Jasonic's Favorites: Kung Fu Panda
Hello and good evening, Internet!
All the movies I've reviewed on this blog up until now have been live action, but I did do several animated movies on my previous review blog, "Jasonic Reviews Favorite Movies". While this isn't necessarily a film titled after its main character like the others I have done on this blog, I do love this franchise now and believe it counts because the title is a term for the main character, Po -- the titular kung fu panda. That said, let's get into why I believe Kung Fu Panda is a great movie and franchise.
Released in 2008, Kung Fu Panda was DreamWorks' first big success following what was thought to be the end of the Shrek franchise with Shrek the Third in 2007. While DreamWorks had a decent track record with the Shrek and Madagascar franchises with a few critical blunders here and there (i.e.: Shark Tale), most people were pleasantly surprised by Kung Fu Panda for managing to stand out on its own. As someone who was approaching my teens when this movie came out, I originally thought that it would be a "dumb modern kids movie" due to its premise being about a big fat panda whose belly and butt size got him into all sorts of trouble while attempting to do kung fu. So when my sister and I got dropped off at the cheap seats in summer of that year to watch the movie while our mom was working, I had low expectations for how this film would turn out and while it didn't fully impact me back then, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the energy the film evoked with its kung fu fighting (pun intended), extravagant art, and fun voice acting. Those were the more kiddy aspects that appealed to me most back then, but as an adult, I have since uncovered a newfound appreciation for the deeper aspects this film has to offer as most of the adult critics have. Though I am most likely not alone in being as pre-judgmental about this film as I was then, I'm sure this film and its subsequent franchise has its critics, but I'm not one of them who would be harsh on it. That said, I think it's time I review as an adult what makes this film work as both an animated film that's appropriate for kids as well as adults and why it is now one of my favorite DreamWorks/animated films today.
*SPOILERS* (unless you think those are inconsequential for movies fit for kids)
The story, while following a familiar "hero's journey" setup, is far from a cliche execution. It's about an anthropomorphic giant panda named Po Ping (voiced by Jack Black) whose dream outside of his measly noodle shop job run by his goose dad, Mr. Ping (voiced by James Hong), is to one day become a kung fu master from which he hopes the Furious Five, protectors of the Valley of Peace, will bow to him. When the day comes for the tortoise, Master Oogway (voiced by Randall Duk Kim), to choose the legendary "Dragon Warrior" among the Furious Five via a tournament, Po tries to get a peak at the tournament, but misses the whole thing trying to get in. When he accidentally launches himself into the arena via a chair full of fireworks, Po is chosen as the Dragon Warrior seemingly by accident, much to the shock and outrage of the Five and the red panda, Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman). While Oogway claims repeatedly that "there are no accidents", Master Shifu and the Furious Five do everything in their power to make Po quit knowing he is both incompetent and unfit to take on the iminent threat of the escaped snow leopard, Tai Lung (voiced by Ian McShane), Shifu's former protégé whom he thought of as a son. When Oogway ascends and leaves Po in Shifu's care, Shifu figures out ways in which he can uniquely train Po through the panda's love of food, which bring out kung fu instincts and bigger feats than he had demonstrated before. With Shifu and Po finally becoming master and student, both will soon understand what it truly means to be the Dragon Warrior upon reading the legendary Dragon Scroll, an item said to grant kung fu masters unlimited power, which Tai Lung vies to possess.
Plotwise, there's a lot to unpack here; while it is your standard "chosen one" type of hero's journey, Po is not originally prophesied as the Dragon Warrior through some established prophecy and instead chosen seemingly by accident of which Oogway claims there are none. While originally seeming like a reluctant chosen one of the standard variety, Po ultimately does not fit that standard archetype where he feels like he shouldn't have been chosen. Though he does contemplate quitting at one point or another, he takes a lot of beatings from Shifu and the Furious Five and gets excited about what they do because he's such a fanboy. As a fanboy, he could have also easily come off as a know-it-all who acted like he knew everything about the Five and their techniques based on observation, but instead he maintains a level headed excitement as fanboys should and even thinks it's awesome to get beat up easily by warriors like Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu). Po is, of course, the most developed being the protagonist and all with Shifu and Tai Lung having their tragic backstory together that ultimately leads to a destined rematch between the two, making those three the most developed characters in the film. Oogway's story is not that developed in this film -- wait until the third film -- but he manages to be arguably the best character with his wise, patient demeanor and every philosophy out of his mouth being golden (i.e.: "there are no accidents"). While the Furious Five are unfortunately underdeveloped in this film and the so-far latter two films, they do have their unique characteristics that make them different from one another; Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie) is arguably the most developed in this and the series with her being the harshest toward Po likely due to jealousy that she wasn't chosen as the Dragon Warrior, slowly becoming his best friend (not his lover) for the rest of the series. The rest of them get little to no lines, but at least are fun characters with different movement and fighting styles that each reflect what type of animal they are as well as the actor that plays them.
