Yes, I do love some classics and adventures and blowin'-stuff-up sort of movies, but I'm also a fan of silly cartoons. This week's Netflix is one of those latter movies. Here you go: Kung Fu Panda.
Plot: Standard under-dog turning things around, finding one's place sort of movie. Po is a fat, lazy, sarcastic panda who loves Kung Fu, despite being totally physically unsuited for it. He works in his family's noodle shop, and is surprised to find he is chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy as the Dragon Warrior. Po goes to study Kung Fu alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey) under the leadership of their teacher, Master Shifu. However, danger approaches as the evil snow leopard Tai Lung threatens their valley, and it's now up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat.
Casting in an animated movie is important to me, as I watch a lot of cartoons and need the voices to be suitable. (Think Claire Danes in the English dub of Princess Mononoke and you'll see what I mean - still makes me cringe inwardly!) They worked very well here. Dustin Hoffman's deep growl coming out of a tiny red panda made me chuckle, especially with the twitchy panda ears. And Jack Black was well suited for Po, perfect really. The ultimate over-enthusiastic fan boy. I'm a lukewarm Jack Black fan in live action movies, because like a lot of actors with over-expressive faces, he tends to rely on it too much (I have the same frustration with Jim Carey, come to think of it). Here, depending only on his voice, it was a lot funnier than if the character had been live action and we'd seen Black's face. I really liked Randall Duk Kim as Oogway, too. I want to be like that when I'm really old :) Ian McShane is a wonderful villain voice, so arrogant and threatening. And I love Lucy Liu, a sweet character, despite being Master Viper. C'mon, she knocks Po out, and then apologizes, "I'm sorry, I thought you were ready!"
My favorite voice though, hands down, was James Hong as Mr. Ping. James Hong has a career going back to the 1950s, bad guys in numerous TV shows and movies. Some animation too - Mulan and "Jackie Chan Adventures," among others. Here, he is spot-on as the insanely happy, proud father and noodle shop owner Mr. Ping. He made me smile every time that goose opened his mouth! Earned an Annie nomination for that role too (animation annual awards). Well done!
The story itself is simple and a standard formula, but it is treated well. There is a lot of heart in the movie, in with the action and funny lines. Po and his father bond and understand each other, Master Shifu and the Masters accept Po, Po finds his own place, lots of good heart-warming stuff. No, I don't consider those spoilers, as we all knew it was going to happen :) As much as I like Shrek, I liked this one even more. The movie isn't just running jokes, but some plot and emotional involvement in the characters too. These are very real characters (I swear, I've got friends like Po), so it makes the movie that much more enjoyable.
The animation is very well done. Each of the 5 masters is based on a particular style of kung fu, and the martial arts they use are actually based on those styles. As a fan on martial arts movies, I enjoyed seeing how they incorporated that into characters like Mantis and Viper. How do you do a kick, for example, when the character has no legs? It was a lot of fun. Plus, on CGI points, you have a lot of motion in furry and clothed characters, two very involved details, but it looks very smooth and natural. Which is impressive, when you consider you're animating a giant panda in pants doing kung fu :)
On the fun side of things, if you are like me and (as I just mentioned) a martial arts movie fan, you'll get a kick out of this one, because it really is a martial arts movie. All the standard movie points are there. The crazy training apparatus in the secluded school grounds, the training montage for the hero, the battle on a dangerous environment (a rope bridge here), a battle using everyday objects (here, cooking pots)... not that any of these are supposed to be references to specific movies, but all the standards of the genre are well represented :) Besides the 5's fighting styles, Tai Lung and Po are representative of their own kung fu styles too - leopard and bear. IMDB's FAQ section on the movie has a good description of the styles.
The writers had fun with the names too. Besides the 5 (obviously named after the 5 styles they represent, as well as the actual animal they are), there is Master Shifu ("shifu" is "master" in Cantonese) and Master Oogway ("tortoise" in Chinese). And according to IMDB trivia, the characters of KG Shaw and JR Shaw (I think those are the pigs in the town) are a reference to The Shaw Brothers Creative Group, who created many 1970's kung fu movies, and Tai Lung is named after Shaw star Lung Ti. I love dorky inside jokes like that :) Makes my inner fangirl very happy.
There are some really fun extras on the DVD, too. Besides some good behind the scenes stuff with the voices actors, the animators, and the Foley artists (sound folk), there is a noodle shop behind the scenes! And by "noodle shop," I mean, 5 star Chinese cuisine. Since Mr. Ping is a noodle shop owner, the extra clip went to a Beverly Hills Chinese restaurant and watched one of their chefs make noodles. I mean, make-by-hand 'make noodles.' Coolest cooking trick I've ever watched!!
