I'd like your help. Could we list the martial arts films that are fun for kids? Lets's get the obvious out of the way. Kung Fu Panda, Forbidden Kingdom and the Karate Kid movies. Gorgeous and The Medallion are both rated PG. You haven't seen the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon series? Shame on you! The Emperor & the White Snake is rated 12, as are some of the old classics like Iron Monkey. But are they fun for kids? However, what kid wouldn't enjoy Bulletproof Monk? Hang on. Where are the role models for girls? I can only think of Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chun. That's not a children's movie, I hear you cry. Well, it's rated 12 and which other films have strong role female leads? I know Jade Jones always reads MAP: so Jade, when you read this, can I persuade you to take up acting after you've got 2020 out of the way? Of course, the best TV series for kids is my own. Some of you may have heard of it. It's called Monkey
The Avatar series. Both Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. Both master classes in using cartoons to deal with important issues. The Last Airbender is a lot more clear cut right and wrong whereas LoK is a lot more in shades of grey. They are both intended for the same audience. As in you watch LaB when you're 10/11/12 and LoK when you're like 15. DO NOT WATCH THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE! It's crap, dross, and unbelievably bad.
Power rangers is the first that springs to mind, plenty of choreography in there. Walker Texas ranger, may be old, but was fairly family friendly from what I remember, and featuring the legend that is Chuck Norris
There are these movies with three brothers that train Kung Fu with their granddad, if I'm not mistaken. I enjoyed them, because they were simple fun with a slight message (essentially only 'be a good guy', but I think even that is not a bad idea ). EDIT: lol, I'm so smart. Googled it. The first one is called "3 Ninjas" Easy going movies, you can show a kid with a good conscience though.
If we're going down the cheesy ninja kid films, then 'Surf Ninjas' is a must (a bit dated, but still a must) and, if we're looking at Power Rangers, then we really should be mentioning Ninja Turtles too... ...Though none of which offer much in the way of a strong female lead - Buffy? Or is that too mature? Travess
Xena creators and others involved talk about how Martial Arts films were a big influence on the show.
"The 3 Ninjas" and its sequels. They're about as stupid and fake as Shaw Brothers movies, but that's what makes them so good! One of the movies has a girl who is every bit as good at karate as the boys (she wins a tournament). And one of the movies has Hulk Hogan!
That's not really a surprise and I thought it rather obvious, to be honest It's just not a show I would usually mention when asked about MA-movies/ shows for kids.
Kung Fu hustle is pretty fun, it's been a while though and can't really recall how "PG" it is ir isn't, if you know what I mean.
Well, when I wear my various Xena T-shirts, I often get people telling me "I used to watch that as a kid!" I watch(ed) it as an adult. Lots of adults at the Hercules/ Xena convention. (You would see more kids/ families at the Hercules lines.) I went several years. This was back when the show was on the air. So, it is an all ages thing. But enough people have made the "watched as a kid" statement to me that I think it can count as something kids can watch.
NO, they killed people in Xena- bad people. But the focus was on the action, not the gore. And they didn't always go for the kill, but it happened. There was a great theme in a few episodes about when Gabrielle first killed someone and the psychological aftermath. With Xena helping her through it. There are some deep themes in Xena. I think like many all ages shows, there is enough kid friendly stuff that they can be entertained and miss the deeper meaning in some of it. But the deeper adult themes are there too. Except for the few "comedy" shows, usually centered around Joxer. (Those weren't my favorites.) I am not a parent, but yeah, a parent should make sure they are ok with the more sensitive themes in case their kid is the type that would pick up on it. I can't speak for Hercules, I couldn't get into that one much. Except when my favorite villain, Callisto, was on it. Some secondary characters were on both shows.
I watched it a young teen too, even though I preferred Hercules. Xena was awesome as a villain and she was coll the first couple or so seasons; after that she got too soft for my liking and the episodes I watched all now and then were too... "cuddly and we love each other for me" (not a bad theme, but not what I wanted; also I'm not saying that was all that was left, it was just enough for more to not enjoy it too much anymore, which was a bit of a shame. Maybe I give it another try at some point). So, enough hijacking if the thread. That wasn't my point though. I just said, that Xena still wouldn't be my first idea, when I would have been asked for MA-movies for kids. Neither would be Buffy, by the way, even though I really, really enjoy that show and the books. It just wouldn't jump my mind first. It's neither movies, so that would be one reason. And MA is not the... let's say "main focus" of the shows. A cool feature that is around, but not the thing the shows rotate around.
I’ll add The Great Wall to the list. It has glorious visuals, as you’d expect from the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers, combined with terrific action and a decent plot. Jing Tian plays a strong female co-lead alongside Matt Damon. It’s a surprisingly feminist film, with Jing’s character commanding respect and power (and fighting skills).