Energetic Kung Fu Panda a Joyful Kick

Po (Jack Black) loves kung fu. More, he’s obsessed with the fearsome Furious Five; Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan); ancient animal warriors trained to absolute perfection by their taskmaster guru Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

Po (Jack Black) and Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) train in DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda

But he never expected to be learning martial arts titan right along side them, yet that’s exactly what happens when legendary Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) sees greatness and chooses him to fulfill an ancient prophecy to save his village from ruination. At first training is a disaster, the overweight panda unable to accomplish even the simplest of tasks Shifu asks him to attempt, the teacher at his wits end trying to come up with methods to find this supposed “greatness” hidden inside.

Soon the Furious Five – especially the gracefully agile razor-clawed Tigress – are getting more and more tired of the guy’s utter failure to do a single thing right. Worse, the vengeful Tai Lung (Ian McShane) is headed their way seeking timeless secrets which could make him an all-powerful force of devastation and chaos. It is ultimately up to Po to save the day, and if he puts his heart to the task at hand maybe the unlikely hero will find that his greatest weaknesses might just turn out to be his greatest strengths, he just better find out fast before the treacherous snow leopard arrives to rip him and his township to shreds.

In what can only be thought of as one of the year’s biggest surprises, DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda is about as giddy a piece of family-friendly entertainment as any I’m likely to see this year. Move aside big green ogre Shrek, but this tale of a karate-chopping roly-poly panda might just be the best animated feature the studio has ever produced. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it rivals both Pixar’s  A Bug's Life and especially Cars as far as sheer entertainment value is concerned, the movie a bubbling burst of effervescent joy I loved pretty much start to finish.

It begins with Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger’s (original staff writers for FOX’s “King of the Hill”) multi-layered and winningly plotted screenplay. The stupid trailers did nothing to showcase just how witty all this is, the film going beyond the obvious pratfalls and parodies the studio usually revels in and achieves a cheer-worthy effervescence impossible to resist. More, the ultimate moral of believing in one’s self no matter what the outward world might think is one I think all of us can get behind, all of it delivered with a subtly beguiling simplicity that kept the preview audience I saw it with utterly enthralled.

As for the voice actors, all do a wonderful job and are certainly worthy of praise. But as good as Jolie, Rogan, McShane, Cross, Chan, Liu et al are, none of them compare to what both Black and especially Hoffman accomplish. These two take their characters and turn them into instantly iconic sensations. Like Woody and Buzz, Marlin and Dory, and, yes, Donkey and Shrek, Po and Shifu are a classic animated comedy team I couldn’t get enough of, and by the time the film finally ran its course I was almost sad to see them go.

But the big story here is the animation. Nothing I’ve seen from DreamWorks could have prepared me for just how dexterous and astonishing their accomplishment here is. Every detail, every color, every shape, every movement is remarkably precise. This might be the most sensational looking cartoon epic since last year’s Oscar-winning phenomenon Ratatouille, and while I wouldn’t quite put this one in that particularly rarified company the movie is as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the funny bone.

The whole thing is a multicolored blast I didn’t want to see end, and by the time it was over I was probably cheering near as loud as the group of grade-schoolers sitting just a few seats away from me. In other words, Kung Fu Panda is about as good as animated features get, and for parents looking for something the whole family can enjoy then this is the very movie they’ve been waiting all Summer for.

Film Rating: êêê1/2  (out of 4)

- reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle

Additional Links:

-  2008 SIFF Blog by Sara Michelle Fetters
-  2008 Seattle International Film Festival Home Page
-  Kung Fu Panda Theatrical Trailer