Directed by: John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogan, Ian McShane
Rating: PG
From its inception,
Kung Fu Panda smelled like a classic case of the marketing department making the creative decisions for a studio. The ad campaign that has pummeled us over the past six months seemed to confirm that this would be a soulless effort, along the same lines as
Ice Age 2 and
Madagascar. It turns out
Kung Fu Panda is no dud. In fact, it’s one of the best animated films of recent years. This piece of pure entertainment is on a par with
Shrek and even—dare I say it?—Pixar, in terms of beauty, clarity of story, and strong characterizations. It even trumps
Shrek by avoiding the pop songs and pop culture references that tend to infest Dreamworks movies.
Kung Fu Panda is a PG movie – the action sequences are rough and the villain is pretty scary. But for braver 5 year-olds and above, this movie should be a real treat. It does gear more toward boys than girls, with its martial arts theme.
But Kung Fu Panda is also visually arresting, and as much comedy as action. Also, the star is a panda, and this guy is absolutely lovable. There are also two good female characters—kung fu masters played by Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu. Jack Black voices Po, a panda who appears destined to continue his family tradition of making noodles. But Po’s real dream is to be a kung fu master. High up in the mountains, the legendary master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) leads the Furious Five: Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Snake (Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Mantis (Seth Rogan) are the celebrities of the age – Po even has their action figures. Life in this part of rural China is peaceful, since the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane) was imprisoned. But when Tai Lung escapes, Shifu must find the Dragon Warrior to stop him. Tigress believes she is the Dragon Warrior. She and the others are horrified when Po is chosen. Shifu is certain the selection is a mistake, and determines to train Po so hard he’ll give up. But Shifu and the Furious Five underestimate the tubby panda.
There’s nothing groundbreaking in the plot of Kung Fu Panda, but it’s a huge step forward for the Dreamworks gang to construct such a solid, emotionally satisfying story. It’s interesting to note that the quartet behind the movie are almost all relatively new to the genre. Writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger come from The King Of the Hill, while co-director Mark Osborne’s credits are mostly music videos for Weird Al Yankovic. Only codirector John Stevenson has a track record at Dreamworks, having been a storyboard artist on most of their features. The combination works magic, executing each sequence thoughtfully. They overcome the two biggest hurdles of such films—going slack in the middle and going off track at the end. In fact, Kung Fu Panda may be at its most enjoyable in the middle, as Po does his best to win over Shifu and the Furious Five. His final showdown with Tai Lung isn’t as strong as the other sequences, but it’s still pretty good.
Another signature of Dreamworks films is to recruit all sorts of big name stars, whether their voices are right for the roles or not—look no further than the woefully miscast Ben Stiller and Chris Rock in Madagascar. But the vocal work in Kung Fu Panda is exceptional, and it starts with Jack Black. Black has lent his voice to a few other animated characters, including Dreamworks’ own Shark Tale. Po is a perfect match for him, and Black rises to the occasion. The bighearted, food-loving Po will no doubt enter the pantheon of beloved animated characters. Dustin Hoffman is just as good as Shifu. He and Black trade off banter quite well. The rest of the cast is also good, notably James Hong as Po’s father, and McShane as the silky-voiced Tai Lung. Someone might tell Seth Rogan he doesn’t have to take every animated role offered—this is his fourth voice-over job in a calendar year.
The past few years have seen a glut of subpar CG features. The trend looks to have been corrected for 2008. The less inspiring Horton Hears a Who was the only one so far. At the end of the month Pixar will unleash the highly anticipated Wall-E on the world. Other than Space Chimps, the latest dubious release from Vanguard Entertainment (Valiant, Happily N’Ever After), that does it for the summer. I’m looking forward to Wall-E, and assumed it would have no competition for the title of best animated feature of the year. But it looks as though I underestimated Po, just like Tai Lung, Shifu and the Furious Five. Kung Fu Panda is a great animated family comedy, and one of the most enjoyable movies of the year so far.
Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, California. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard residents for many years.