Po,
the overweight-panda-son of a noodle-peddling crane, loves Kung Fu
almost as much as he loves food. And who else would you get to play
such a role but the beloved Jack Black? We hear his voice first,
narrating the opening sequence with his oft copied brand of
too-familiar yet somehow funny mix of hyperbole and sheer goofiness,
and you just have to chuckle when he tells us that a legendary legend
of a panda beat opponents with his “awesomeness” and “bodacity.”
But
all this awesomeness is only a dream from which Po wakes to enter a
world of computer animation, and while the visuals continue to dazzle,
the jokes begin to fall flat (or fat as that seems the only joke the
writers know for two-thirds of the film), unless you are a kid of
course. To be fair though, kids are the film's chief audience.
Nonetheless, after Pixar defined cinema's computer animation medium
with not only dazzling graphics, but richly developed characters,
intricate plots, and jokes that the parents could appreciate,
DreamWorks' more superficial brand of kiddie-entertainment carries on
in this film with a parade of slapstick jokes and cliches.
Again,
the film looks gorgeous. Those responsible for the simulated lighting
and overall design have done a phenomenal job here. The detail is rich,
and the locales look beautiful.
In
true mainstream form, DreamWorks has ensured that the film gets
top-billing talent with Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Angelina Jolie and
Lucy Liu providing voiceovers. They all do a fine job with what they
are given, but Ian McShane as the villain Tai Lung steals the show with
his menacing delivery.
There
are also some stunning action scenes with exciting visuals
and unexpected twists. Unfortunately, the best of these are centered
around Tai Lung and not our hero Po. Except for one fun training scene
involving food, the rest of those that feature Po either have him
bumbling along, being beaten to a pulp, or inexplicably winning even
though the film has not given adequate proof that he is capable of such
dramatic improvement.
Of
course, the film's moral is that there is no secret to being the best,
and that even this plump panda can be a hero, but the problem with such
a moral is that it reinforces the idea that in order to be the best at
something you just need to believe. Hard work? Long hours of study and
years of failures? Nahhh, you can get it by just being yourself. For a
film about Kung Fu, this seems a very strange lesson indeed. I know the
artists who worked on this film did not live by that motto, because
without years of practice and painstaking work they would not have been
able to craft these stunning visuals. Unfortunately, it would appear
that the writers did live by this motto in the making of the film, and
they have added yet another superficially successful film to
DreamWorks' lucrative, but largely saccharine pantheon.
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