Kung Fu Panda
Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review
By: The Dweeb
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Say what you will about Dreamworks Animation and Paramount, they have been cranking out average computer animated fare for quite some time now. But they are at least very entertaining most of the time, and the kids just eat this stuff up. No you won’t find much in terms of an emotional connection to the characters in most of these films, but you will find yourself cracking some smiles usually. Kung Fu Panda is the latest in the long line of these films with a similar pedigree, this time featuring the voice talents of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and a stable of Hollywood talent that love to latch on to these types of projects. They are starting to blend together with the fast cuts and zooms for editing, mixed with this sarcastic humor more fit for older children. But essentially this is a Jack Black movie, who plays the main character Po the panda and is allowed to ad lib his way through the film.
Its nothing really surprising actually, we’ve seen this story a million times before. Some loser who dreams of making it big finally makes it big by determination and will and then wins whatever or achieves something and becomes a great master at whatever it is they are doing. Sound generic enough? Examples of this theme include The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Matrix, insert any comic book origin film, whatever. Panda is a schlub stuck working for his dads noodle shop who dreams of being a Kung Fu master, only to find himself accidentally becoming chosen as the Dragon Warrior and following through with it. He’s an idiot, but that’s what makes this film entertaining, in the Jack Black style he bumbles his way through the film. The actual plot is not that important, because there isn’t much of one. Just enough to provide screen time for antics and jokes.
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he characters in this movies aren’t exciting enough to me to really get into the film. There are probably too many to be able to really flesh out the characters more, and they either typically provide a background role or just serve a singular purpose. They just get lost in the shuffle. We never really find out why Po’s dad is a duck. This is definitely a Jack Black vehicle, and his character does not differentiate much from any of his other films, except maybe he’s in animated form. I felt like I was watching School of Rock at some point. But I have to admit, Jack can be hilarious when he doesn’t go too far with his shtick.
As you can imagine, the advances in computing technology have made it possible to create some mesmerizing animation, and this film is no different. Some of the backgrounds and effects are just incredible, and coupled with the snappy editing and zooms it just pops. There’s a lot of eye candy, and some of the sequences in the beginning in the more traditional style of animation make it stand out. The extras featured on this set are not the usual fare found on most discs. This is definitely geared toward children in trying to educate them about Asian cultures, from how noodles are made with Alton Brown to the different styles of Kung Fu. There are quite a few instructional pieces actually to introduce the different fighting styles that are represented in the movie. I’m not sure how helpful these are but give it shot with the kids. Of course there is plenty of behind the scenes material as well and a really out of place music video covering “Kung Fu Fighting” with Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley fame.
Although I wouldn’t call it a great film, it is definitely an entertaining one and would not be anything to be disappointed about so definitely check it out at least once. Skadoosh!
Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!!
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