That hardly matters either.
What does matter is how the film makes good use of special effects and allows her and others to fly and kick really high (like in some of the greatest martial arts flicks from the 1970s) and make the film more accessible to everybody, even kids and those who may not know a damn thing about martial arts movies. There's just some pretty darn entertaining stuff here.
The plot: as Wendy Wu, Song is a popular California teen leading a normal life. She's also aspiring to win homecoming queen and must square off against a rival from childhood who copies everything she does. The movie gets underway when a mysterious box arrives at the museum where her mother works, and it unleashes an ancient evil that has come to rain down darkness upon the world. A Buddhist monk named Shen (Shin Koyamada) is sent to protect and train Wendy, which is easier said than done since Wendy and the other members of her family seem detached from their Chinese heritage and are reminded by the grandmother (Tsai Chin) of their roots.
As a fan of martial arts movies, "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior" is a delight, even though it's different from what I'm usually accustomed to as far as these sorts of flicks. Miraculously, the movie is able to rise above the "typical" Disney kiddie fanfare and take itself a little more seriously as a stand-alone picture. The fight scenes are choreographed well and exciting, and the martial arts battles themselves are a far cry from anything you might see in say, "Mortal Kombat." Lastly, Song does display some pretty nice moves of her own and it makes me wonder if this movie could be her ticket to a sequel or even her own spin-off series.
Such a change would certainly want to make me watch the Disney Channel a little more often.
7/10
As a guy, I'll be the first here to admit that Brenda Song is a little cute, even though she doesn't look remotely Chinese, and is in fact actually Thai/Hmong, but it hardly matters. She's also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a Korean fighting art, yet her character supposedly has consummate fighting skills in Crane, Eagle Claw, and other Chinese kung-fu arts. That hardly matters either.
What does matter is how the film makes good use of special effects and allows her and others to fly and kick really high (like in some of the greatest martial arts flicks from the 1970s) and make the film more accessible to everybody, even kids and those who may not know a damn thing about martial arts movies. There's just some pretty darn entertaining stuff here.
The plot: as Wendy Wu, Song is a popular California teen leading a normal life. She's also aspiring to win homecoming queen and must square off against a rival from childhood who copies everything she does. The movie gets underway when a mysterious box arrives at the museum where her mother works, and it unleashes an ancient evil that has come to rain down darkness upon the world. A Buddhist monk named Shen (Shin Koyamada) is sent to protect and train Wendy, which is easier said than done since Wendy and the other members of her family seem detached from their Chinese heritage and are reminded by the grandmother (Tsai Chin) of their roots.
As a fan of martial arts movies, "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior" is a delight, even though it's different from what I'm usually accustomed to as far as these sorts of flicks. Miraculously, the movie is able to rise above the "typical" Disney kiddie fanfare and take itself a little more seriously as a stand-alone picture. The fight scenes are choreographed well and exciting, and the martial arts battles themselves are a far cry from anything you might see in say, "Mortal Kombat." Lastly, Song does display some pretty nice moves of her own and it makes me wonder if this movie could be her ticket to a sequel or even her own spin-off series.
Such a change would certainly want to make me watch the Disney Channel a little more often.
7/10