EYES WIDE OPEN REVIEWS

Cute, Cuddly and now with the added bonus of talking like Jack Black! The latest installment by Dreamworks pictures is a lively and highly entertaining animated comedy featuring some of the most well-known actors assembled in a film of this genre. 

Computer generated movies seem to be appearing almost every week in cinemas. With hand drawn films seemingly obsolete many directors and animators alike think its an excellent idea to just simply create something in the third dimension and hope it appeals to its audience. Children are young but they aren’t idiots when it comes to a good movie so its a great effort that Kung-Fu Panda has great detail not only in its visuals but its characterization and its action.

Po, a fat panda, played by Jack Black, constantly dreams of becomming a kung-fu master and a member of the legendary Furious Five. This is a team of the compiled of the various martial art styles which include; Tiger (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen) and Monkey (Jackie Chan). Apart from the obvious setbacks of Po’s weight, he must work for his father in the family noodle store. When the crowning of the next dragon warrior hits the small town Po attempts everything to reach this event. He succeeds with flying colours (literally). Unbeknownst to Po and the other members of the Furious Five the reverred Master Ogway selects the panda as the chosen one. He must be trained by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) who, for obvious reasons, initially despises the loaf of the fur but persists as the foretold prophecy cannot be questioned. The warriors know the impending danger of the great Tai Lung will soon be upon them as the prophecy told his escape from prison is imminent. 

This is a candy-like animation film which lures the audience with its sweet appearance. There is no denying this movie is filled with oodles of charm. The characters are superbly created with every one of them likable. The supporting cast are very much underused though which is a major detriment to the film,  considering many of them are extremely entertaining, with a standout being Po’s father… a duck. The Furious Five were shadows in comparison to Po, who manages to get into every shot taken and not because of his size. It is a large disappointment because it was interesting to cast such large stars such as Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan, only to allow them a combined total of 1 minute of dialogue. It seems as though the directors opted for large names rather than better voices. There are some positives though in the voice-acting department with Jack Black blending into a fat panda with no effort. Dustin Hoffman is excellent as Shifu as well the distinctive voices of Michael Clarke Duncan, playing a caricature of himself as a Rhino prison commander.

An animation feature cannot be properly reviewed without analysing the visuals. Thankfully for Kung-Fu Panda, this is the major drawing card for the audience with amazingly rendered characters that have an abundance of life. The designs are superb with a great chinese personality shining through. One aspect of this movie that sets it apart from many of its genre is the action sequences. Whilst not that many, the prison scene is enough for your children to be excited and inspired to run up walls for at least… a week. 

With so many positive qualities about this movie its odd that its not entirely satisfactory. From a children’s perspective the movie is stunning and definitely charismatic but from an adults opinion its hard to judge a movie that rushes through the story and leaves with not much power. A fan of animation would definatelty enjoy this movie and so will hords of screaming children but for an outsider its just another short animation that doesnt seem to push any real boundaries in its genre. 

THE GOOD

• Incredibly charismatic
• Characters are extremely likeable
• Voices often fit perfectly into the character
• Some very epic and memorable scenes
• Best opening scene for a animation

8 / 10  CHILDREN

6.5 / 10 ADULTS

To see this cudly panda in action check out the session times at The Sun Theatre