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Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda
by Bill Wine
The paunchy and lazy Po the Panda, a waiter in a noodle restaurant, inadvertently finds himself having to train in martial arts to do battle with an imposing enemy and bring peace to the valley.
RATING: PG
GENRE: Animated comedy-adventure
RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2008
RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes
VIOLENCE FACTOR: There is an abundance of martial-arts combat, but nothing that would bother any grandchild, however young, interested in the film on the basis of its title.
BAD WORDS: None
RACY? No
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW: It's also playing at certain IMAX theaters.
GRANDS:
CRITIQUE:
Wow, the 7-year-old with me really loved this movie. Oh, wait, I was alone. The 7-year-old with me was me.
Kung Fu Panda is an absolute delight, an animated-adventure comedy that manages to be simultaneously action-intense, artistically venturesome, and exuberantly funny: the kidflick trifecta. I can't imagine many grandchildren — especially but not exclusively the young ones — who won’t be charmed, amused, and excited by it.
Jack Black gives voice to a wonderful lead character, Po the Panda, a paunchy slacker living in a village in ancient China, working as a waiter in his family's noodle house, yet fantasizing about being a martial arts master. His idols are the Furious Five, a legendary quintet of kung fu masters with distinctive fighting styles — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). Their mentor is the diminutive taskmaster, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).
When Po attends the local ceremony at which the village's Dragon Warrior is to be named, a series of coincidental misunderstandings results in his being assigned the title. That means he must train under Shifu — and with the help of the passed-over Furious Five, who fully expected that the honor would go to one of them. This will prepare him to do battle with the ferocious snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). Only then will everyone relax in the Valley of Peace.
Directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne want to not only have fun with the conventions of the martial-arts genre, but to pay fond tribute to it as well. Consequently — and clearly inspired by such movies as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — they make sure to deliver not just laughs, of which there are plenty, but splendidly choreographed and energetically edited combat sequences.
With Black and Hoffman leading the way, bringing their characters to vibrant, witty, and even touching life, Kung Fu Panda manages to entertain all generations without panda-ing to anybody.
GP Rating System:
Three Grands = Bravo, don't miss it.
Two Grands = Good enough, don't dismiss it.
One Grand = Okay, even if we dis it.
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