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After timidly littering its movies with the garbage of pop culture for years, DreamWorks Animation makes a rather astonishing transformation with "Kung Fu Panda."
You couldn't say that the makers of "Shark Tale" have cleaned up their act completely, but their fantastic new film is happy to mostly live in its ancient Chinese skin without constantly reminding you that the creative team is actually from the world of 2008. In other words, in addition to being a thoroughly enjoyable adventure comedy for viewers of all ages, it feels like a more-than-respectably authentic martial arts movie. The filmmakers are celebrating the genre instead of belittling or spoofing it. The story is centered on Po, a tubby panda bear who we first meet in the landscape of his dreams, where he is a feared (but also loved) dispenser of kung fu justice. In the waking world, Po serves noodles in a shop owned by his father, an enthusiastic grey goose, and his knowledge of kung fu is confined to worshipfully recited trivia. Po's life is lived in the shadow of the Jade Palace, a mountaintop retreat where the legendary kung fu master Shifu, a red panda (a smaller species than its black-and-white furred kin), trains the Furious Five: Tigress, Crane, Monkey, Viper and Mantis. The Five are roving heroes, but they have been especially prepared for the possible escape of the villainous Tai Lung, a fearsome imprisoned snow leopard kept under lock and key by 1,000 watchful guards. The status quo begins to shift, however, after Shifu's own venerable teacher, Oogway, a wise tortoise, declares a festival at the palace to anoint the Dragon Warrior, who, according to prophecy, will unlock the most powerful secrets in all of kung fu. No points for guessing whether a certain peaceable noodleslinger is about to discover a rather unlikely destiny. What's special about the story isn't that its twists and turns are consistently surprising. Instead, the filmmakers distinguish a familiar formula by following it with wit and sincerity. The characters have depth beyond what's strictly required by the story. Po has a touching relationship with his father. There is a sense of history between Shifu and Oogway, whose wisdom only occasionally descends to the level of that feeble chestnut about why each new day is called "the present." (In a much subtler moment that better captures the film's wise spirit, Oogway warns Shifu that, "One often meets his destiny on the road one takes to avoid it.") The action scenes, such as Tai Lung's eventual escape or the training exercise in which Po and Shifu contest each other over a bowl of dumplings, are smart and exciting. Actually, the freedom of animation lets the filmmakers unleash, in magically fluid fashion, the sort of kung fu trickery tied to wires in live action films. And speaking of the animation, it's excellent without calling attention to its complexity or realism -- transparent instead of transfixing. Beyond being technically amazing, however, "Kung Fu Panda" is just plain fun. It made me smile, laugh and want to see it again as soon as it was over. |
