 Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.7|5.0 Starsììì Kung Fu Panda—okay, not great—plays on the 'unlikely hero' trope and runs slowly at times. The movie tries to be creative and original with its choice of a panda bear and a goose father figure running a restaurant The film has great animation and uses a collage of great voice actors. The movie concludes on a happy note and overall, provides a fair watch for the child/adult share. Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia |
Storyline
A
Giant Panda named Po (voice of Jack Black) has been reared by a goose, Mr. Ping
(voice of James Hong), who runs a restaurant that makes Chinese noodles as its
specialty. Po is a Kung Fu fan 'to the bone' and desires to
attend the big Kung Fu ceremony in the Valley of Peace because he wants to see
who will be the next Kung Fu Master Dragon Warrior. But, in a series of
mishaps, Po accidentally becomes anointed as the Kung Fu Master Dragon Warrior
instead of Tigress (voice of Angelina Jolie Pitt), so when he is anointed he
has to be trained by Red Panda Master Shifu (voice of Dustin Hoffman). Despite
physical limitations, Po learns the arts of Kung Fu and then fights the Snow
Leopard Tai Lung (voice of Ian McShane), who has broken from prison to acquire
the highly valued Dragon Scroll. Po’s overweight, a handicap, turns into a
valuable asset when fighting against the Snow Leopard. When Po opens the Dragon
Scroll for himself he is disappointed to find it just reveals a reflection of
himself. Puzzled, he talks to his father, Mr. Ping, who tells him that when you
believe something is special, it becomes special. Po understands that it is
important to believe in oneself and he sallies forth to successfully vanquish
the Snow Leopard with the ‘Wuxi Finger Hold’. The Valley of Peace, now without
any known enemies, returns to peace.
Additional Thanks
Really
Good Work for Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. Thank you to Executive
Producer Bill Damaschke for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast
include: Monkey (voice of Jackie Chan), Mantis (voice of Seth Rogen), Viper (voice
of Lucy Liu), Crane (voice of David Cross), Zeng (voice of Dan Fogler), Commander
Vachir (voice of Michael Clarke Duncan), Oogway (voice of Randall Duk Kim), and
Gang Boss (voice of Wayne Knight).
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Maybe. It needs better writing and a more believable script. |
Video Critique Available Here:
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