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| Monday, June 16, 2008 01:45 PM |
| On the Viewer - Kung Fu Panda |
 by Fëanor |
Kung Fu Panda is the latest 3D-animated feature from DreamWorks Animation. It's an interesting combination of kids' cartoon, comedy, and kung fu fantasy epic. It's set in a small town in mythical ancient China, populated entirely by your typical cartoon talking animals. Our main character is Po (Jack Black), a fat, clumsy panda who dreams of being a kung fu master, but who's stuck working at his dad's noodle store instead. (His dad, who oddly enough is a goose - they suggest he may not be Po's real dad, which would explain a lot - is played by beloved character actor James Hong.) Po particularly idolizes the Furious Five, a group of extremely skilled students of kung fu who live with their master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), at the top of the mountain. Each of them embodies a particular style of kung fu: mantis (Seth Rogen), tiger (Angelina Jolie), monkey (Jackie Chan), crane (David Cross), and viper (Lucy Liu). When their master's master, Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), has a vision which reveals that the evil kung fu warrior that they imprisoned long ago, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), will soon escape, he determines it's time to choose the Dragon Warrior, the legendary hero who will protect the valley. The Dragon Warrior will be given the coveted dragon scroll that's locked away inside the temple, and which is said to give its reader ultimate power. When the day comes, to everyone's shock and horror, it's Po who's chosen as the Dragon Warrior. Can he be turned into a mighty kung fu master in time to protect the valley from Tai Lung?
The answer, of course, is yes. But despite the inevitability of the conclusion, and the general predictability of the plot, the movie is still exciting and entertaining, with a number of very impressive fight sequences, and some very amusing comedy. The animation throughout is quite fantastic; I particularly like the dream sequence in the beginning. In an interesting subplot, we learn that Tai Lung is sort of the Darth Vader to Shifu's Obi-Wan, and there's a whole twisted father/son relationship going on there. Po is a very funny and likable character, and as the film comes to its conclusion, he and Shifu both learn very important lessons - but not in a really sappy way. The voice work is also good. Dustin Hoffman wouldn't have been my first choice to play a Chinese kung fu master, but he takes on the role pretty well. Michael Clarke Duncan's distinctive voice is perfect in the small role of prison commander Vachir, and Randall Duk Kim is wonderful as the ancient turtle, Oogway. My only real complaint about the movie is that most of the Furious Five never really get developed as characters at all. The exception is Jolie's Tigress, who has her own frustrated child/parent relationship with Shifu and follows her own interesting character arc. But we hear so little from the other members of the Five - especially Chan's Monkey, who has about two lines - that we never really get to know who they are. Still, that does leave them plenty of characters and backstories to mine for the inevitable sequel! |
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