Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

At long last, the third aspect of this blog is addressed. Much has been written about sports, a little bit about food, and now the first movie review. After watching a couple movies not worth writing one word about, Laura and I took our little brother Edgar to see Kung Fu Panda. The plot revolves around a panda named Po who idolizes a group of kung fu fighters called the Furious Five. He dreams about being one of them, fighting evil forces and protecting his home, the Valley of Peace. Unfortunately, Po is no kung fu fighter. He is an overweight klutz who works at his Dad's restaurant serving noodles. When the time comes for a new Dragon Master to be chosen, an extravagant ceremony is held and Po is unwittingly chosen. After facing doubters and doubting himself, Po is able to unlock his hidden potential with the help of his master Shifu. He becomes a master kung fu artist and must help save his village from Tai Lung, a former student of Shifu who turned evil. Epic fights ensue and Po learns to believe in himself and his ability to do what makes him truly happy.

Kung Fu Panda is simply a great movie. It is possibly the best movie of the summer so far. I had no complaints about it like I did for Indy 4. The action scenes are more exciting than the ones in Ironman. I have no doubt it is funnier than either Adam Sandler's or Mike Myers' summer efforts. The animation is beautiful, creating landscapes that could not be matched with live footage. The audience is transported to ancient China populated with talking animals. I can't stress enough how visually appealing the movie is. If all computer animated movies looked this good, I wouldn't be too sad about old animation fading away.

The one worry I had going into the movie was about the actor providing the voice for Po, Jack Black. I have a love/hate relationship with Jack Black. In a movie like High Fidelity or Orange County, he is great as his characters don't overwhelm the movie. Too much of him can drive me crazy as his constant banter and over the top antics become repetitive and tiresome. I enjoy School of Rock, but after multiple viewings, I tire of Black's shtick. The kids are what make that movie work. It was a pleasant surprise then that his voice never bothered me throughout the movie. Black was much more subdued, and I give credit to the writers. They could have given Po more of a crazy personality, but they presented him as a lovable loser wanting to make something more of himself than a waiter. It is very satisfying to see Po succeeding at kung fu after all the nay sayers bring him close to quitting. I give Black credit for conveying Po's emotions well and getting me to care about the character.

It's always fun trying to guess the other actors doing character voices. I laughed when I heard David Cross doing the voice of a crane, a member of the Furious Five. I wonder if the crane is a never-nude. Or maybe a discipline daddy. They need to make the Arrested Development movie as soon as possible. The one voice I did not pick up on was Angelina Jolie as another member of the Furious Five, Tigress. Maybe she has a fairly mundane voice or the character wasn't given enough for her to make a stronger impression. Dustin Hoffman was great as Po's master Shifu, as his voice comes off as very wise and elderly, exactly what I would expect from a kung fu master.

The one aspect of the movie that blew me away and put it at the top of my summer movie list were the fight sequences. There are three lengthy fights in the movie that are all very different in their settings, making for distinctly different fighting. In particular, the scene involving the villian, Tai Lung, breaking out of prison is incredible to watch. The prison is in a mountain, buried deep below the earth with only one door for an exit. Tai Lung has to get past hundreds of guards and escape the cavern in the mountain. There's no more to explain. You just have to see how it's done. The other two great fights involve the Furious Five vs. Tai Lung on a rope bridge, similar to the one in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Po vs. Tai Lung in the climax encounter. They are all great and far superior to the action scenes of many live action movies.

Go see Kung Fu Panda. It has a great message about believing in yourself and doing what makes you happy. It has some funny scenes involving some slapstick comedy. The action is top notch. It looks beautiful. Sounds good, eh?