The voice acting, for that matter, is something that really sells this film. This being Jack Black's second DreamWorks role after Lenny in Shark Tale, this role was clearly more meant for him due to this IP becoming a franchise and the fact that he melds so well with Po personality-wise. The fun, quirky Jack Black energy appears here and there, but not enough to overshadow the character he's playing, allowing Po to stand out as a unique protagonist. The film also utilizes its all-star cast without it oversaturating the film or becoming the only selling point; Angelina Jolie takes on some more serious energy as Tigress with certain people may not even knowing it's her unless they look it up. Same could be said for Lucy Liu's Viper as she moves much like her if she were a snake as far as movement and fighting style. The fact that they even got everyone's prime martial artist actor, Jackie Chan, to play Monkey is a feat and even if he doesn't have many lines or standout moments, you can still tell it's him in more ways than one. Other actors like David Cross as Crane and Seth Rogen as Mantis exuberate their usual energy, but like everyone else, they disappear well into their characters. The real show stealers, however, are Dustin Hoffman and Randall Duk Kim as Shifu and Oogway respectively; similar to most quality animated films, certain actors seem to be reflected in their characters with Shifu being a prime example as he moves, looks, and sounds like what you'd expect from Dustin Hoffman, his voice performance being cranky or dramatic when he needs to be. As mentioned before, many of Oogway's philosophies are gold and Randall Duk Kim's voice performance really sell those and leave an impact on you when you listen to him. Even Ian McShane is perfectly threatening and villainous-sounding as Tai Lung to a point where you fear him and can take him seriously.
Where much of the movie really stands out is the art style and animation; the offbeat colors of this film really give the film and authentic China vibe and even made the Chinese question why their films don't look like that. Many of the wideshots such as Shifu overlooking the sunrise over the clouds at the top of the mountain are warmly coated in orange and the backdrop of the rock formations peaking up over the clouds is breathtaking with that shot being a portion I actually paused it on to use the restroom. Even the two training montages are color coated in different yellows, reds, and greens to show the passage of time as well as a change in locale. As far as animation, something used prominently in the beginning of this film and the other two films are the use of 2D cell animation; Po's dream sequence at the beginning is animated in this style to showing the disconnect from reality Po is having in his dream about being a kung fu master, which contrasts with the opening sequence of him getting up to immediately go to work downstairs. The colors in this style are much more subdued to sell the contrast and it's very fluent and kinetic while maintaining an otherworldly feel. Even when compared to the awesome opening sequence, the standard 3D computer animation taking place in reality is really stellar as well. The fight scenes are very kinetic with awesome choreography, demonstrating how much research and authenticity the animators put into the movie after taking six hour kung fu classes. Though they don't take real physics into account, it's a cartoon and I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief to watch a bunch of cartoon animals go through brutal training montages and fight to the death in the actions scenes toward the middle and the end. For that matter, I will also say that the climax is one of the funnest action setpieces in an animated film, beginning with a dark, emotional confrontation between master and former student followed by a quirky, upbeat game of keepaway with Po applying everything he learned about himself and from Shifu to keep Tai Lung from getting the Dragon Scroll. The amount of innovation this film had going for it is astounding!
I'm admittedly not much of a film music aficionado, but I love a good film soundtrack when I hear one and Kung Fu Panda is no exception! Composed by legend, Hans Zimmer, along with John Powell (who would later helm the How to Train Your Dragon soundtracks), they even had assistance from the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra to make everything sound authentically Chinese and, boy, does it show. While I have never listened to the soundtrack in isolation, there are a few standouts that play in the movie such as "Oogway Ascends" and "Training Po"; "Oogway Ascends" is an emotional piece that plays during Oogway's "death" scene consisting of a Chinese flute motif that sounds so mystical and listening to it can make you picture what happens as Oogway disappears into a stream of cherry blossoms. "Training Po" was also a fun training montage soundtrack, standard of your average kung fu training montage in oriental films, but with a jumpy Hans Zimmer flare to it. If one were to listen to the soundtrack or watch the scene in isolation, it wouldn't be quite as exciting, which is a meaningful philosophy on why music and visuals work so well together in film. The real highlight of the soundtrack for me, however, is the CeeLo Green and Jack Black cover of the classic, "Kung Fu Fighting"; prior to seeing this film, I had only heard snippets of the original song on TV not knowing it was a song my mom grew up with so when I started singing it after watching the movie, I was surprised she knew it. For those who haven't noticed, the lyrics were changed to fit the narrative of the film and, boy, do they motivate! I have more recently made it a workout song as a result of rewatching this film as an adult and it has helped me get motivated to keep going. I might even say the same thing about this entire movie for being a unique take on a hero's journey story where the protagonist never quits despite the odds stacked against him.
Despite having little expectation and appreciation for this film as a preteen/teen, I am one of many who has come to appreciate it more as an adult. Between its unique take on the hero's journey story, its stellar voice cast, awesome animation and fight choreography, pleasant art style, authentic Chinese music, and ending song cover, the movie just screams quality and is most certainly something to be appreciated by both kids and adults who enjoy DreamWorks or otherwise. Despite me loving Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon more in years past, I might even say this is my new and current favorite DreamWorks franchise with this one being the second best film in its franchise in my opinion. It may not be the most perfect film in ways, but it is certainly culturally significant for a DreamWorks film and it continues to show with its subsequent franchise, which will soon have a fourth film. All that said, I give this film an A- and recommend it to anyone, kid or adult, who enjoys the energy of a good kids'/kung fu movie.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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