I love reading reviews. I don’t know what it is about them, but I’ve spent hours on the web reading reviews for videogames, movies, and even toys. Not only do I find them useful for deciding what I should spend my money on, I usually find them rather entertaining as well.
I really enjoyed writing the Sailor Moon First Impressions article. So much, in fact, that I’ve decided to make doing reviews a regular part of my journal! Expect reviews of toys, videogames, and movies in the future! Know that I’ll probably only be reviewing things that I like overall. Ranting about the negatives in stuff can be fun, but I find it much more entertaining to rant about the good stuff. So here’s my first review, of the movie “Kung Fu Panda”!
I’ll try to sum up the plot of this movie in just one sentence. Po, a big fat Panda obsessed with Kung Fu, is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, destined to save his valley home from the evil snow leopard Tai Lung. That’s it in a nutshell, though things are slightly more complicated then that.
I admit it. I went into this movie expecting it to be bad. I wanted to see it simply for the Kung Fu genre, but I’ve seen so many bad CG movies about talking animals in the past few years that I didn’t really have much hope for this one. I was quite pleasantly surprised! What I expected to be a silly kids movie turned out to be a (admittedly) silly kids movie that nonetheless carried a lot of depth and could honestly appeal to an adult audience. The CG animation was gorgeous, and I can tell a lot of work went into it. Some of the scenes were remarkably beautiful, and the characters themselves moved with a kind of beautiful grace I honestly didn’t expect.
Still, it wasn’t the animation that really impressed me. It was the characters and the story. Admittedly, the short movie didn’t leave nearly enough time for proper character development, and a lot of the side characters weren’t explored quite as well as I’d have liked. But the main characters themselves, especially Po and his master Shifu, were remarkably well fleshed out. As for the story itself, it was admittedly simple, which I suppose is understandable since this movie is directed at children. Still, I found it fun and engaging, and I was honestly eager to see what would happen next.
One of the things that most impressed me was actually something quite simple. A single word, in fact. The writers were not afraid to use the word “kill”. I takes a lot of guts for a movie like this to use that word so bluntly. Oh, lots of movies have the bad guys threatening to “destroy” the good ones, but that’s not nearly the same. “Kill” has a weight to it. A heavy connotation. It bluntly states that one person is willing and able to end another’s life. It throws the very real concept of death in your face. “The Incredibles” was probably the first movie I noticed willing to take this chance, and it was part of what made that movie seem much more mature than it could have been. It does the same thing here, and I solute the writers for taking that chance and pulling it off.
Now to the important part (for a martial arts enthusiast like myself anyways). The fighting. Wow. Can I just say wow? While I do enjoy seeing real people fighting in movies (Long live Jackie Chan, Jet Lee, and Tony Jaa!), the simple fact of the matter is that animated characters can pull off stunts no human could even dream of. And it shows here. I’ll admit some of the fighting in this movie was stylized and sometimes a bit silly, but when they did get serious, they did it in style. I don’t think I’ve ever seen animated characters move with that kind of grace before, not even in anime! Not even “TMNT” or “Advent Children” stood up to this. In fact, my only real complaint was the final fight of the movie. It wasn’t handled as seriously as the previous battles, and while I can understand the writers for going that direction, it was still a bit disappointing.
To sum it up, I enjoyed this movie. So much so, in fact, that I plan on going to see it again before it leaves theaters. Hopefully I can drag one of my friends along to see it with me. I’ll also most certainly be picking up a copy for myself as soon as it comes out on DVD. This movie appeals to both children and adults, and I think that all age groups will be able to find something to enjoy in this movie. It gets my recommendation! Go see it!
