Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Kung Fu Panda

Do not be fool by the cute cartoon characters from the posters, Kung Fu Panda is actually one heck of a martial arts movie! Yes, the guys at Dreamworks managed to turn a cartoon into an authentic kung fu movie. One that pays tribute to past kung fu movies & spoofs them at the same time.

The movie itself is full of cliches & follows the old school storyline seen from
countless past kung fu movies.

First of course, we need to have an unlikely hero - which happens to be a clumsy panda named Po in the movie. An obese noodle shop helper passionate about kung fu.


Then, there will be the old & wise master to guide our hero to ass kicking greatness. Master Shifu is the one with the unenviable task here. He may be small in size but big in power, much like an ancient Chinese version of Yoda.


There is also an even older & wiser master called Master Oogway. He is the philosophical one who speaks in Zen-like one liners, you know stuff like 'there are no accidents' & 'yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that's why it is called present'.

Master Oogway mumbling something to Master Shifu


And both lived in a temple high up the mountain with a long flight of stairs. All great kung fu masters lived in monasteries up in the clouds. It's compulsory!


In order to become a true kung fu master, our hero Po had to undergo all kinds of torturous training ala Jackie Chan.



Okay what other cliche can they fit into the movie next? Oh...of course you need to have the manual that suppose to contain the ultimate kung fu moves! The manual meant for the 'Special One' (No, not Mourinho!)

Po with the Dragon Scroll striking a Wong Fei Hung pose & screaming like Bruce Lee

Also, you can't have a kung fu movie without a super bad villain for a final showdown with our hero. The villain is Tai Lung who happens to be a former student of Master Shifu himself. Sounds familiar doesn't it?


Finally, it's time for the final showdown between the forces of cute & evil. No guessing who wins here haha It's after all a kiddie movie & there are some moral values thrown in for good measure. But it's also one that manage to appeal to the kung fu geek in us too.

So, like all great kung fu movies such as Drunken Master, Fong Sai Yuk, Once Upon A Time In China etc, this one seriously need a sequel. I can hardly wait.....^~^

21 comments:

foongpc said...

I've not seen the movie yet. After your review, must go and see it! I think the storyline is predictable, but the dialogues should be interesting. Anyway, will watch it before any further comments : )

Hui said...

KungFu Panda is awesome. i watch it and love it :)

Falcon said...

a sequel..that good ah??

acura said...

foongpc : Go watch it, it's hilarious & the dialogues contain lots of reference to kung fu movies

hui ping : Yeah, Po blinds me with his awesomeness!

falcon : You should go watch it & after that you will hope for a sequel too hehe worth every sen of your petrol money

acura said...

baby : Shifu is a red panda, they are so tiny compared to giant pandas like Po

babychyu said...

ish ish ,,,
i just watched at pavillion
cantonese version no more jor ~ force to watch english version ~
sayang sekali ~
ish ish
i love kungfu panda ~
cant stop laughing ~
cute cute...
kawaii neh

christian said...

nice post...

yah they kicked some cartoon ass..

i'll drop by in the movie hasu today...

Johnny Ong said...

heard many good remarks abt this movie d. a must watch kind of movie, for all ages .... hehe

acura said...

babychyu : aiks..no more cantonese version already. i think i have to buy the dvd then. Ahem...original 1 of course *cough*

christian : Thanks...enjoy it, you will

johnny ong : sesuai untuk semua lapisan masyarakat lol

Ravon said...

I watched it too! Laugh thru the whole movie.

Unknown said...

wow love yr photos here of the movie. its quite a nice cartoon-kungfu movie.. and very good graphics - thats astounding! the china backdrop will be a gd classic example for the future! :)

Johnny Ong said...

just found out that i'm bringing 25 kids to watch kung fu panda at cineleisure on sat morning and i'm still awake at 4am watching holland vs france.

i'm not the only adults lah bcuz it'll be handful watching over 25 of kung fu kids after the movie

acura said...

ravon : can't stop laughing myself.

quachee : yeah, i am impressed by the vivid graphics too, ancient china look so colorful & lively

johnny ong : it's definitely going to be a handful haha they will enjoy it for sure

but i bet you won't regret staying up to watch that match. Holland was absolutely amazing...what a joy to watch ^~^

Johnny Ong said...

holland / france - the best yet so far after anor holland / italy. they are my no. 1 team from what i can after so many matches

xianfu said...

nice nice review on kung fu panda.

i thought it was another dumb animation movie.. -.-"

hahaha. seeing so many good reviews, maybe it's time 2 watch it and prove myself wrong. haha

Anonymous said...

:D cant wait to watch this in the cinema when i get back to msia! wakakkaa 5 more days!! hurray~~

Eric S. said...

Well after that review who could not go see it. I'll place it high on the things to do list. Thanks

acura said...

johnny ong : I hope Holland can go all the way now. Please don't choke

xianfu : This one is actually quite clever. You would be glad to be proven wrong this time lolz

chubbypenguin : head straight to the cinema as soon as you touch down haha

eric s : make it your No 1 in your to do list ^~^

foongpc said...

Ok, just watched Kungfu Panda yesterday so m back here with my comments. It's very entertaining, simply hilarious! You are right - the dialogues are funny, the characters are all adorable even the villain. I'll rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars! Now maybe I should check out the Cantonese version and see if the way they talk is any funnier : )

Unknown said...

kung fu panda was AWESOME!!!

OCButterfly99 said...

I enjoyed this..Loved all the comments too..thanks for the share!

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