Marval Movie

Say "Kung Fu Panda" out load and you will probably feel a little immature. But the tittle, just like it's main character and the theme of the movie should not be judged by your initial impression. It is actually like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, where you would expect to find something rompy with a lot of cheese, but the project itself is filled with depth, artistry, effort and very emotionally connectable. 

We open with a 2D esque landscape where we are told that a warrior by the name of Po walks the land and with his mighty Kung-Fu skill's, defeats evil and does generally awesome stuff, even his idols, The Furious Five show him respect. But it was all a dream! Po is actually a waiter/chef at a small noodle restaurant (too small for this rather large panda) where he and his father Mr Ping (James Hong) work. His father is also a goose (no questions asked).

Meanwhile up on the top of the mountainside that peaks out above the clouds is the Furious Fives pembinaan sanctuary where they are trained buy the little master Shifu. Training is going fine enough but Shifu is then called by his master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) an old Tortoise. Oogway tells him that he has had a vision, "Tai Lung will return." There is only one that can stop him and that is the Dragon warrior, the prophesied champion. Only they don't know who it is.

A demonstration must be held for the Five to see which of them is the Dragon Warrior, for surely who else could it be? Po is excited to watch but as requested by his father he is stuck with the noodle cart to sell to the people. He quickly abandons it to watch, the doors have already shut on him but he is undeterred and through a series of slapstick tries and fail to get a good view. He finally straps himself to fireworks where he declares his love of Kung-Fu to his dad and is hurtled into the sky and right in-front of Oogway. He was going to point to Tigress and she would become to Dragon Warrior but the title goes to Po, Shifu tries to explain that it was simply an accident but according to Oogway "There are no accident."

Po himself is a character that is hard to get right. He is a goofball with a good-heart, therefore the character needs to be clumsy, but with good intentions. Funny, but must never steer into obnoxious or grading territory. And finally we, along with the other characters, can criticize him for all his fumbling and flaws but never as much as he himself does. Which he does. The casting of Jack Black was another thing that could have turned sour, he does bring energy to all of his roles but can become very unfocused in his performances if he is not either given the right direction or character that can properly channel said energy. But luckily this is a case of the right character for the right actor. Black does what Siskel & Ebert once described as the greatest thing an actor can do and that is convey their joy, while still being in-character. From his voice, through the animation of the character and then to the audience he is able to readout his lines, hit the emotional beats and still convey to you that he enjoys entertaining you.

Master Shifu is the Yoda-like mentor in this movie for Po. Dustin Hoffman easily fits into his new situation of voice-acting for the first time, able to convey much dry humor and condescending tones. He is a good, modern-day take on the classic Zen master. He is skilled, which is contrasted rather funnily with his tiny stature, but also is the dilemma of the character that wishes to reach inner peace, but is so frustrated with his past, himself and now has to deal with Po. An added layer of the story is that Shifu (also spelled Sifu) means "Person of skill", "teacher" and "father." His is all these things.

The Furious Five themselves are a very clever analogy for Kung-Fu fighting styles as many of them were based on the movements of animals. Also they are cast with actions stars. Angelina Jolie as the ferocious Tigress, Luci Lu the subtle Viper, Jackie Chan is the acrobatic, Monkey. The other two are Seth Rogen as Mantis and Davis Cross as Crane, but this is still meant to be a children's movie so getting actors that can get a laugh out of the audience is important, which they do.

Then comes the scene where Tai Lung escapes from prison. His prison is one of the most exaggerated, memorable movie locations. An entire mountain that has been hollowed out, seemingly endless darkness with layers upon layers of traps and obstacles, with only one prisoner at the center of the lowest darkest level. Tai Lung does indeed escape with what is one of the most memorable escape scenes in any movie that does justice to the location it's set in. Now he is on his way

Tai Lung is not the greatest part of the movie. He is indeed threatening and the level of dread that the other characters emit by the idea of him and when his fight scenes come its obvious that he is a force to be reckoned with. Ian McShane also does a solid job in conveying the characters wrath, resent and smugness all at once. But he is not a truly bone chilling idea or something that is as memorable as the other elements in the movie.

Though a simple children's movie this was and will always be labelled under, the movie has such enriching artistry that was put into it. Beautiful visual are throughout. From the cute, but very well executed look of the characters that resemble plushy toys, but with that also comes the challenge of getting the fur texture right as well as the fabric of the clothes. Usually you get one or the other but the animators went all-out and gave us both.

The pinnacle of the movies beauty and poetry comes when Shifu gets news that Tai Lung is on his way. He goes to his master seeking guidance, but is unshaken because they have the Dragon Warrior. Shifu is unsatisfied and nervous but Oogway makes him promise to believe in Po. With that he looks to the stars, knows that his time is up, the wind takes the blossoms from the tree, they swarm around Oogway he dissolves into them and drifts off. Images such as this reach into my soul and invigorate it like nothing else. Images like sports, a corner shop or the latest technological gadget have nothing, they are merely real, this is more.

An old proverb says that "there are no bad students, only bad teachers." While Shifu is trying to contemplate how to turn Po into a worthy warrior he hears a rummaging. The gym is empty, but the kitchen is not, Po has destroyed it, tearing the wardrobes doors off and punching through cabinets. Dropping a hint that Monkey keeps cookies on a top shelf it is confirmed that Po reacts to food as the real incentive, with that he is able to get ten feet off the ground and perform a perfect split. The issue was how to get through to Po, he was trying to teach him like he taught the others, but their style was already layed-out, Po's has yet to be discovered.
The movie contains some of the other elements that you would expect in a movie where someone needs to acquire or perfect a skill. The pembinaan montage and what-not, although there really doesn't seem to be a way to properly tell such a story without these scenes. But what stops it from becoming a laborious sitting experience is that the filmmakers are a) clearly enthusiastic about what their making, so it transfers to the audience and b) They try. They try to make sure that what they show and how it unfolds is, at the very least, visually interesting so that your still engaged. Having a person do sit-ups while hanging off something, seeing animals do it is a new angle plus adds some comedy, but have all that and put it against a beautifully rendered back-drop of of Chinese mountainside and the information is conveyed along with a great, memorable image.

Hans Zimmer as you'd expect delivers a truly solid, well composed, memorable score. He really delves into the the Asian instruments and mindset of laying out such a score.

Then, as must happen, the climactic fight between the protagonist and the antagonist ensues. What's clever about this fight is that Po uses what he has learned over the course of his training, but also things that would seem throwaway, from the beginning of the movie, to the middle and a little while ago. The tree that can be used a catapult, noodles as a whip, food for incentive.

From the beginning of the movie Po's biggest defector is that he is fat (particularly in the stomach region). But that is his winning trait against Tai Lung, his great finishing move is hitting the vital pressure points, but Po has too much fat, rendering him immune. The very thing that everyone though a hindrance, as well as what makes Po, Po was what was able to allow him to win.

"Kung Fu Panda" still sounds silly. But I love to be surprised by a movie, it keeps you interested to know that you can indeed be proven wrong about things. I haven't seen all the movies in the world but more to the point I cant judge every movie before I've seen it. There is still the undiscovered.