Adventures of Johnny Tao is a fun family-oriented action picture. Don't let that phrase, as well as the fact that this was a straight-to-video release, dissuade you from taking ninety minutes to check this out, as there is a surprisingly large amount of well-done fight scenes on display here.

The desert town of Dry Springs is the backdrop for the action. The inhabitants are a colorful lot that includes Johnny Dow (Matthew Twining), the son of a one-hit-wonder rockabilly singer, Jimmy Dow (Jason London). One night, Johnny's friend Eddie (Matthew Mullins) finds part of an ancient weapon called the Dragon Spear, which soon turns him and most of the other townsfolk into junk food-craving zombies. With the aid of Mika (Chris Yen, Donnie's kid sister), who has been searching for the spear herself, Johnny puts the kung fu skills he learned from watching old movies to the test.

Adventures of Johnny Tao received a PG-13 rating, but it's hard to see why. There's not even so much as a "damn" or "hell" uttered, the romance amounts to a couple of small kisses, and your average episode of WWE Raw features more explicit violence. Some very little kids might get a bit spooked by the proceedings, but really, Adventures of Johnny Tao is about as threatening and dangerous as an oversized novelty stuffed bear.

Thankfully, though, even with the decidedly kid-oriented thrust of the proceedings, Adventures of Johnny Tao manages to be more exciting than the aforementioned cheap carny prize. The action direction team of Marcus Young, Mike Gunther, and J.J. Perry put in some solid work, and got out good moves from most everyone in the movie, with Mullins and Yen being the notable standouts.

At the end of the day, Adventures of Johnny Tao does suffer some problems inherent with its' low-budget foundation, and is a picture that you shouldn't really go to any great trouble to find. But if you're looking for an inoffensive yet fun movie to watch with the wee ones, or are just looking for amiable viewing fare for a lazy afternoon, Adventures of Johnny Tao should do the trick.

RATING: 6.5