| "Rock-a-billy music and martial arts meets Night of the Living Dead." |
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Adventures of Johnny Tao, The
SCREENER/APPROX. 90 MINS/2007/USA PG13+
SCREENER/APPROX. 90 MINS/2007/USA PG13+
3.5
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In this Chinese-American martial arts horror-tinged fantasy, an ancient demon intent on devouring men’s souls can only be fought by a strong
warrior wielding a magical spear. Naturally, responsibility for the spear falls upon the most unlikely of teen heroes, the title character. Chinese
mysticism informs the pre-credits sequence to this Kenn Scott directed low budget story about a young man with a secret destiny. Director Ken
Scott acknowledges the adolescent fantasy material and uses this platform to create a hybrid of Chinese martial arts fantasy in the manner of
Hong Kong cinema and American teenage superhero movie: Chinese mythology for American comic book readers.
The title character is a martial arts movie junkie not skilled enough to master the moves. His goofy teen friends are obsessed with UFOs whilst Tao
attends to his desert petrol-station museum of obscure rock memorabilia (in memory of his father) and pinball games. Soon he is caught up in
intrigue involving a sexy Chinese girl looking to explore the legends associated with her Chinese ancestry, legends which may have dire
consequences for those affected. It’s presented in a style and sensibility indebted to comic book scripting. Although low budget, it has conviction,
humour (albeit sophomoric – for instance, a radio DJ who goes by the name “big dick”), zestful energy and a vibrant musical score of songs from
rockabilly to suspenseful other-worldly atmospherics.
The Adventures of Johnny Tao is a well-crafted adolescent fantasy-comedy with martial arts mysticism: it is enthusiastically performed, nicely
paced and with involving action scenes. The film packages Chinese mysticism for young male viewers, nicely exploring the Chinese-American
diaspora and the legends / traditions imported into America. The cultural hybrid of American fantasy and Chinese supernatural fable makes for a
rather charming film, though it is aimed primarily at teenagers, who will likely be entertained by this film of a young man longing to let his ambition
soar and experience all the thrills that the wider world has to offer.
The Adventures of Johnny Tao nicely contemporizes the type of material once the staple of such producers as Charles Band and Full Moon
Pictures – teens finding magical weapons, demons loosed in this realm, fights with possessed zombie-like creatures in slave to a demon. It
delivers an entertaining fable although has little to engage adult sensibilities and remains purely a teen fantasy film, though knowing of its target
audience and effective as such.
warrior wielding a magical spear. Naturally, responsibility for the spear falls upon the most unlikely of teen heroes, the title character. Chinese
mysticism informs the pre-credits sequence to this Kenn Scott directed low budget story about a young man with a secret destiny. Director Ken
Scott acknowledges the adolescent fantasy material and uses this platform to create a hybrid of Chinese martial arts fantasy in the manner of
Hong Kong cinema and American teenage superhero movie: Chinese mythology for American comic book readers.
The title character is a martial arts movie junkie not skilled enough to master the moves. His goofy teen friends are obsessed with UFOs whilst Tao
attends to his desert petrol-station museum of obscure rock memorabilia (in memory of his father) and pinball games. Soon he is caught up in
intrigue involving a sexy Chinese girl looking to explore the legends associated with her Chinese ancestry, legends which may have dire
consequences for those affected. It’s presented in a style and sensibility indebted to comic book scripting. Although low budget, it has conviction,
humour (albeit sophomoric – for instance, a radio DJ who goes by the name “big dick”), zestful energy and a vibrant musical score of songs from
rockabilly to suspenseful other-worldly atmospherics.
The Adventures of Johnny Tao is a well-crafted adolescent fantasy-comedy with martial arts mysticism: it is enthusiastically performed, nicely
paced and with involving action scenes. The film packages Chinese mysticism for young male viewers, nicely exploring the Chinese-American
diaspora and the legends / traditions imported into America. The cultural hybrid of American fantasy and Chinese supernatural fable makes for a
rather charming film, though it is aimed primarily at teenagers, who will likely be entertained by this film of a young man longing to let his ambition
soar and experience all the thrills that the wider world has to offer.
The Adventures of Johnny Tao nicely contemporizes the type of material once the staple of such producers as Charles Band and Full Moon
Pictures – teens finding magical weapons, demons loosed in this realm, fights with possessed zombie-like creatures in slave to a demon. It
delivers an entertaining fable although has little to engage adult sensibilities and remains purely a teen fantasy film, though knowing of its target
audience and effective as such.
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