You know, I appreciate these films. They never reach the heights of the Toy Story trilogy, but it’s certainly not the swamp of the Despicable Me or Ice Age movies either. In fact, this very much feels like a quintessential Dreamworks movie: solid entertainment, but not super boundary pushing or ambitious either. The best thing it has going for it are the characters and animation. It’s filled with plenty of great, colourful characters (none of whom are as iconic as the ones from Shrek, but still very well defined) and the animation is creative and fun. I love the use of colour and contrast, it’s punchy and interesting, although never as awe inspiring as a Pixar movie. The coolest bit of animation is in the first scene, I kinda wish they’d stuck with that style for the rest of the movie. Now, the biggest flaw with this one clearly lies with the story. It’s very conventional, and you pretty much know exactly how everything will play out after the first couple of scenes (which it does). I also think there’s an overreliance on slapstick (yes, I get that clumsiness is built into Po’s character, but they still overuse it). I wish there were more regular jokes, though I certainly laughed. Some of the set pieces are clear highlights throughout the film (tournament, bridge fight, training montage), but the third act is a little underwhelming. Part of that is due to the villain being pretty boring, but it also gets way too goofy for its own good.
6/10
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2017-07-28T12:45:24Z
Kung Fu Panda is an animated DreamWorks film, directed in 2008 by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. It tells the story of a panda that, while helping his father in the noodle shop, dreams of becoming a martial arts master. When, one day, by chance, it sees himself thrown into the world of the Jade Palace to be educated, it is considered a hopeless case because of its physical form. Fortunately it manages to surprise everybody when the ferocious Tai Lung decides to return to destroy the valley.
The cartoon is a nice tribute to the world of martial arts and a great motivator for the children that can reflect themselves in the main character, Po. In fact, first of all, it is able to pick itself up in a bullying situation and to gain the respect of his “enemies” and, secondly, it shows how if you really want something and work to get it in a merry way, you may realize your dreams. Not to mention the fact that Po is an atypical hero, fat and with food problems – a very common thing in children today, but little shown in movies and on television – who uses his strengths to improve itself. The secondary characters are very nice, especially master Shifu that reminds me of Yoda from Star Wars, and the five cyclones that refer to the five styles of imitative kung fu: Tiger, Snake, Crane, Mantis and Monkey.