Warriors of Virtue 2: The Return to Tao
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Pointless, low-budget sequel is unoriginal, violent.
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What's the Story?
Teenager Ryan Jeffers (Nathan Phillips) and his best friend Chucky arrive in Beijing to compete in a martial-arts tournament. But a bike ride in Beijing leads Ryan to an abandoned warehouse decorated with the Warriors of Virtue, where, inside, he is transported to the land of Tao. In Tao, he learns that the evil Dogon (Kevin Smith) has seized control of Tao. Ryan returns to Beijing, brings Chucky back to Tao, and, together, with the help of a female martial-arts warrior named Amythis (Nina Liu), they must defeat Dogon once and for all, in a battle that takes them from Tao to Beijing and back to Tao. Only when Dogon is defeated can order and peace be restored to Tao, once and for all.
Is It Any Good?
Although there are moments of excitement in some of the martial-arts sequences, the bottom line is that WARRIORS OF VIRTUE 2: THE RETURN TO TAO is a pointless, low-budget sequel. The Warriors of Virtue in the original movie, kangaroos, are nowhere to be found. Almost every line of dialogue is cheesy, and all attempts at humor in said dialogue are hackneyed and groan-worthy. Although the characters are supposed to be outside in the land of Tao, the land of Tao looks like a very cheap studio warehouse with plastic trees and dim overhead lighting. It would have been better if they'd taken advantage of being on-location in Beijing and simply filmed everything there.
Also, the very end of the movie is a near carbon copy of the very end of Star Wars IV: A New Hope. All the skilled martial arts in the world cannot overcome the flimsiness of the story, the cheap production values, and the uneven acting in this movie.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about martial-arts movies. How does this one compare with other movies in which martial arts are prominently featured?
Why do you think this film was called a sequel even as it bore little resemblance to the original movie?
How would you remake this movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 22, 2002
- On DVD or streaming: November 15, 2011
- Cast: Kevin T. Smith, Nathan Phillips, Nina Liu
- Director: Michael Vickerman
- Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy
- Run time: 90 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: adventure violence and some language
- Last updated: March 3, 2022
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