Kung Fu Panda

DreamWorks has always had its crazy ideas that sometimes resulted in a decent kid’s film (although Shark Tale was stretching that line pretty thin), but none looked quite as stupid and pandering as when people saw the trailers for Kung Fu Panda. By all outward appearances, Kung Fu Panda should have been cheap, unfunny, forgettable, and overall silly, as most people weren’t really seeing potential in a movie where Jack Black plays a fat panda who does martial arts. But despite all that build-up and horrible advertising, the film turned out to be an amazingly funny, beautifully animated, and surprisingly emotionally effective kung fu movie for kids and adults alike that is easily one of DreamWorks’ best films to date. Set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals, the film follows Po (voiced by Jack Black) an overweight panda peasant who’s unsatisfied with his mundane life working with his father Mr Ping (voiced by James Hong) at a noodle restaurant and wishes to become a Kung Fu master. He’s a big fan of the legendary Kung Fu team, the Furious Five, all named after Chinese styles of Kung Fu, Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan), Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu), Mantis (voiced by Seth Rogen), Crane (voiced by David Cross) and Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie). His future seems set until an accident throws him in the view of master Oogway (voiced by Randall Duk Kim) who claims that Po is the dragon warrior, the foretold hero to save all of China. Many, including Po himself, are in disbelief to these claims. His teacher Shifu, (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) tries everything in his power to force Po to abandon his position, but his excitement and determination keeps him oblivious and prevents him from ever giving up. But when an old enemy, Tai Lung (voiced Ian McShane) escapes prison and vows to destroy the town and Shifu for the power of the dragon warrior, the race is on to see if Po can become the hero that he was chosen to be and save the world from the threat of Tai Lung. Even though the concept and title make it sound like nothing worth seeing, the film has great writing, lovable and funny characters and a great understanding of Kung Fu film story-saying that seems much more mature than most of DreamWorks’ line-up at the time was showcasing (the last film they had done was Bee Movie). It’s very impressive how much movement, atmosphere, color, and even classic Chinese philosophy comes through in this movie and how it would become a DreamWorks property that was worthy of becoming a long-lasting franchise.

Originally going to be a satire and parody of martial arts film, Kung Fu Panda switches gears to instead play it more like an action-comedy film, which in many ways worked out the best for it. The layout for the story created by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris sounds like its leaning towards a goofier tone that would result in several cliches, dated writing and something that probably wouldn’t be worth remembering, but through some miracle (or just a lot of great talent), they take what they can with this premise and do everything to make it equally as funny and charming as it is surprisingly emotional and mature. The movie is a comedy first and foremost, but underneath its goofy nature and comedic dialogue is a well laid out story that carries with it classic martial arts tropes, philosophies, and characters, bringing a new level of intrigue to a younger audience who can feel more enlightened while watching something that makes them sit and contemplate as much as it makes them laugh. Not only is the story well-paced and contains a good mixture of action and heart handled by directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, but the writing by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger is much stronger than it has any right to be from a storytelling perspective as well as from a comedic standpoint. It’s definitely a ‘don’t judge by appearance story’, but nothing about the story feels rehashed or lazily done, it connects with its audience by presenting a relatable story in a manner in which kids can understanding but delivers it in a way that adults can appreciate through the meaningful messages.

The characters are all very likable, having a great cast to voice them as well as a whole load of charm to them. Po is very likable in his innocence and seeing him struggle to become what he dreams of is not only funny, but also surprisingly touching. Dustin Hoffman does great as the teacher and his relationship with Po and the other characters makes for great comedy but also for great drama as well. The movie establishes why every character acts the way that they do and presents why people like Shifu and the Furious Five would be distant towards someone like Po gaining such a high level of rank seemingly by accident, but you also side with Po because you see is determination and how important this possibility to be more than what he is means to him, everyone is given a reason for why they act the way they do and it makes for a great story. The other characters are relatable in how they feel like they’ve been conned and while some warm up to him quickly, others take some time and let it sink in why it means so much to them. It does seem strange how some of this group get underused and not that much screen time (ironically Jackie Chun especially who maybe gets five lines in the entire movie), but none of them are unlikeable and when they take part in the action, it looks really cool. The only really problems that the movie has comes from Tai Lung as the villain. He isn’t terrible by any means, he’s animated well, the design is perfectly fine, the voice actor is decent, he has okay moments of humor and menace, and he’s even given a decent backstory, but by the end of the film, he doesn’t come across as imposing or as fully rounded as he should be. The half and half mixture of comedy and threat didn’t entirely work for this character especially after the massive build-up he was given, mainly because all of these attributes that could make him funny, threatening, and sympathetic are there, but aren’t taken to the level that make any of them work as strongly as they should.  Also, the resolution of how they defeat the villain seems to come out of nowhere and does slightly go against what the message is trying to convey, which normally wouldn’t be an issue, but in a film like this with very good messages, it’s a little bizarre to say the least.

The world they created is a very pretty and unique one. It mixes the environment from classic Kung Fu movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with a modern sense of humor featured in most DreamWorks films, which should be annoying and unneeded, but not only is the movie quite funny and manages this balance in a very tasteful and timeless manner, but this world is perfectly realized thanks to the film’s stunning visuals. Kung Fu Panda might be one of the best-looking DreamWorks’ films and its actually one where it shaped how other 3D animated movies should look, with how no other 3D film previously looked as good as this one. The artistry behind these backgrounds is stunning and the mixtures of colors and lighting really gives the film a sense of Chinese atmosphere, making the world feel lively and creative, but also foreign in the best way. It drips intensely with mood in each new location because of the way its composed and structured. The dynamic way it’s ‘shoots” several scenes feel incredibly well constructed and produces some incredibly iconic and memorable shots in the fight sequences as well as in the softer quiet moments. The 3D models lend themselves well to the world of a martial arts film in terms of the comedy with the physical slapstick, but it also shows its appreciation for the 2D styles as well with gorgeous mat-painting style dream sequences and comic-style edited montages. The film fully knows that it’s a comedy and that it can take full advantage with that when it comes to staging the action. The animation is so flowing and expressive that it leads to some brilliantly detailed, stylish, fast-paced, action-packed fight scenes, which combines techniques and over-the-top elements of a Kung Fu movie, with colorful and detailed animation to create sequences that can either be very funny or very emotionally impactful (the climax especially has a nice blend of both). It can easily overcome the limitations of real-life action and can provide more intense, interesting set-pieces. The music by Hans Zimmer and John Powell is very solid and is very effective during the heartfelt softer moments, as well as the more intense action moments as well, and while its a score that is definitely light and preppy considering the kind of film it is, its usage of traditional Chinese instrumentation really sets the mood and tone of the story.

Kung Fu Panda has proven to be a wonderful film in almost every way. When the film says to never judge by appearance, it did it too well, because it also proved true with itself as this over-the-top silly film didn’t at first come across as brilliant as it is. The film has as many elements for adults as it does for kids. Its energized and action-packed, it’s smart while also having a great sense of humor, it has very likable enjoyable characters and has a surprisingly dramatic and thoughtful story. It can easily be one of the best animated comedies and it has earned that title. Check it out and get your Kung Fu fighting style on.