Kung Fu Panda, as a series, has no right being as good as it actually is.
Potential Spoilers
Let's take Kung Fu Panda at face value.
A goofy Panda played by Jack Black learns Kung Fu.
The idea alone seems stupid. What with Pixar seeming to do no wrong with very unique premises. A superhero family, a rat who is actually an amazing chef, a world where the monsters in your closet are actually working for a corporation, giving your toys a soul... and here comes Dreamworks with Jack Black as a Panda. Even those last five words together string doubtfulness.
Dreamworks 3D outings up until this point has given us Antz and Shrek. Then Shrek 2... then we had "Jerry Seinfeld Is A Bee" and "Will Smith is a Fish". Outside of Aardman animation they haven't particularly blown anyone out of the water outside of Shrek and Antz (And at a stretch, Madagascar). Going into Kung Fu Panda, you could afford to be sceptical with the premise "Jack Black is a Panda".
It comes out. You could list the cliches for miles, it's basically standard "Sudden Hero wins the day" with the big twist being "It was the power in you all along!" But it was good. VERY good. The detail in each character and background was amazing, the comedy moments hit their mark (unlike Shrek, it stayed away from constant pop culture remarks), and the other stories were worth being invested in. The passing of Oogway (basically Yoda) being one of them. How does something with so much, on paper, going against it be so good? Jack Black fit perfectly and didn't ham in his performance, as did Dustin Hoffman who provided a more grounded performance as the irate teacher.
Then came a sequel. Dreamworks Animation had built a reputation from milking the hell out of Shrek, Kung Fu Panda could have very well gone the same path. We had Shrek the Third before Kung Fu Panda 2, so what could they have done? It wasn't like there was anything to add on either. Po had his arc. He became a Kung Fu master, became the Dragon Warrior, the end. What could they possibly have done?
Then Kung Fu Panda 2 happened. A surprisingly deep and emotional "find your inner self" type movie. We learn of Po's past, the emotional parts knew when to be emotional and the action was cranked up to eleven. The action in itself was a vast improvement. The Rickshaw Chase, the fight at the Smelting place, the end battle on the boats, all of it knew how to be paced and when to be funny and when to be sad. Also, it gave us Lord Shen. Gary Oldman's best voice work and, in my opinion (that's worth nothing at the end of the day) one of the best villains in animation. Animated beautifully as well. The feathers and the fluid movements were incredible. A villain as strong and unstoppable as Tai Lung, the only sane thing to do would be to focus on brains. The ending showed the secret Panda village and we knew a third was on the way.
The third's promotional art came out. Baby Pandas! Wait, where have we seen babies in Dreamworks before? Shrek's children. Deja vu. Even the production seemed a little shaky. Rebel Wilson and Mads Mikkelsen both had to drop out. Kung Fu Panda couldn't make it three for three surely?
Yes. Yes they did. This is what provoked this tirade. The casting for all three films provided stellar voice work. Bryan Cranston in particular as Po's biological father was outstanding. The replacements of Kate Hudson and J.K. Simmons I felt couldn't have been done better. The character of Po, "Jack Black as a Panda" excelled with the whole "Yin and Yang" storyline. Balancing his serious side from the "Inner Peace" angle of two and his goofy side from the "It was in you all along!" angle from one.
All of this can be summed up in a few sentences. If you feel like Kung Fu Panda isn't for you, yet you've watched Pixar's library, I implore you to watch it.
Nothing in these movies, on face value, should be good. It seems like standard average children's shlock. But the animation is Pixar worthy, if not better than most Pixar movies. Each and every one. It is eyegasmic. Nothing gets lost due to the detail in the fight scenes as there is no blurring at all, you get so invested in Jack Black Panda you forget all about it and it becomes about Po's journey to become the world's greatest warrior.
All of this from the same studio that gave us "Bruce Willis is a Racoon"
Submitted April 26, 2016 at 03:43AM by GrandmasterSexay http://ift.tt/23Ww6jK
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