Kung Fu Panda – Review

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Enter the Pooh-Tang.

KungFuPanda
Image courtesy of www.impawards.com

Directors: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Notable Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong

Generally speaking, Kung Fu is a rather boring genre. Of course, proponents will breathlessly mention Bruce Lee flicks or old school Wu-Tang movies that they have probably never seen. There is no reason to have any familiarity with a specific Kung Fu franchise because they are all the same and how much excitement can really be derived from an individual finding inner peace and tranquility? No matter how many fight scenes are interspersed throughout, that is ultimately what the genre is about.

Take for example Kung Fu Panda, an off beat enough idea for a kids’ movie, about Po (Jack Black), a common Panda who dreams of becoming a Kung Fu legend like his heroes. While attending the ceremony to crown the Dragon Warrior, Po is accidentally identified as the chosen one. This decision is met with much chagrin by the Furious Five and their master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) as Po is not the ideal choice for Dragon Warrior.

Thus, while dealing not only with typical genre conventions of a Kung Fu movie, Kung Fu Panda also juggles the clichés of the usual kiddie fare: finding your place in the world, becoming accepted for who you are, and never giving up. In many ways the lessons taught by both genres are much the same and this double dose of preachiness becomes tired quickly. Kung Fu Panda has got to be the longest 90 minute animated film of all time.

Unimaginative animation works in tandem with the derivative story to bore the viewer into submission. The only hopes for survival are the inevitable showdown between Po and evil former student, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), and Jack Black’s usual shtick which come across as bland and stale, respectively. With those hopes dashed, there is not a lot to enjoy about Kung Fu Panda. It is easy to play that “what if” game, but honestly what did anyone expect?

The movie is hardly even worth reviewing since its very existence is to cover its cost with a decent opening weekend and then turn a profit on DVD. Kung Fu Panda is instantly forgettable and rather insulting. It seems that DreamWorks, Disney, and all the rest of the animation houses not named Pixar think that a clever, unusual premise and big name voice casting is enough for an animated movie to be considered original, but they keep leaving out the heart. That omission is somewhat surprising coming from a Jack Black film since even his least-inspired work is overflowing with passion.

Then again, with money to be made it is easy for filmmakers to jettison any part of a film that might take more than minimal effort. A better film would have gotten more out of its quality cast and premise, but then a better movie wouldn’t have spent all its creative juices coming up with the title.

FINAL RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1-5 BUCKETS):