When it happened, it was a stark indicator that Kung Fu Panda had me completely enthralled. You see, there came a point—as so often happens in movies targeting children (and way too many targeting adults)—when one of the characters took a hit to the groin.
And… I… laughed.
Just two weeks ago, I was rolling my eyes when Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) took repeated crotch shots during an Indiana Jones fight scene (see my review). It just goes to show that any joke can be funny no matter how tired and familiar—it’s all in the telling.
While by no means an absolute requirement for animated films, a good yardstick for quality is whether it would have been just as entertaining had it been made as a live action movie. In other words, does it have heft, or is it just coasting on eye-popping computer animation? In this case there is no difficulty at all in imagining the exact same movie being made by qualified live actors (while Dustin Hoffman can voice a martial arts master, he probably can’t play one) and it could be just as good.
There is nothing particularly original about the story in Kung Fu Panda. The journey of a big-dreaming misfit who finds his place is a staple of children’s literature. The semi-mystical martial arts battle between an honorable master and his corrupted pupil is equally standard for the martial arts genre. But as with the groin joke mentioned above, the confidence with which directors Mark Osborne and Josh Stevenson (as well as writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger) tell these standard stories shows that you don’t always have to tell a new tale. Sometimes it suffices to tell an old one really well.
The setting for Kung Fu Panda is a bit of a mystery. I’ve seen others describe it as ancient China, but to me the world shown exists outside our time and geography, in its own bubble of reality that doesn’t benefit from such a label. At first, it may strike some as incongruous that in a very old-fashioned setting, everybody talks in a modern vocabulary. It works though, and that was a good decision by the filmmakers since it is hard to imagine Jack Black (voice of Po, the titular panda) doing comedic voicework without being allowed to descend into full-on Tenacious D bombast every once in a while.
In fact, that’s how we meet Po. The movie starts with him giving his autobiography, which begins with, “Legend tells of a legendary kung fu warrior whose kung fu skills were legendary…” and has him working alongside the Furious Five, an elite group of martial arts heroes, while battling the forces of evil.
Of course, Po then wakes up from his dream to confirm the audience’s suspicion that he is in fact just a schlub. A clumsy, chubby panda who works in his father’s noodle shop. It is an example of the movie’s successful quirkiness that his father (voiced by James Hong) is a goose, and yet the movie never stoops to explaining this.
Dad is, per narrative requirements, strongly pressuring Po to fulfill his destiny by taking over the family business—but Po is too distracted by his love (if not an aptitude) for kung fu.
When Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), the creator of kung fu, announces a vision that arch-villain Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will soon escape from prison, he also announces that a Dragon Warrior will be selected to fight him. Po, in his excitement, abandons his noodle cart to watch the festivities—and fate, being meddlesome, steps in and causes Oogway to choose Po, much to the consternation of the Furious Five and their master Shifu (voiced fantastically by Dustin Hoffman).
Before he knows it, Po is in the company of the Furious Five and getting martial arts training from Shifu, who tries to force him to quit so that one of his students can be rightfully named the Dragon Warrior.
For fans of martial arts movies, the Furious Five are quite a treat. Each of the classical “kung fu styles” so often named in such movies is brought to life in the actual animal references. So you have Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), and the most skilled of all, Tigress (Angelina Jolie). Yes, somehow the movie sells a praying mantis as a true martial arts master. And it would have been cool if in a further tribute to Jackie Chan, Monkey not only fought in monkey style but drunken master style—if for no other reason than so I could say “drunken monkey” repeatedly in a movie review.
The voice work for the major characters is great across the board, and the animation supports it fantastically. Not just in a superficial “ooh, that’s pretty” way, but the emotional animation is amazing. Tigress is oddly stiff but the inner emotions of Po and Shifu particularly come through perfectly in the animation. Perfect facial expressions aren’t vital and it might not even be noticed if they’re not quite up to par, but several times in quiet moments, I found myself marvelling at just how much was being handled through subtle animation.
Key to everything, though, is the quality of the martial arts fights. In addition to a training montage there are three fight set pieces (just like in any good example of the genre) and they are handled with professionalism and, more importantly than you might think, an appropriate level of restraint. Animation would allow taking the fights to any level of absurdity but despite the opportunities this creates, everything stays within well-established constraints for the genre. No harm is done to the excitement of the fight scenes and, if anything, knowing that these characters are living in a world with rules—even if not the same as our own—gives them a significance that they’d otherwise lose.
Also important is that while the language used by the characters is anachronistic, they live entirely within their own universe. There is no winking at the audience while pausing the action for a Matrix bullet-time spoof. There are no Presidential impersonations, no homages to 24. The movie has fun and understands its comedic motivation but still takes itself seriously. That is refreshing and in the end elevates the movie closer to a timeless Pixar story-based ideal than a Shrek-esque “the joke above all else” school.
The violence is completely cartoonish with no gore, and although some parents may find it a bit too much for younger children, the movie is visually interesting enough to keep their attention. There’s no need to wait for the DVD on this one—Kung Fu Panda is a great reason for audiences of all ages to head to the theaters this weekend.
Two quick side notes:
One of the interesting choices made is that the movie is animated in a very widescreen Cinemascope aspect ratio to gives it that classic feel. The film is also being shown in IMAX, which is close to a boxier 4:3 aspect ratio. Computer animation allows reframing for different aspect ratios, but you may want to keep that in mind when making your choice where to see it. I screened the IMAX version and it looked fine, but I am very curious to see it at 2.55:1.
Also, people like to be warned when there are any post-credits scenes at the end of movie. Kung Fu Panda does have a brief moment after the credits; it isn’t narratively important but if you enjoyed the movie you’ll find it sweet.
Oh, one last thing: drunken monkey.
Kung Fu Panda is a Dreamworks Animation release
- Wide release on Friday, June 6
- Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
- Screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
- Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogan
- Rated PG for sequences of martial arts action.
- Runtime: 88 minutes
- Alex’s Rating: 8 out of 10
