Some are born to greatness, others have to push on them. And then there are those who know they have earned a shot at greatness, who has worked hard for it, but ... fate has other ideas."Kung Fu Panda", a delicious and refreshing a bit DreamWorks animated feature, this is all these categories of players in the game's mysterious fate.
The movie could be the umpteenth variation of Sylvester Stallone "Rocky", in which a seemingly nobody gets a crack at random to be a winner to believe in itself (ZZZZ). But, for once, there is a slight trace of a question - a riddle of faith, really - as to why sometimes fortune favours those who do not, prima facie, it appears that deserve it.
In "Kung Fu Panda", as in life, the events must play out before anyone can know the answer to that. And some characters in this charming story, set in ancient China, are very irritating to have to wait for the answer.
Jack Black provides, significantly, the voice of Po, a portly panda joylessly serving noodles in his father's shop. Po idolizes both the art of kung fu legend and local fighters Furious Five, who lives in a fortress at the top of a hill. (The wonderful James Hong Po voices very likable father, Jean Ping, who is not a panda, but - I believe - a crane. Species conflict between father and son were treated with a light, ironic touch.)
The Furious Five will consist of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). Yes, that's a cast member, and becomes even better. Under the watchful eye of a master of kung fu, a mouse named Sifu (Dustin Hoffman, in an emotionally complex, but fun performance), the five stand know one of them will be chosen as the ultimate champion when the time comes.
When the fierce and seemingly unstoppable villain Tai Lung (Ian McShane), un tigre, seems bent on destroying the village of Po, that the time has come. But the master Sifu, the wizened Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), does not select one of the Furious Five well prepared to lead the fight against the Tai Lung. The take the slovenly, instead Slacking Po.
From there, "Kung Fu Panda" sometimes becomes a moving story of how sometimes people have to leave their egos (and doubts, fears and disappointments) in the village gates and continue the collective good.
Before that happens, however, a lot of comic mischief occurs as Sifu sets about humiliating Po only to demonstrate their discontent. Similarly, the Five take a long time to warm up to him.
Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson find many creative ways to have fun with the torment of the Po, including making through a series of tests reflects the machines that smell around him like an old Looney Tunes cartoon.
But it also subtly alter the characters' relationships and perspectives, so that when Po is inevitably accepted by the community, there are good fodder for laughs, as well as warm, fuzzy feelings. Hoffman and Black, above all, become an instant classic comedy team - the former gruñón but a benevolent mentor, the second is a heroic goofball.
There is something about the appearance of "Kung Fu Panda" is so innovative and enjoyable. Maybe it's just that we have not seen this harvest, the Far East in a world before the computer animated film. Even talking to a lot of animals and slapstick-monio panda, "Kung Fu Panda" is a good rest of the class of environments (suburban, tropical, desert, etc.) the new type of animated film seems to favour.
That mixture of fantasy and plausibility that we saw in "Cars" or "Shrek" assumes, for the most part, a colorful unusual but intriguing look at Terrestrial "Panda". This is a film with some set pieces and background that persist in the imagination long after the film.
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