Po (Jack Black) taunts another character (off screen) in Kung Fu Panda
by Gary Sundt
Eyes are the window to the soul. The talent of great film actors is to change the color of the glass, creating characters so real that we never doubt their authenticity. Animated films have the unique challenge of creating characters we care about without the advent of great physical performances. However, I found the eyes in Kung Fu Panda so beautiful, I was reminded of several real life actors (who will not be named here, but may or may not have a new movie coming out this weekend) who could take a lesson from these characters.
Consider a pivotal conversation between Po, the giant panda in question, and Shifu, a red panda himself and master of kung fu. They are voiced by Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman respectively, two actors who have, on occasion, done magical work in the eye department. But whatever live-action talents these actors have has no bearing on a fully computer animated film, so it comes down to the computer whizzes at Dreamworks Animated to do much of the work. Anyway, the conversation revolves around Po accepting his destiny as the Dragon Warrior.
I’ve gotten ahead of myself, so let me explain. Po is a server of noodles at his father’s noodle shop. The panda dreams of mastering kung fu and fighting with the Furious Five, who are led by Master Shifu. The Furious Five are the chosen protectors of the city, and they are as such: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). Word gets around that the Dragon Warrior (a legendary savior of mankind) is being chosen, and everybody and their mom heads up to the Jade Temple to go see who the lucky kung fu warrior will be. By a seemingly bizarre accident, Po is named the Dragon Warrior. But as Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), the turtle who selects the panda and wise old master of kung fu, states, “There are no accidents.”
The important conversation takes place after Master Shifu receives news that an evil snow leopard named Tai Lung (Ian McShane) is headed their way to claim the title of Dragon Warrior. The two pandas are forced to accept Po’s destiny, and their eyes do most of the work. The script by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger is only okay, but these two animated animals have an actual conversation entirely through the eyes. It amazes me what we can do with computers these days.
This may sound like stuff we’ve seen before. To be honest, it is. Kung Fu Panda is full of the heart-felt, panda-out-of-water whatnot we’ve seen before, but that’s okay. The movie keeps from getting too cutesy thanks to its good, well-rounded sense of humor and knack for awesome kung fu action sequences. Have you ever seen a panda or a turtle do anything remotely ninja-like? Well, its pretty sweet.
However, Black’s Po, Hoffman’s Shifu, and that funny turtle are the only characters given due-depth here. Everybody else seems to exist to give the giant panda somebody to bounce jokes off of. The Furious Five, who are voiced by some pretty big talent themselves, are sadly under used. A little more time spent on the script wouldn’t have hurt this flick one bit.
Regardless, Kung Fu Panda works. This is a pretty funny little movie, and the animators’ attention to detail really goes a long way. I still think the upcoming Pixar project Wall-E is going to knock this ship right out of the water, but Kung Fu Panda isn’t a bad way to spend some money and hours at the movies.
Running time: 92 minutes. Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. Produced by Melissa Cobb. Screenplay by Jonathan Able and Glenn Berger. Story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. Starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Randall Duk Kim, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and Jackie Chan. A Dreamworks Animated release.
