Ethan’s Kung Fu Panda Review
- Ethan’s Score : 8/10
It’s safe to say that when it comes to the computer animated film scene, Pixar easily beats Dreamworks. Pixar puts an extreme emphasis on story and characters. Dreamworks typically puts an extreme emphasis on pop culture references and fart jokes. But the wonderful new film Kung Fu Panda changes this. If you’re thinking right now “Oh Ethan, you so crazy” than I should tell you that the trailers do not do any justice to this film. It’s contains great characters and a good story. But also importantly, it’s frickin’ hilarious. Jack Black infuses so much life into the character of Po. He totally gets his sense of humor across in this film. And it’s not one of those animated movies where it’s “one for the kids, one for the adults”. It never feels that patronizing. Both kids and adults can laugh at the same jokes. But also, the film delivers on the kung fu front. The set pieces are terrifically animated and very exciting. And a good dash of physical humor is inserted into them that never betrays what is established in the story. All in all, a really fun ride that will deliver more entertainment than most of this summer’s crop.
on June 8th, 2008 at 1:10 am
8/10? If I had a say I would make it 6/10 just above average.
My biggest problem with this movie is it is style over substance. The story is soooo pedestrian that I zoned out half way through the movie. But the movie did have style. The colors were bright, vibrant, and imaginative - where Pixar strives to make beautifully lush and realistic sets Kung Fu Panda succeeded by creating a stylized never never land. In other words I believed that the Paris in Ratatouille actually existed I never believed in Kung Fu Panda’s valley (although I did enjoy what I saw as animation goes).
I guess what I’m trying to say Pixar is producing classics on the level of an 8 out of ten while Dreamworks at its best is making 6 out of 10’s.
on June 8th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I loved the film. The story has been done a million times, but it doesn’t matter because the script is hilarious. The voice casting is top-notch too, and it’s not annoyingly obvious who’s playing who, because many of the actors turn in memorable characters. The action scenes are inspired and there’s very little potty humor. I think I was amazed to find absolutely no fart jokes in this movie- finally!!! You think with a fat panda as the star they would immediately sink that low, but the writers are better than that. They really pay tribute to the great kung fu movies too, but at the same time, they take the old cliches and twist them into some really funny moments. 9/10
The trailers DID suck for this movie and I was genuinely surprised how good this was, I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard at an animated movie- at least not since Hercules or some of the better Pixar films- this definitely beats out the Shrek series.
on June 9th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
No fart jokes but plenty of close up shots of Po the Panda’s butt squashing the antagonists face. And also plenty of riffing off of the Homer Simpson fatigue jokes.