Kungfu Panda Early Movie Review

KUNGFU PANDA MOVIE REVIEW

First, about that title, "Kung Fu Panda." On the plus side, it kind of says it all, doesn't it? Just lays it right out there. On the downside, well ... it kind of says it all, doesn't it? This is a movie about a kung fu fighting panda. And because it's an animation - and because animations tend to be overly skewed toward the rags-to-riches plot formula - you know at once the general outline of the story from beginning to end.

He's going to start off a little sad. He's going to be under-estimated. Then he's going to be challenged. And, oh, maybe along the way he might get into a kung fu fight or two. Do you think he's going to lose? Get a concussion? Get killed? Or by chance, do you think he might be triumphant and get hailed as a hero. That's a multiple-choice question, and if you're over the age of 8, you know the answer.

Now what most filmmakers do with a movie like this is figure, hey, this is a movie for children 8 or under, so what if this is an old formula? The kids haven't seen it all before, and if their parents have, so what? No one asked them to have children. These parents made a choice, and now they have to watch a lot of ghastly children's movies. "Sex and the City" is playing in the auditorium next door, and "Iron Man" is on the other side, but they have to spend Saturday afternoon watching kids' movies, take it and like it.

But "Kung Fu Panda" is different. Yes, it essentially follows the broad outline of a rags-to-riches children's movie, but it wakes up the formula with imaginative scenes, lively and likable characters, genuinely funny moments and animation that's detailed and beautiful to behold. At times, it looks almost three-dimensional. (I didn't see the IMAX version and can only imagine how good that looks.) This is a streamlined, opulent and thoroughly enjoyable kids movie.

In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is probably the best movie so far this year about a kung-fu fighting panda - and that it will probably stand as the best until "Kung Fu Panda II," if that ever comes along.

It has a good hero. He's fat and cuddly. He's not homely like Shrek. He's cute, and he has nice teeth. He's voiced by Jack Black, who brings lots of energy and new shadings and colors to his vocal work. The latter could also be said for Dustin Hoffman, who plays the tiny kung fu master. His is one of the most recognizable voices in movies. (Listen very closely ... "Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?" You can hear it, right?) Yet it takes a while to realize the master is indeed Hoffman.

"Kung Fu Panda" is neither sentimental nor does it try for overly clever anti-sentiment. It tells the straightforward story of Po the panda, a kung fu fan whose life is limited by his endless work in his father's noodle restaurant. There's a brilliant early sequence in which Po rushes off to the Dragon Warrior competition, a huge stadium event. The camera pulls backward over a bustle of activity, then drops and drops to find Po at the bottom of a long stairway with his noodle wagon. He watches the proceedings from a porthole and from a crack in the door and never stops trying to get in until, by accident, he finds himself in the center of the arena.

In that sequence and throughout, "Kung Fu Panda" gets across important and inevitable plot information in ways that are novel and unexpected. Things simply don't happen the way they usually happen in animated stories. Martial arts training, for example, is usually accomplished through a montage with some loud triumphal music blaring over the soundtrack. Here, the filmmakers come up with a funny way for Po to be trained, involving his prodigious (bear-appropriate) appetite for goodies.

Other famous voices featured are those of Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Jackie Chan (Monkey) and Seth Rogen (Mantis), but directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson keep the performances self-effacing and in service of the story. They don't perform their star personalities, and if you didn't know who they were, going in, you probably wouldn't guess. Overall It was not too bad although I can say that it's missable! 3 out of 5!