With
Kung Fu Panda, we get a memorable new animated hero, and an equally memorable voice performance from Jack Black. Black's character is Po, an overweight and kind-hearted panda who, with his almost child-like innocence and bright spirit, allows him to immediately be embraced by the audience almost from the instant we lay eyes on the big guy. The character is given even more heart by Black's energetic and sweet-natured portrayal, in what is probably one of most memorable roles since 2003's
School of Rock. So, why didn't the rest of the film engage me in quite the same way the lead character did? It felt as if the filmmakers spent all their energy and talent behind Po, and then considered everyone and everything else in the movie as an afterthought. Despite some strong animation and an overall pleasant look, I got the sense that Po would have been better suited in a different movie.
The movie is set in an alternate ancient China inhabited entirely by animals. Po starts the movie as a trainee for a local noodle shop vendor, but as the title suggests, there are bigger things in store for the guy. Po idolizes a team of martial arts warriors who protect his village, known as the Furious Five. The warriors are guided by their master, Shifu (voice by Dustin Hoffman), and include Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). Early on, Shifu's wise old turtle master, Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), has a vision that the village's sworn enemy and Shifu's former student, the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), will escape from prison and return to seek revenge on his former master. The time has come for one of the Furious Five to earn the ultimate title that all martial arts students strive for - the Dragon Warrior, as only the one with the title will hold the power to defeat Tai Lung. Through a series of events too complicated to summarize, Po ends up crashing the tournament that will decide the Dragon Warrior, and is picked by Oogway as the "chosen one". Shifu, and each of his students, are doubtful of the elder's choice, as Po holds no real knowledge of the martial arts, and is often clumsy enough to be considered a walking disaster area. With Tai Lung quickly approaching, they will have to put their trust in Po, and hope he can learn their ways.
There are some scattered moments of wit found throughout
Kung Fu Panda. I liked the fact that Po's father, who is constantly pressuring him to follow in his footsteps in the noodle business, is a goose, but no one, not even Po himself, questions how this is possible. I laughed at the introduction sequence, which cleverly parodies the long-winded narrations that sometimes set up martial arts movies. ("Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose life was legend".) And of course, like most of the animated films that have come out of Dreamworks, the movie looks like a million. The animal characters have been rendered right down to the tiniest bit of fur it seems, and the entire movie is vibrant and colorful. There are even some impressive action sequences, the highlight being a battle on a rope bridge that occurs late in the film. It's obvious that a lot of money was sunk into the look of the film, and if equal care had been put in the script, we'd have something here. The screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (both veterans of the TV cartoon
King of the Hill) is overly predictable, and never quite as funny as it should be. The gags (most of them involving Po falling down, or eating) are lightweight, and never seem to build to anything. Perhaps the worst offense of the film is that, outside of Po, there's absolutely nothing and no one to care about here.
That's because the supporting characters are treated more as bystanders, instead of participants in a story. The Furious Five are built up to be as great warriors, and the one scene where we actually do get to see them fight, it is indeed impressive. The rest of the time, however, they mainly stand in the background and roll their eyes whenever Po falls down. There seems to be some hint of a subplot where the lead warrior, Tigress, is upset that wise old Oogway picked Po over her to be the Dragon Warrior. However, this never goes anywhere, nor is it truly resolved in any reasonable manner.
Kung Fu Panda is yet another case of an animated film that casts some famous names, just so they can put a few more recognizable faces in the credits and publicity shots. Why cast talented people like Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, and Jackie Chan if you're not going to give them anything to do? The villain of the film is also a disappointment, as the movie sees him more as a plot device, rather than an actual threat to Po. Aside from a brief flashback explaining his past with master Shifu, we don't learn anything about him, so we can't get involved in the threat the character is supposed to place on everyone.
The one aspect the movie does spend time on, and what seems to be the central relationship in the film, is the bond that slowly builds between Shifu and Po, as the master develops an unorthodox method of teaching his student. There are some sweet and cute moments here, but nothing we haven't seen before, and it all basically boils down to that favorite lesson of just about every CG cartoon - believe in yourself, and you can do anything. Dustin Hoffman is fine as the character of Shifu, but doesn't really bring anything to the role. The character could have been played by anyone, and we'd have the same result. With Jack Black and his character being the sole stand out in the film, I started to focus my attention almost entirely on him. Though I never truly laughed at anything he said or his antics, the energy that Black brings to the role is unmistakable, and made me smile many times. As strong of a character as Po is, he's just not strong enough to carry an entire movie by himself, especially not this one. His energy almost seems to be there to distract us from the fact that there is nothing going on around him.
