Kung Fu Panda

Viewer Rating:Severian has rated Kung Fu Panda rating: 4 Star

Kung Fu Panda is an essentially simple tale (and why not – it is aimed at the kids, after all) of a panda who dreams of being a martial arts hero. Master Oogway, the thousand-year-old turtle who is credited with developing the fighting arts, has had a vision and fears that the dreaded Tai Lung, a former student of his school gone to the bad, will break out of the prison wherein he is currently held and wreak havoc. To avert disaster, Oogway announces that a festival will be held at which he will choose the fighter who will become the legendary Dragon Warrior and learn the secrets of the mysterious Dragon Scroll. Only thus will the threat of Tai Lung's vengeance be averted. Po, the panda of the title, is desperate to attend the festival and it is his appearance there that unexpectedly results in his being selected as the Dragon Warrior. The scene is set for the most entertaining animated film I've seen since Ratatouille. The opening dream sequence of this movie adopts a striking 2-D traditional animation style that recalls nothing so much as Genndy Tartakovsky's brilliant work on Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. Po's idealised image of himself as the mysterious warrior in this scene is also reminiscent of the late, great Tomisaburo Wakayama as the samurai Ogami Itto from the Lone Wolf and Cub films, though lacking the signature baby carriage. DreamWorks must have spent quite a few quid on the voice cast for this flick. Of the names that I recognise, there is Jack Black as Po, Dustin Hoffman as his martial arts teacher, the appropriately-named Shifu, Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Ian McShane continuing his recent run of memorable villainy as Tai Lung, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Lucy Liu as Viper, Randall Duk Kim as the wise, kindly Master Oogway, James Hong as Po's father Mr. Ping and Michael Clarke Duncan as Commander Vachir, the rhinoceros commander of the prison wherein Tai Lung is immured. In case any of the aforementioned seem a bit obscure, Seth Rogen memorably played one of the pair of hilariously immature and irresponsible cops in last year's Superbad, Randall Duk Kim is perhaps best known for his appearance as The Keymaker in The Matrix Reloaded, and James Hong has made more TV and film appearances than most actors manage in a lifetime, but is possibly best known for Blade Runner, where he played the genetic designer Hannibal Chew, “You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes.” :) Those familiar with Chinese martial arts will spot the fact that the main objects of Po's admiration in Kung Fu Panda, the warriors known as the Furious Five, are essentially personifications (or animalifications) of styles of kung fu, hence we have Crane, Mantis, Monkey, Tigress (read Tiger) and Viper (read Snake). This conceit is beautifully realised, and anyone who has ever done any form of Chinese martial art (or watched a lot of Hong Kong cinema) will spot lots of genuine stances, blocks, strikes and holds. More delights for fans of kung fu cinema await, as the sequence set in the training hall showcases a hilariously nasty set of devices that directly reference classic films like The Eighteen Bronzemen and 36th Chamber of Shaolin. There is also a set piece training scene featuring Po and his red badger master Shifu that involves a riotously funny combat with chopsticks as each tries to devour a series of wonton dumplings. I should point out that this results from Shifu's discovery that the panda's desire for food is the key to training him. Even this is a backhanded reference to films like The Drunken Master and The Magnificent Butcher. There are entertainingly mocking references to techniques such as nerve strikes, and a very witty acupuncture scene featuring the tiny Mantis character. The overall look of the movie is simply glorious. Following the spectacular opening sequence, the animators adopt state-of-the-art CGI animation techniques which are gorgeously rendered. There are some truly beautiful landscapes and scenery on display here, with almost fanatical attention to detail. I found myself becoming absorbed by things like the texture of Shifu's nose and the way the snow leopard Tai Lung's fur was stirred by the mountain breeze. When this flick comes out on DVD, it may be worth investing in a high-def setup just to appreciate such details in all their heavenly glory (sorry for paraphrasing Bruce Lee there ;)). It's also worth mentioning the adherence to traditional Chinese art in design in presenting the landscape, architecture and costume in this film. The last time I saw such a thing done so well in animated form was in Bioware's landmark Jade Empire video game a few years ago. To give you a couple of examples, Viper has a couple of little buns on her head that are essentially the Chinese hairstyle usually referred to as “ox horns” and are most often worn by girls or young women. Those of you who remember the Street Fighter series of video games may recall that the character Chun Li sported this hairstyle. Although what a snake is doing with a hairstyle is anybody's guess. Then there is Shifu's long white eyebrows and moustache, a form that is traditionally used in portrayals of mentor characters in Hong Kong movies to signify wisdom. You can see an extreme instance of this in the film Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain, and Quentin Tarantino employed the same look for the character Pai Mei in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Much fun is had with the disparity of various characters' body shape and size in this film, with particular emphasis on the overweight Po, his diminutive master Shifu, and especially the miniscule Mantis. This results in some excellent visual humour – look out in particular for the scene where poor old Mantis has to single-handedly support the severed ends of a lengthy rope bridge while his Furious Five compatriots battle Tai Lung on the same bridge. As for the hefty Po, his fat-guy acrobatics don't seem quite so ridiculous if you've ever seen Sammo Hung in The Magnificent Butcher or in Enter The Dragon. There are some great characters in Kung Fu Panda. The most memorable include Po himself, with Jack Black employing an infectiously wide-eyed enthusiasm that drives the flick along nicely. Dustin Hoffman's crusty and interestingly flawed mentor Shifu is equally memorable, as is Ian McShane's seemingly unstoppable force of nature Tai Lung. Some of the other characters seem slightly underused – I loved Seth Rogen's Mantis, who almost stole every scene he was in, and would have liked to have seen Lucy Liu's Viper given a bit more to do. The actor who suffers the most from this lack of emphasis, however, is poor old Jackie Chan, as the Monkey barely features at all in the film, which is something of a lost opportunity. My personal favourite, however, was Randall Duk Kim's ancient tortoise, whose ambling, mild-mannered Zen demeanour had me grinning like a fool every time he was on screen. Unfortunately, he doesn't feature anywhere near long enough. And, for some reason, there was something so incredibly amusing about the appearance of the rabbits in this picture that I found myself sniggering whenever they showed up. The film really does seem to have been a labour of love. I had a big stupid grin on my face for most of the running time, aside from those moments when the onscreen action had me roaring with laughter. If you have kids, they will be far from bored by the colourful visuals and cute animals, and may even acquire a yen to learn something about the martial arts. As for the adults, there's a lot here to hold your attention, especially if you're a fan of Eastern cinema. One question though – what happened to Tai Lung at the end? And how did a goose become father to a panda? I could have understood it if he'd been a stork... Maybe Po was adopted. :)

Review published on the 09 July 2008 16:57