Kung Fu Panda is not just safe for kids; it’s a splendid time for them and their parents. I dare you to ponder its rib tickling wisdom and not fall in love. It’s friendly, funny and accessible, a heart tugging martial arts outing, a product of tremendous imagination and technical skill.
The beauty is that it’s set within the framework of the best animated children’s films today but it doesn’t rest on the genre’s laurels. It takes no shortcuts in providing a unique world for young travelers to explore that looks feels, smells and sounds different. It is set in those unique cartoon worlds that are both familiar and foreign, a fantasy that never goes too far but goes far.
We find ourselves in China, in a soup kitchen belonging to a stork whose son Po, a giant panda, dreams of a world away far from steaming rice bowls. Po is mad about martial arts and he’s heard the five heroes are coming to town.
Masters Monkey, Crane, Viper, Praying Mantis and Tigress will scout for new talent at the fair and Po’s feeling lucky … until his father asks him to take the soup cart so he can make some money from the crowds of martial arts fans.
There’s a steep, long staircase leading up the mountain to the fair and he just can’t get the soup cart up, so he abandons it. Then he tackles it himself, struggling to haul his Panda body up and up and up.
He finally arrives at the gates, but the doors are closed.
That’s just Po’s luck.
Then things start to turn around in earth shifting ways.
Speed ahead – he’s been picked to join the martial arts greats and train to become one of them! If he can pass the tests.
And the master has had a vision of an evil visitation and only Po can save them. Thus begins his hair raising, endearing and dangerous adventure.
Tremendous emotional subtlety and poignancy define the film, particularly in scenes between father and son. Po is dissatisfied with his loving, trusting parent who believes he’s giving his son everything, the same life he has. He’s not a big dreamer, he’s just concerned for his son’s future. Soup seems safe.
Po fantasizes that he was adopted and vows never to wind up like his father.
The bad guy, and there is just the one, used to be an ally of Po’s new dojo friends which adds an unexpected emotional complication. The villain’s evil roots are explored and he’s humanized. A significant character dies.
There’s a lot of emotion – it’s sweet, piquant, funny, sad, but there’s enough sass and danger to balance and reflect life.
It’s also hilarious! The laughs come fast and furious, and overlap each other, and you’ll want every morsel. The humour is completely disarming.
The screenplay is extremely sophisticated for children’s films, based in Taoist and Zen philosophies, asking viewers to pay close attention and think about what being said and done and how it fits into the universe.
The level of artistry in recent CGI animation is just so high these days it’s hard to imagine it getting even better. We are used to the high def blades of grasses and chin whiskers, and Kung Fu Panda brings it - big, crisp and bold but with an added appealingly gentle naturalism.
Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman, David Cross and Lucy Liu kick up their heels and have a swell time while giving full weight to the film’s complexity.
It’s an EVENT and it’s intimate.
Nice going, fellas on a jolly good time and a bit of a think.
Kung Fu Panda
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