Kung Fu Panda is mercifully free of pop culture references, which is a blessing, but even that does not excuse how dull and uninspired almost everything here is. Jack Black could only do so much before I started to lose my interest. It's almost certain that kids will love this movie, and parents can be assured that there is no crude or offensive humor here to worry about. Beyond that, there's very little to recommend. This is a surprisingly toothless venture that never quite goes far enough with its own premise.
With Kung Fu Panda, we get a memorable new animated hero, and an equally memorable voice performance from Jack Black. Black's character is Po, an overweight and kind-hearted panda who, with his almost child-like innocence and bright spirit, allows him to immediately be embraced by the audience almost from the instant we lay eyes on the big guy. The character is given even more heart by Black's energetic and sweet-natured portrayal, in what is probably one of most memorable roles since 2003's School of Rock. So, why didn't the rest of the film engage me in quite the same way the lead character did? It felt as if the filmmakers spent all their energy and talent behind Po, and then considered everyone and everything else in the movie as an afterthought. Despite some strong animation and an overall pleasant look, I got the sense that Po would have been better suited in a different movie.
The movie is set in an alternate ancient China inhabited entirely by animals. Po starts the movie as a trainee for a local noodle shop vendor, but as the title suggests, there are bigger things in store for the guy. Po idolizes a team of martial arts warriors who protect his village, known as the Furious Five. The warriors are guided by their master, Shifu (voice by Dustin Hoffman), and include Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). Early on, Shifu's wise old turtle master, Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), has a vision that the village's sworn enemy and Shifu's former student, the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), will escape from prison and return to seek revenge on his former master. The time has come for one of the Furious Five to earn the ultimate title that all martial arts students strive for - the Dragon Warrior, as only the one with the title will hold the power to defeat Tai Lung. Through a series of events too complicated to summarize, Po ends up crashing the tournament that will decide the Dragon Warrior, and is picked by Oogway as the "chosen one". Shifu, and each of his students, are doubtful of the elder's choice, as Po holds no real knowledge of the martial arts, and is often clumsy enough to be considered a walking disaster area. With Tai Lung quickly approaching, they will have to put their trust in Po, and hope he can learn their ways.
There are some scattered moments of wit found throughout Kung Fu Panda. I liked the fact that Po's father, who is constantly pressuring him to follow in his footsteps in the noodle business, is a goose, but no one, not even Po himself, questions how this is possible. I laughed at the introduction sequence, which cleverly parodies the long-winded narrations that sometimes set up martial arts movies. ("Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose life was legend".) And of course, like most of the animated films that have come out of Dreamworks, the movie looks like a million. The animal characters have been rendered right down to the tiniest bit of fur it seems, and the entire movie is vibrant and colorful. There are even some impressive action sequences, the highlight being a battle on a rope bridge that occurs late in the film. It's obvious that a lot of money was sunk into the look of the film, and if equal care had been put in the script, we'd have something here. The screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (both veterans of the TV cartoon King of the Hill) is overly predictable, and never quite as funny as it should be. The gags (most of them involving Po falling down, or eating) are lightweight, and never seem to build to anything. Perhaps the worst offense of the film is that, outside of Po, there's absolutely nothing and no one to care about here.
That's because the supporting characters are treated more as bystanders, instead of participants in a story. The Furious Five are built up to be as great warriors, and the one scene where we actually do get to see them fight, it is indeed impressive. The rest of the time, however, they mainly stand in the background and roll their eyes whenever Po falls down. There seems to be some hint of a subplot where the lead warrior, Tigress, is upset that wise old Oogway picked Po over her to be the Dragon Warrior. However, this never goes anywhere, nor is it truly resolved in any reasonable manner. Kung Fu Panda is yet another case of an animated film that casts some famous names, just so they can put a few more recognizable faces in the credits and publicity shots. Why cast talented people like Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, and Jackie Chan if you're not going to give them anything to do? The villain of the film is also a disappointment, as the movie sees him more as a plot device, rather than an actual threat to Po. Aside from a brief flashback explaining his past with master Shifu, we don't learn anything about him, so we can't get involved in the threat the character is supposed to place on everyone.
The one aspect the movie does spend time on, and what seems to be the central relationship in the film, is the bond that slowly builds between Shifu and Po, as the master develops an unorthodox method of teaching his student. There are some sweet and cute moments here, but nothing we haven't seen before, and it all basically boils down to that favorite lesson of just about every CG cartoon - believe in yourself, and you can do anything. Dustin Hoffman is fine as the character of Shifu, but doesn't really bring anything to the role. The character could have been played by anyone, and we'd have the same result. With Jack Black and his character being the sole stand out in the film, I started to focus my attention almost entirely on him. Though I never truly laughed at anything he said or his antics, the energy that Black brings to the role is unmistakable, and made me smile many times. As strong of a character as Po is, he's just not strong enough to carry an entire movie by himself, especially not this one. His energy almost seems to be there to distract us from the fact that there is nothing going on around him.
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