Kung Fu Panda 7/10
July 8th 2008 09:48
By the promotional poster, I was reminded of the mildly amusing but generally stupid 90's flick Beverly Hills Ninja, which based all its charm on the hapless Chris Farley as he stumbled his fat ass towards becoming the Great White Ninja. Uh huh. Well, Kung Fu Panda in plot sounded quite similar to me. A fat hapless panda voiced by Jack Black, king of the underdogs, stumble towards becoming the Dragon Warrior. But luckily for this film, Jack Black is much more charming and endearing, and they are other winning features to make this more than just another kids movie during the school holidays.
The film begins in spectacular fashion. A chinese style animation dazzles the screen to set the scene, and play homage to the always exciting martial arts genre. Then the goofy humour kicks in. A sign that as well as an thoroughly engaging action movie, it is also a comedy catered for children, young adults and generally people who don't like movies that take themselves too seriously. The action then screeches to a halt and we are introduced to Po the panda's dull life as the son of a noodle shop owner, who is for some reason a goose. Not long after, Po crashes into the sights of Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), the all wise tortoise and Po is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior. Cue everyone's shock and disdain, Po failing miserably at impressing the disgruntled Kung Fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) with his torturous training and not fitting in with the ultra cool Furious Five. But they all have to suck it up, because the former student gone bad Tai Lung (Ian McShane) has broken out of prison and is coming back with a vengeance to steal the title of the Dragon Warrior. Will Po save the day?
I got a huge Star Wars vibe from Kung Fu Panda. The all-knowing master and his curious but visually stunning departure, the diligent fighters, the one who fell to the dark side, the chosen one to save everyone. This time, the creators borrowed themes to make something warm hearted and relatable rather than mock the hell out of it and leave the audience feeling a bit empty. It was a nice change.
One thing I must mention is how amazing the animation was. The cinematography was breathtaking, the backgrounds were a beautifully crafted recreation of the Chinese landscape and reminicent of their famous artwork, the action sequences were a thrill to watch. At times it was a bit chaotic with so many things happening at once so quickly, but I'm sure that's to make the film worth going back and watching again and again. The kung fu choreography was so intricate and stunningly executed by these unbelievably adorable looking characters. There was also high use of the slo-mo, which surprisingly didn't feel cliche and tacky, but quite welcome to highlight just how amazing the action is.
The casting overall a bit poorly done. Po, Shifu and Oogway were perfectly cast, but the Furious Five seemed like a waste of the voices cast. Other than Tigress (Angelina Jolie) and Crane (David Cross), the Furious Five don't talk all that much, and when they do, their lines weren't memorable. Only at the credits did I discover the rest of the Five - Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Viper (Lucy Liu). Looks good in promotions, but their presence in the actual film was unremarkable. They could have saved a lot of money by hiring unknown voice actors instead, because we really only cared about Jack Black, that's what people were coming in to see.
I felt a little underwhelmed at the end as the climactic battle between Po and Tai Lung wasn't as thrilling to watch as the battle scenes leading up to it. The prison break out had me on the edge of my seat, the bridge battle made my eyes widen in amazement, the bun-battle (you'll get it when you see it) was both fun and impressive. But the last sequence used mainly slapstick and pratfalls to gain laughs from the kiddies rather than try for something epic, which was a shame. I was also disappointed that Po and the Furious Five never team up in battle, which really would have been awesome. The ending was also a little too understated and didn't leave us on a high. Oh well. Perhaps in the sequel.
Kung Fu Panda wasn't a complete barrel of laughs, but it had its moments, and those moments were really funny. Others got chuckles from the younger audience through lots of slapstick and the trademark random jokes Dreamworks is known for. Not always consistent with the action but the best bits are simply superb and when the sequel comes out (as if they can resist milking the story of all its worth by throwing out ten more films), hopefully the makers will have smoothed out the glitches and then they shall fulfill Kung Fu Panda's destiny to become full of awesomeness. And give Pixar a run for their money.
I got a huge Star Wars vibe from Kung Fu Panda. The all-knowing master and his curious but visually stunning departure, the diligent fighters, the one who fell to the dark side, the chosen one to save everyone. This time, the creators borrowed themes to make something warm hearted and relatable rather than mock the hell out of it and leave the audience feeling a bit empty. It was a nice change.
One thing I must mention is how amazing the animation was. The cinematography was breathtaking, the backgrounds were a beautifully crafted recreation of the Chinese landscape and reminicent of their famous artwork, the action sequences were a thrill to watch. At times it was a bit chaotic with so many things happening at once so quickly, but I'm sure that's to make the film worth going back and watching again and again. The kung fu choreography was so intricate and stunningly executed by these unbelievably adorable looking characters. There was also high use of the slo-mo, which surprisingly didn't feel cliche and tacky, but quite welcome to highlight just how amazing the action is.
The casting overall a bit poorly done. Po, Shifu and Oogway were perfectly cast, but the Furious Five seemed like a waste of the voices cast. Other than Tigress (Angelina Jolie) and Crane (David Cross), the Furious Five don't talk all that much, and when they do, their lines weren't memorable. Only at the credits did I discover the rest of the Five - Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Viper (Lucy Liu). Looks good in promotions, but their presence in the actual film was unremarkable. They could have saved a lot of money by hiring unknown voice actors instead, because we really only cared about Jack Black, that's what people were coming in to see.
I felt a little underwhelmed at the end as the climactic battle between Po and Tai Lung wasn't as thrilling to watch as the battle scenes leading up to it. The prison break out had me on the edge of my seat, the bridge battle made my eyes widen in amazement, the bun-battle (you'll get it when you see it) was both fun and impressive. But the last sequence used mainly slapstick and pratfalls to gain laughs from the kiddies rather than try for something epic, which was a shame. I was also disappointed that Po and the Furious Five never team up in battle, which really would have been awesome. The ending was also a little too understated and didn't leave us on a high. Oh well. Perhaps in the sequel.
Kung Fu Panda wasn't a complete barrel of laughs, but it had its moments, and those moments were really funny. Others got chuckles from the younger audience through lots of slapstick and the trademark random jokes Dreamworks is known for. Not always consistent with the action but the best bits are simply superb and when the sequel comes out (as if they can resist milking the story of all its worth by throwing out ten more films), hopefully the makers will have smoothed out the glitches and then they shall fulfill Kung Fu Panda's destiny to become full of awesomeness. And give Pixar a run for their money.
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