PopSyndicate.com

With a chop and a kick comes the animated Kung Fu Panda.

I am totally amazed by computerized animation.  From what Pixar had started years ago is now the dominant form of telling a fantastical tale.  No longer do we see painted cels with forced perspective but now there is depth and texture that Uncle Walt would never have dreamed of.  But, even though the techniques have evolved, the story is still the main reason for the imparting of the story.  Now, Pixar Animation is batting 100% with every Disney bannered film being a major hit.  But others have not been so lucky.  The biggest competition is Dreamworks that has had some big hits (Shrek) and some misses (Shark Tale and Shrek the Third). Into this morass comes Kung Fu Panda easily the best Dreamworks film since Shrek.

The story is a simple one.  Po (voiced by Jack Black) dreams of being a kung-fu master.  The film opens with some great 2-D animation of a fierce battle with a tough and strong panda fighting for justice.  Then we find it is a dream of our less than stellar hero.  Turning to typical computer animation, we find that Po the panda is the son of a duck who runs a noodle shop.  But, Po is a dreamer, wanting to learn kung fu and becoming a master.  Part of his many problems to becoming a kung fu warrior is his father insistence on Po running the family business and Po’s basic lack of athletic skills.

On the other side of the movie, the kung fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is training a group called the Furious Five the art of this martial art.  They are the representatives of the five kung-fu styles—tigress, mantis, monkey, crane and viper.  Of the five it seems that Tigress (Angelina Jolie) is the most trained and ready.  They all want to be picked to be the Dragon Master and find out the secret to the scroll that is in the mouth of the dragon carving hovering above the Dragon Master shrine.  The Dragon Master scroll holds the secret to a mighty power.

On the day of the tournament to determine the new Dragon Master, Po accidentally gets himself in the middle of the proceedings.  The turtle that is the Master of Shifu proclaims that Po is to be the Dragon Master.  This upsets not only the Furious Five but also a former student Tai Lung who is locked up and chained.  It seems that the former student has more powers than all the others do and wants to be proclaimed Dragon Master in order to have all the power.

The story is of Po’s training and Tai Lung’s escape.  It all builds to the inevitable confrontation between the forces of good and evil.

The details of this film are just amazing to look at.  Leaves fall is a cascade of purple and pink, water is pure and crystal clear.  The golds and reds just jump from the palate of the screen.  This is Dreamworks most beautiful animated picture, even more than the sparkling fish they provided for Shark Tale.  There are some great set pieces with Po training and his fight over a dumpling is a slapstick classic.  The battles of the Furious Five are a roller coaster of effects, flying and twisting in such a way that it could never have been captured in any traditional fashion.

Of the entire cast, Jack Black works the best as Po.  Not only does he fit the body type of the panda but also his edge is taken off and he comes across more naïve and charming than brash.  In so many ways, it is his best performance.  And he gets to sing he end title credit song “Kung Fu Fighting” (yeah!) but with new lyrics (boo!).

But, I felt that Dustin Hoffman was out of his element in his role of Shifu.  He didn’t seem to fit the look of the character with the voice inflections.  There is just something not right in the manner of the character and the way the vocals are meshed together.  It just didn’t work that well.

But director Mark Osborne has crafted a simple tale that has a great message of believing in oneself and finding strength.  It is a wonderful missive in a film that is better than most of the Dreamworks Animation Studio releases.  Make a chop socky flying leap to the theater and check out Kung Fu Panda.

4