Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Angus Macfadyen | ... | Komodo | |
Mario Yedidia | ... | Ryan Jeffers | |
Marley Shelton | ... | Elysia | |
Chao Li Chi | ... | Master Chung (as Chao-Li Chi) | |
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Jack Tate | ... | Yun |
Doug Jones | ... | Yee | |
Don Lewis | ... | Lai / Mayor Keena (as Don W. Lewis) | |
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J. Todd Adams | ... | Chi |
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Adrienne Corcoran | ... | Tsun |
Michael J. Anderson | ... | Mudlap (as Michael John Anderson) | |
Tom Towles | ... | Grillo | |
Lee Arenberg | ... | Mantose | |
Dennis Dun | ... | Ming | |
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Roy Ceballos | ... | Willy Beest |
Jason Hamer | ... | Mosely |
A young man, Ryan, suffering from a disability, wishes to join the other kids from his schools football team. During an initiation rite, Ryan is swept away through a whirlpool to the land of Tao. There he is hunted by the evil Lord Komodo, who desires the boy as a key to enter the real world. Ryan is rescued by the protectors of Tao, five humanoid kangaroos, each embued with the five elements and virtues. Ryan learns his valuable lesson while saving the land of Tao. Written by R. L. Strong <RS080455@PACBELL.NET>
This movie is like the little girl with the curl - when it's good it's very very good, when it's bad it's horrid. The sets are great and there are some neat effects, but for some reason whoever produced this decided to use five Ninja KANGAROOS as the heroes. I can just see the production meeting: "Hedgehogs? Noo. How about beavers? Noo. Kangaroos? Yeah, kangaroos!!".
The guy who plays Komodo (the head baddie) seems to have some talent and presence, but the director has him alternately mumbling, whining and screaming in a random pattern. The rest of the actors are an odd mix of caricatures and straight acting.
The plot and "message" are good but have been done before many times. Mr. Miyagi, oops I mean Yoda, er Obi-wan Kenobi, no I mean Master Chung keeps cropping up to spew some platitudes and even comes back after death to encourage Luke Skywalker, oops I mean Ryan, the boy hero.
This movie is not all bad and there's worse ways to waste an evening. The viewer ends up wishing, however, that the producers would have shifted some of their money away from sets and special effects and into a script and direction.