Kung Fu Panda, 4 stars
Watched Dreamworks’ newest animated film, Kung Fu Panda, yesterday. And I’ve got to admit that this unexpected tale ran circles around the tired Over the Hedge and the later instances of the Shrek-saga from the same company.
The plot is simple, and echoes shards from a thousand martial arts movies produced during the last decades. That is, if conventional smack ‘em up-movies would be starring anthropomorphic animals, of course. And would be brimming with bildungsroman-qualities, centered on the protagonist reaching maturity. Both are present here, and in so full force that the film never runs the risk of being just a sequence of serialized battles. Of which there’s clearly no shortage, with plenty of homages to classic movies of the genre.
Jack Black stars as the flabby panda, and fits the role perfectly. The other actors I hadn’t really figured out in advance, but there turned out to be quite a selection from the A-list (as well as guys fallen from or aspriring to climb). Didn’t recognize Jackie Chan until the credits rolled in. Nor Ian McShane as the villain, Tai Lung, he seems to be caught doing nothing but voicing nasty animals post-Deadwood.
The art is faultless, packed with details, and especially the hand-drawn initial sequence is worthy indeed. The scenery changes from misty outdoor vistas to medieval prisons, via Matrix-like slo-mo effects.
There is no charge for awesomeness
And speaking of credits, while the post-roll scene is short - it’s well worth sitting through the credits, even after the Jack Black / Cee Lo-version of Kung Fu Fighting is over. There’s a barrage of good background art and the combination of Hans Zimmer and a big chinese orchestra does inspire awe at times.
Scarily enough, this is not a fully self-contained movie, but according to studio owners the concept has potential for five more. Fortunately no loose ends are left hanging here, though.
Leave a comment