Oh, and stay all the way through the credits. If you have to mute "Kung Fu Fighting," do so, but there is an extra scene at the end. A very sweet one. Made me smile :)
Overall: 5 of 5. Definitely would love on the shelf :)
This series of pictures below is one Dreamworks often does for their animation productions, pairings of the voice actors and their characters. I like it :) Oh, and the picture of Seth Rogan has Mantis perched on his shoulder, if you can't see it.
Casting in an animated movie is important to me, as I watch a lot of cartoons and need the voices to be suitable. (Think Claire Danes in the English dub of Princess Mononoke and you'll see what I mean - still makes me cringe inwardly!) They worked very well here. Dustin Hoffman's deep growl coming out of a tiny red panda made me chuckle, especially with the twitchy panda ears. And Jack Black was well suited for Po, perfect really. The ultimate over-enthusiastic fan boy. I'm a lukewarm Jack Black fan in live action movies, because like a lot of actors with over-expressive faces, he tends to rely on it too much (I have the same frustration with Jim Carey, come to think of it). Here, depending only on his voice, it was a lot funnier than if the character had been live action and we'd seen Black's face. I really liked Randall Duk Kim as Oogway, too. I want to be like that when I'm really old :) Ian McShane is a wonderful villain voice, so arrogant and threatening. And I love Lucy Liu, a sweet character, despite being Master Viper. C'mon, she knocks Po out, and then apologizes, "I'm sorry, I thought you were ready!"
My favorite voice though, hands down, was James Hong as Mr. Ping. James Hong has a career going back to the 1950s, bad guys in numerous TV shows and movies. Some animation too - Mulan and "Jackie Chan Adventures," among others. Here, he is spot-on as the insanely happy, proud father and noodle shop owner Mr. Ping. He made me smile every time that goose opened his mouth! Earned an Annie nomination for that role too (animation annual awards). Well done!
The story itself is simple and a standard formula, but it is treated well. There is a lot of heart in the movie, in with the action and funny lines. Po and his father bond and understand each other, Master Shifu and the Masters accept Po, Po finds his own place, lots of good heart-warming stuff. No, I don't consider those spoilers, as we all knew it was going to happen :) As much as I like Shrek, I liked this one even more. The movie isn't just running jokes, but some plot and emotional involvement in the characters too. These are very real characters (I swear, I've got friends like Po), so it makes the movie that much more enjoyable.
The animation is very well done. Each of the 5 masters is based on a particular style of kung fu, and the martial arts they use are actually based on those styles. As a fan on martial arts movies, I enjoyed seeing how they incorporated that into characters like Mantis and Viper. How do you do a kick, for example, when the character has no legs? It was a lot of fun. Plus, on CGI points, you have a lot of motion in furry and clothed characters, two very involved details, but it looks very smooth and natural. Which is impressive, when you consider you're animating a giant panda in pants doing kung fu :)
On the fun side of things, if you are like me and (as I just mentioned) a martial arts movie fan, you'll get a kick out of this one, because it really is a martial arts movie. All the standard movie points are there. The crazy training apparatus in the secluded school grounds, the training montage for the hero, the battle on a dangerous environment (a rope bridge here), a battle using everyday objects (here, cooking pots)... not that any of these are supposed to be references to specific movies, but all the standards of the genre are well represented :) Besides the 5's fighting styles, Tai Lung and Po are representative of their own kung fu styles too - leopard and bear. IMDB's FAQ section on the movie has a good description of the styles.
The writers had fun with the names too. Besides the 5 (obviously named after the 5 styles they represent, as well as the actual animal they are), there is Master Shifu ("shifu" is "master" in Cantonese) and Master Oogway ("tortoise" in Chinese). And according to IMDB trivia, the characters of KG Shaw and JR Shaw (I think those are the pigs in the town) are a reference to The Shaw Brothers Creative Group, who created many 1970's kung fu movies, and Tai Lung is named after Shaw star Lung Ti. I love dorky inside jokes like that :) Makes my inner fangirl very happy.
There are some really fun extras on the DVD, too. Besides some good behind the scenes stuff with the voices actors, the animators, and the Foley artists (sound folk), there is a noodle shop behind the scenes! And by "noodle shop," I mean, 5 star Chinese cuisine. Since Mr. Ping is a noodle shop owner, the extra clip went to a Beverly Hills Chinese restaurant and watched one of their chefs make noodles. I mean, make-by-hand 'make noodles.' Coolest cooking trick I've ever watched!!
Oh, and stay all the way through the credits. If you have to mute "Kung Fu Fighting," do so, but there is an extra scene at the end. A very sweet one. Made me smile :)
Overall: 5 of 5. Definitely would love on the shelf :)
This series of pictures below is one Dreamworks often does for their animation productions, pairings of the voice actors and their characters. I like it :) Oh, and the picture of Seth Rogan has Mantis perched on his shoulder, if you can't see it.
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