TGWTG User Blogs

You know, thus far, I'd say the summer season so far has been very, very good indeed. So far, we've seen Marvel Studios proving themselves to be the best at handling their own material, the overhyped but still enjoyable return of one Dr. Jones and the eye-popping fun of Speed Racer. And this is before The Dark Knight, Wall-E and Get Smart come out (over here, at least). But the biggest surprise thus far is one I really didn't expect much from.

Kung Fu Panda tells the story of a panda called Po (Jack Black). He dreams of one day being a kung-fu master, but those dreams are soon crushed as soon as he wakes up to live his mundane life waiting tables for his noodle-shop owner father (played by Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China - INDEED!). One day, however, fate answers his prayers when the Furious Five (Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross and Seth Rogen) and their master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) require a Chosen One to fight Shifu's apprentice-turned-enemy Ti-Lung (Ian McShane, who may be known to many as the sweary one out of Deadwood, but to me will always be known as mulleted antiques collector Lovejoy). Of course, these kung-fu masters don't exactly want a flabby panda with an odour problem to be their chosen one and set out to get rid of him...

Dreamworks Animation has had a very spotty track-record if one puts their Aardman co-productions to one side. While they've had decent efforts like Shrek, far too many times they end up creating some pretty bad efforts with coasting far too much on star power, with the most notable example being the absolutely dismal Shark Tale. You can excuse me, then, for being a little cautious about this movie, particularly as it includes two cast members of the above catastrophe. While Dreamworks may not be able to correct its bumpy track-record (the screening I went to include a teaser trailer for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - who on Earth wanted that?), this is probably one of the best efforts we've had from them, that is almost at Pixar's level.

For a start, the action in the film is very well done, proving to be quite exhilarating and surprisingly intense for a film aimed at youngsters. (Not to mention occasionally surprisingly violent - Po, at one point, delivers a headbutt, which usually attracts cuts from the local UK censors) This is the first thing the film gets right, in that it understands that if you're going to sell a panda doing kung-fu, you better go the whole hog. But don't get me wrong, this is very much aimed at kids. I'd describe it as a slightly more violent version of Looney Tunes.

What the film gets right is the humour, which is very natural and very funny. I found myself frequently laughing at the film, which had some very good comic writing. I also should note that there was a lack of references to other films, particularly those more geared at adults, which is a very good thing. Half the time, earlier movies, such as Shark Tale, were throwing references to The Godfather and Taxi Driver as a desperate substitute for actual humour, to the point where you felt the films screaming "Why aren't you laughing, dammit!?" However, the post-modern aspect of Dreamworks' output is still here but in a much better way, making fun of the normal cliches of the martial arts genre and family films themselves - a particular moment very late in the film that gave a firm bitchslap to cliche and my expectations got one of the biggest laughs out of me.

One of the more spotted areas of the film is casting. In terms of the leads, Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman are perfect for their roles. However, once again Dreamworks falls into the trap of celebrity casting, and here it really doesn't work. While smaller actors like Seth Rogen (who seems to be bit-parting animation films on the side when he isn't playing a weeder in a Judd Apatow movie), Ian McShane and David Cross are appropriately cast with smaller parts, the film does hinder itself when it comes to the big names. Angelina Jolie doesn't quite get enough to do, but that's nothing compared to Jackie Chan's treatment. Although his visual character is on-screen much of the time, I could have swore Chan only said about 8 or 9 lines in the entire film. Was hiring big-name actors for these parts really needed? Even Dreamworks' marketing department has stopped ramming as many names as they can on the posters for these films, because quite frankly, who pays just to see Jackie Chan play a monkey? Don't they usually hire Jackie Chan for the awe-inspiring stunts? (On a side note, I am looking forward to The Forbidden Kingdom. Yes, I know its been out ages in the States, but there's another week to go over here) A professional voice artist could have filled out these roles just fine. (and, no offence to Jackie Chan, but Chan's voice is not cut out for English voice work, just like he's learnt to stick to Cantonese when he sings, not English)

While I expect the forecoming Wall-E to surpass this, Kung Fu Panda is a very strong film that even adults should enjoy even without children. Good action, sly humour and the charm of Black and Hoffman make this a winner. However, if anything, I do wish that Dreamworks stops using A-listers for supporting parts. But if Dreamworks keeps this level of quality up, who knows, they might become a true contender to Pixar's throne.

4/5