Eager for a new face in the kung fu genre, I had kept this Tod Fennel vehicle on my radar for the longest time before finally renting it, and in the aftermath, I'm just glad that I didn't buy it. WUSHU WARRIOR is an occasionally pretty but consistently substandard effort to make a Hong Kong period piece thru European production companies. In its heart of hearts, the film wants to be a martial arts version of DANCES WITH WOLVES but ends up so bereft of its own identity that I'll be surprised if I can still remember it in a week from now.The story: When his father is killed for interfering in the opium operation of the devious Lord Lindsey (Matt Frewer), Jonathan Elders (Fennel) - a British boy living in China during the 19th century - is raised by a group of rebels and learns the art of wushu to enact vengeance on the evil lord.I'm not sure what medium this movie was produced for (theaters, video, TV?), but it has a curiously contained look. I'm pretty certain that the entire film comprises less than ten whole sets, and while generally nice-looking, they're all relatively small. Stylistically, the picture makes me think of a small-scale version of SON OF THE DRAGON, and instead of David Carradine, we have young Tod Fennel in the lead. Tod seems to be a good martial artist, but his screen presence leaves a lot to be desired: were it not for his singularly awful haircut, he'd be completely faceless. Then again, such is the case with most performers in the movie, the majority of which are Chinese first-timers. Veteran Matt Frewer is a rare exception, though he too isn't on top of his game: the scene wherein he intimidates and then shoots a guard ought to have been impressive and foreboding, but because of the inauspicious script and blocking, it just looks contrived.The martial arts content likewise ends up being pretty forgettable - not terrible, just not worth much notice. A karate practitioner in real life, Fennel gets the wushu moves down pretty good, but the choreography tends to be basic and unambitious. There's a lot less wirework than I had expected (what's there is pretty silly, though), and I appreciate how many of the five matches remain grounded, but I can't point to a single one that rises higher than numbingly average in quality; there's just not a lot of cool things going on in them. Likely realizing this, the filmmakers addressed the problem via some really laughable CGI inserts throughout. In the film's universe, martial arts seem to be synonymous with magic, and as a result, one character (Gang Zhao) is inexplicably able to teleport while Tod manages to conjure a wispy dragon which blasts Matt Frewer against a wall, DRAGON BALL Z style.On an offhand note, the film managed to surprise me with the treatment of the character played by Amber Goldfarb, taking her in a different direction than convention intended. Needless to say, this isn't enough to make the movie worth watching, and I can't recommend this to too many people. Its PG-13 rating may make it accessible to younger fu fans, but I can't think of anybody who'd genuinely appreciate this one.

If I could go with 0 stars I would! This must be made for a children's network channel or something. This entire movie could be a sub plot for Walker Texas Ranger.The acting in this film is just atrocious. (SPOILERS COMING UP) There will be a scene when the adoptive father of the main character disappears and reappears up in the rafters.. when that happens you'll think to yourself "Self, I should turn this off" and you should listen! It would be better to watch anything that the Lifetime network can throw at me than to watch this again!Plot: A boys father is killed and he is raised in a remote village by the adoptive ninjas. There he learns of his inner dragon and for about 10 years learns martial arts. Trying to prove that he belongs as part of the village, he try's to gather information about a continuing ploy to enslave Chinese people. When the other guy on the mission gets spotted, he starts yelling his name out and they both get seen. While trying to get away, they are seen by the 1,000th person who happens to be the villains daughter and they kidnap her. Rest of the story you can get from Madam Chleo it's so predictable.***SPOILER*** As for the ending, it ends almost mid-thought and almost makes you wonder if they'd attempt a sequel; for the love of everything Holy just stop the bleeding now!

Watch this movie for what it is. A GUY MOVIE. It's simply a good kung fu flick. No horribly mushy love story, no long drawn out character development, no silly twists for the director to show how much better he thinks he is than the rest of the world, and no "indy" or "emo" blood letting or soul searching. There's even a valid historical reason for the Chinese to speak English.The gunfire is underwhelming, while the "sorcery" and super-natural effects are very well done. It feels organic and an extension of the warrior spirit. Not sure if it was intentional, but this has the feel of "there still lies power in the old ways." Not over-the-top, for the most part. The final fight scene is a bit of a stretch though. The few "wire-fu" moments aren't over-ambitious, and serve to show growth in the art, rather than feeling like an excuse to show off (as in Crouching Tiger and the like).If you're a martial artist, this film leans ever so slightly to the spiritual side of the art. Just enjoy it and try not to dwell on any inaccuracies. The protagonist is orphaned, taken in by a wushu master and his village, and through the years learns the secrets. He finds strength, and learns control. It struck a chord with me, as I'm sure it will with other who take their training seriously.

It seems that the way to go for Alain Desrochers is to direct the most cliché-ridden scripts available to him.His take on "The Fast and The Furious" was the forgettable "Nitro". Now, he goes "Crouching Tiger/Onk-Bak" with this boring martial arts adventure, even more forgettable.This tale of revenge, while well shot, will make you lose interest once you see Matt Frewer as the bad guy, delivering the kind of dialogue a 10 year old kid uses when playing with his action figures.The combat scenes are as best as they can afford, meaning they're pretty lame. Everybody fights kinda slowly, going through the steps of the choreography like grade schoolgirls doing an unrehearsed Swan Lake.Sure, today's technology allows the post production team to easily erase the wires during the less than spectacular acrobatics, but you can still feel those wires supporting the fighters in many of the confrontations. Embarrassing.Other digital effects are on par with today's video games. Not tody's movies.Yeah, I realize I don't spend a lot of time talking about the plot: it's just not worth my time. Nor yours.You'd be better off seeing a Uwe Boll film if you want to be entertained: at least, he's decent at sucking and his movies are laughable. Alain Desrocher's Wushu Warrior won't event make you laugh at it. It's just a boring, unremarkable waste of your time.