Review: Kung Fu Panda (2008)

[Scott Mendelson]

Kung Ku Panda: The IMAX Experience
2008
85 minutes
rated PG (for sequences of martial arts action)

by Scott Mendelson

Kung Fu Panda is flawed in many of the places you'd expect, but it is
surprisingly successful in other areas. It packs an unexpected wallop
in key dramatic scenes, and the film isn't shy about the kicks and the
punches. The kung fu hurts in this film as much as its PG rating will
allow. As a result, the film fails as a comedy but is successful as an
action picture, and occasionally as a drama.

A bit of plot: In ancient China, Po (Jack Black, giving a more
realistic and human performance than he usually does when playing a
live-action human being) is an overweight and over-eating panda bear.
Although his father (James Hong, a national treasure as always) hopes
and prays that his son will follow in his footsteps as a noodle cook,
Po has a yearning for kung fu. When the day comes for the legendary
'dragon warrior' to be chosen, he sneaks into the ceremony to see the
spectacle. As ancient master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) waits to decide
among the five most likely contenders, Po watches through a peephole
in anticipation. Although Master Shufu (Dustin Hoffman in his best
work since Stranger Than Fiction) presumes that the chosen one will be
among his five favorite students, fate plays a hand, and Po is
miraculously chosen as the vaulted Dragon Warrior. Now a disgruntled
Shufu must train Po in the ways of kung fu before the murderous Tai
Ling (Ian McShane) escapes his prison cell and attempts to take his
revenge on Shufu.

The set-up for what I have just described is a little loose and not a
little dull. Most of the feared Jack Black over-the-top comic antics
occur in the first act, and the film suffers from his usual
buffoonery. But once Po is chosen and once Tai Ling is introduced, the
picture kicks into gear. Ling's prison is a wonderfully imaginative
visual and his escape rivals any action scene in Speed Racer or
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

In fact, despite the fact that this is a 'kids cartoon', it is
credible as a martial arts adventure. The fight scenes, when they
arrive, are long, brutal, and dramatically potent. They are real throw
downs, with the benefit of superior animation, which allows the flying
and leaping to be that much more possible and plausible. Tai Ling is
given a true menace and a multi-layered back story that connects him
very personally and sympathetically with Master Shufu (his origin is
similar to Anakin Skywalker or Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon). The major showdown between Shufu and Tai Ling is emotionally
charged, relatively violent, and completely compelling.

Also making the film work is the truly stellar vocal work of the main
characters. Dustin Hoffman turns in a beautifully shaded and subtle
read, portraying the tragedy of a teacher who cannot show love to his
pupils because he blames love for his greatest failure. Ian McShane is
truly intimidating, adopting a low-key Michael Wincott villainy. His
back story and his subsequent actions allow us to fear and sympathize
with him, which adds an element of pathos to what follows.

The main fault is the lack of real arcs to the Fatal Five, the prize
pupils of Shufu who each represent a specialized type of kung fu.
Angelina Jolie voices Tigress, Jackie Chan voices Monkey, Lucy Lui
voices Viper, Seth Rogan voices Mantis, and David Cross voices Crane.
Yet only Tigress gets the slightest arc and the other four performers
get a total of maybe twenty lines of dialogue combined. On the plus
side, Randall Duk Kim gets a terrifically moving final scene with
Hoffman.

Befitting the high budget and prestige of DreamWorks animation, much
of the animation is beyond gorgeous, appearing to be truly 3-
dimensional even on a 2D IMAX screen. Shot in 2.35:1 scope, this is
perhaps the most visually arresting cartoon that DreamWorks has ever
made, and the authentic Chinese locations rival Ratatouille for visual
splendor.

Kung Fu Panda is not a masterpiece, but it is easily one of the best
DreamWorks cartoons in their canon. It is not as good as Over The
Hedge, or the first two Shrek films, but it is about as good as Antz,
and it easily surpasses anything else they've made. The expected
lowbrow Jack Black bumbling is present and accounted for, but the film
eventually moves past that and settles in as a credible action cartoon
with several surprisingly potent dramatic scenes and a few terrific
action set-pieces. It works both as a placeholder for Wall-E and a
solid family-friendly entertainment in its own right. In short, Kung
Fu Panda kicks ample amounts of butt.

Grade: B+