Movielogr

Rating: 6 stars

Tags

Disney teenagers homecoming Kung fu female martial artist martial arts monk high school teenager chosen one terra cotta army demonic possession

All movies seen on 07/17/2019

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)

Directed by John Laing

Fantasy | Family | Action

Overview

It is the story of an average, popular American teenager named Wendy Wu who discovers that in order to win the coveted crown she must first learn the way of the warrior. Wendy Wu has a one track mind, and that track leads directly to the title of homecoming queen—no unscheduled stops, and no unnecessary detours. When a mysterious Chinese monk named Shen arrives to mold Wendy into a fearless kung fu warrior, however, her royal aspirations suddenly jump the track as she desperately attempts to juggle her boyfriend, her homework, and of course, the fierce competition to become homecoming queen. Now, as Wendy begins to train her mind, body, and spirit in the ancient tradition of the martial arts and her inner warrior gradually begins to emerge, the girl who once obsessed over popularity finally begins to put that popularity into perspective as she gradually realizes what truly matters in life.

Rated G | Length 90 minutes

Actors

Brenda Song | Shin Koyamada | Susan Chuang | Sally Martin | Anna Hutchison | James Gaylyn | Justin Chon | Michael David Cheng | Andy Fischer-Price | Ellen Woglom | Tsai Chin | Sally Stockwell | Geoff Dolan | Paul Willis

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Wait this is high school?! These actors (Brenda Song - Wendy - in particular) look and act like college students. Guess she was only 17 when this movie was made but she definitely seems older than she’s portraying here (she doesn’t look older just her behavior).

So credit where credit is due. Props to Disney for having an Asian led film steeped in Chinese culture / folklore. Yes, this was a Disney Channel original and shot in 4:3 but it’s still a feature film starring an Asian American. Then they cast half the roles as Asians including many Japanese (the action director is Japanese, Koichi Sakamoto). So all that was nice to see. The fighting / stunt work is decent even tho you can see the stunt actors faces (Japanese men standing in for the young women).

Brenda Song is a good lead. Didn’t have any context for her when viewing but watched an extra where it highlights all her other Disney work, which was a lot. That was cool b/c she talks about each show/appearance (like working with Lindsay Lohan in the early days). There’s also a BTS feature for the final battle sequence which was nice. Brenda, already a black belt, trained and did a lot of the fighting except for the wire work. She has skills.

The story is a familiar fantasy tale where a monk travels thru time to find the chosen one which happens to be Wendy Wu. Of course all Wendy wants is to be Homecoming Queen. Plenty of (safe) teen stuff until the evil spirit finally catches up to her (on Homecoming dance night!) and she has to battle the reanimated Terra Cotta soldiers and the head demon.

It’s light. It’s fun. I wish Disney would’ve done more like this but year it will be 12 years later w/the live action Mulan.

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