Warriors of Virtue

None of the major Hong Kong action auteurs has survived the translation to Hollywood with his style intact. John Woo's Hard Target packed heat intermittently, but Ringo Lam's Maximum Risk and Tsui Hark's Double Team seemed lackluster even by US standards -- and flat-out depressing by those of HK epics. Now Ronny Yu has followed suit with Warriors of Virtue, a medieval-looking fantasy with nary a hint of the torrid choreography on view in his visionary Bride with White Hair. No doubt the shallow goal of technical "perfection" runs counter to the HK preference for sloppy passion and hyperbolic verve.

To be fair, Warriors means to be more of a kids' film, and succeeds somewhat as such. The pre-teen protagonist is Ryan (Mario Yedidia), a football waterboy who wears a leg brace and laments that "it's hard to fly with a broken wing." But fly he does after being transported by a bully's dare into a fairytale world under siege from an evil warlord (Angus Macfadyen). His leg miraculously healed, Ryan springs into heroic action with help from the Warriors of Virtue: five kung fu-fighting kangaroos with Yoda-like ears and Ewok snouts. Only one element remains clearly traceable to HK cinema: the titular warriors are badly dubbed. Opens Friday at the Harbour Mall, Lincoln Mall, Showcase, Starcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Rob Nelson