Johnny Tao Productions, 2007

starring: Matthew Twining, Matt Mullins, and Chris Yen

directed by: Kenn Scott

the plot: Johnny Dow (Twining) lives in a dust-swept village somewhere in the Southwest. Every morning, he powers up his TV, throws in a martial arts video and hones his kung fu skills in accordance with the fight scenes on the tape. When his eccentric roommate Eddie (Mullins) recovers an ancient Chinese sword in the desert, he becomes the latest vessel for the demon Tai Lo, who then goes through town turning the residents into sugar-obsessed, kung fu-fightin’ zombies. Stopping him will be up to Johnny, the bungling town sheriff and Mika (Chris Yen), the latest in a line of warriors trained specifically to find and stop Tai Lo, should he ever rear his demonic head in our world.

why it’s good: Kids’ movies these days are heavily sanitized affairs. They’re put before focus groups, psychiatrists and marketing agencies. By the time they make it to market, every angle of any given kids’ movie has been tuned to sell an auxiliary product. “The Adventures of Johnny Tao,” however, doesn’t have any of this in mind—it lacks the budget for that sort of thing. Every frame of this movie is intended to thrill children with good, clean fun tempered with extravagant fight scenes. “Johnny Tao” is a violent movie, but it’s the sort of violence I’d be comfortable showing a 6-year-old. For the most part, it’s a lot of punching and kicking and, with the exception of one dramatic plot turn, no one is ever hurt so bad that they don’t get back up. It is a film characterized by the same sort of mayhem that made the live-action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie such a hit, which makes sense since director Kenn Scott was one of the stuntmen in that film. Here’s the best part: you don’t even need kids to enjoy this. “Johnny Tao” recalls a period in film when it was OK to show your characters in peril, where a little foot and fist violence was fine in moderation, and when a movie like this would inspire you at 10 years old to beg your parents for tae kwon do lessons.

why you should own it: Maybe you remember this from your own childhood, but kids have the strangest capacity to consume media on repeat forever. “The Adventures of Johnny Tao” is the sort of movie you won’t mind seeing on repeat. For most parents, it’s either this or another marathon viewing session of “Cars,” but this one will introduce your kids to cool movies. One day your sons and daughters, after bathing in the sugar-bomb fun of “Johnny Tao,” may turn to you and ask you who The Shaw Brothers are and what the 36th chamber of Shaolin is.