Summer Movie Suicide Mission No. 9: Kung Fu Panda

In which one man attempts to view every summer blockbuster for the entire season, regardless of taste, genre, or Dragon Scrolls that say nothing on them but show a reflection of your face so that you understand that the power, the secret, has really been with you all along.

Sometimes I like to imagine myself as a big shot studio executive. It would be kind of like Entourage, except I’d be the guy who kept Vinny Chase from getting work, since its obvious in the subtext that he’s really a terrible actor (Also, Adrian Grenier is a terrible actor himself). I’d drive something outlandish, like an Aston Martin, and give the green light to projects with titles like Fast and Furious, the third (and creatively titled) sequel in the Fast and the Furious franchise. I’d knock around town in my expensive tailored suits, and wear yellow sunglasses all the time like Peter Fonda. I’d roll down Sunset with a smirk on my face, equal parts giddy and self-satisfied, safe in the knowledge that the American people are dumbshits, and I’m gonna make a killing off them.

But I never would have bought a pitch about Jack Black as the voice of a giant panda who trains to be a kung fu master. That’s for damn sure.

Luckily, in my fantasies I’m kind of a failure, and in real life, this one actually got made. Kung Fu Panda is a refined and beautifully framed picture that delivers plenty of laughs–and kid-friendly ones at that–but never once panders to its audience with cheap contemporary musical numbers or pop culture references. By my count, this is the first time a movie from Dreamworks Animation has been able to make that claim. Computer animated films with dignity are really Pixar’s domain. It looks like the rival has finally learned something.

Kung Fu Panda opens with a striking anime fantasy sequence in two dimensional shades of red and yellow, with lead character Po the panda (Jack Black) dreaming about being the Dragon Warrior, a long prophesized figure who would preside over the security of the small Chinese village Po lives in. When Po awakens, we see the full landscape of the film, and it is no less stunning by comparison. Eventually an accident leads to Po being named the Dragon Warrior, and he enters the tutelage of Shifu, a kung fu master voiced by Dustin Hoffman, where he is joined by the Furious Five, a Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross) and Viper (Lucy Liu), who begrudgingly accept the young panda. Together they save the town from evil leopard Tai Lung (Deadwood’s Ian McShane), and everybody learns something about themselves.

But the plot is really neither here nor there. It’s engaging enough, but we’ve seen this kind of bildungsroman over and over again; it’s the dominant storytelling apparatus in children’s films, and rightfully so, as the audience is literally growing up as it watches them. What made this film so engrossing is what it did not do. As a filmmaker, restraint is important (See Speed Racer for every wrong lesson to this effect). Kung Fu Panda is set in 17th or 18th century China, and it really stays there. The filmmakers never go the the Shrek well and release a barrage of contemporary references that make no sense within the physical setting of the story. And they use no contemporary music (save for a playful cover of “Kung Fu Fighting” over the end credits), just an understated orchestral score by Hans Zimmer. I liked this film almost as much as last year’s Ratatouille, which was the best and most refined animated film I can remember seeing outside of Walt Disney’s heyday.

The most important point, though, is that the kids in the audience seemed to love every minute of it. And if the target audience can get into a film without all the hokey bells and whistles, simply sharp visuals and storytelling, why do so many animated films feel the need to go there? Dreamworks has finally taken a step in the right direction. This one feels like a Pixar film, which is the highest compliment I can give them.

Film: Kung Fu Panda
Directors: Marc Osbourne, John Stevenson
Stars: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Ian McShane

Viewing Situation: Weekend matinee, crowded theater, lots of kids; digital projection
Rotten Tomatoes Average: 88%
My Grade (Out of 10): 8 

Next Up: You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

>>Fast and Furious (2009) [IMDB]