Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda – Overhyped

Kung-Fu Panda

Po the Panda is the laziest animals in all of the Valley of Peace, but unwittingly becomes the chosen one when enemies threaten their way of life.

I have to admit I did laugh when I saw the trailer for this movie at the cinema last year and was quite looking forwards to it. I didn’t manage to catch it at the cinema and a few people said it wasn’t really worth it anyway.

I did however manage to catch it on the way to UK, it was a little disappointing I think. I still think Pixar is better and Dreamworks relies too much on celebrity voices. I mean how much must they have paid out for the voices of the 5 animals (Jolie, Chan etc), and they each had what 1-2 lines of dialogue each in the movie?

It was beautifully drawn on the whole and there were some entertaining moments.

Kung-Fu Panda

Although it was a bit of a lame story….well hardly a story at all, accidental hero? Seen that before no? Just not in the guise of a fat panda voiced by Jack Black.

It seemed like a relatively short movie, but then I guess it’s supposed to be aimed at a younger audience so it’s quite suitable. I have somewhat of a longer attention span though so require a bit more depth.

The anti-hero or baddy was quite scary enough for a kids movie, but far from tough enough. In real life he would have ripped the fat panda into pieces and stomped him into the dirt.

Kung-Fu Panda - Tai Lung

He appeared to be a snow leopard, but his name in Chinese meant big dragon?

Plus it bugged me that the name of the ‘master’ was shifu which is master in Chinese…so Po kept calling him master master..

There were a few funny moments but sadly I’d already seen them in the trailer, nothing much new after that. It does poke fun at the old school kung fu movies and there are a bucket load of cliches thrown in for good measure.

Anyway it’s worth watching, I can’t say I’d want to watch it again so don’t expect anything fantastic.

I’d give it a disappointing 5.5/10.

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14 Responses to Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda – Overhyped

  1. eyeris September 5, 2008 at 8:47 am #

    actually, and surprisingly for a non-Pixar movie, this was one movie you HAD to see on the cinema screen to appreciate the beauty of the animation and the graphics. the teeny-weeny airplane screens don’t do it enough justice.

    sure, the story ain’t much, but the way they animated those fight scenes was pretty darn amazing.

  2. kevin September 5, 2008 at 8:52 am #

    man, i haven’t caught panda till now. dang.

    if you think this is lame. you should go see zohan. thats stupid.

    (btw, if this goes through, google chrome cant comment on your page =p)

  3. Gallivanter September 5, 2008 at 9:50 am #

    Kungfu Panda’s not too bad ler. Zohan and Love Guru takes the cake for the dumbest movies of 2008, in fact, over the last 10 years…

  4. davidlian September 5, 2008 at 11:11 am #

    Awww…come on man, don’t tell me Jack Black’s antics couldn’t get you laughing in even once throughout the whole movie? I looked at Po and I saw… Black.

  5. iris September 5, 2008 at 12:08 pm #

    I have to disagree. I enjoyed watching the show. It was so entertaining and all my friends have a good laugh while watching. It was a great one!

  6. Dabido September 5, 2008 at 1:08 pm #

    ‘Po the Panda is the laziest animals in all of the Valley of Peace,’

    Only because I don’t live in the Valley of Peace. 🙂

    ‘I did however manage to catch it on the way to UK,’

    And airplane movies often are edited to be shorter than the cinemas and DVD’s.

    ‘they each had what 1-2 lines of dialogue each’

    Which may have been the editing again.

    ‘In real life he would have ripped the fat panda into pieces and stomped him into the dirt.’

    I wish people would stop doing that to us fatties! 🙂

    ‘Anyway it’s worth watching, I can’t say I’d want to watch it again so don’t expect anything fantastic.’

    I know a few people with kids, and their kids absolutely loved it. So, I’d say it might be a good movie to take the family to see (if you have one).

    A good movie for adults to see is ‘Wanted’ … just be prepared to suspend you belief a lot. 🙂

  7. chee hong September 5, 2008 at 5:15 pm #

    Overall,I thought the movie was not bad.
    Maybe a …7 /10 ?

    I only hated the final fight between Po and Tai Lung
    (like what’s with the big tummy ?!)

    Obvious storyline ? Agreed.
    Overly-paid voice actress/actresses? Agreed.

    But hey , movies like this requires the viewers to watch it just like how a little kid does.

  8. Christina September 5, 2008 at 7:36 pm #

    To be honest, I loved the movie. I thought they managed to incorporate the Chinese “essence” into this funny English-speaking animation well with names like Master Wu Gui, the Heavenly Army and “blinded by my awesomeness!” part… Just some examples 😀

  9. t September 6, 2008 at 12:55 am #

    I liked Zohan. People who enjoyed Waterboy and Saturday Night Live would get some laughs. Also some elegant commentary on the Mid East conflict without being condescending.

    It’s American humor.

    Me, I don’t get why the hell do people find Fawlty Towers funny. I think Monty Python is passable, but I only got a few laughs from the sheer creative silliness.

    I’m quite certain there is a difference in American vs. British humor. If you go to American blogs, the comments are that Zohan was good entertainment.

    So, let’s go! 😀

    Dab: and great movies for adults are always.. porn. D’oh.

    no it’s not really due to the editing, some of the characters really did have very little dialogue. Jackie Chan did a few grunts and maybe 2 lines.

  10. Dabido September 7, 2008 at 5:45 pm #

    t – I don’t know. I don’t watch porn. lol Though I’d say some Hollywood sex scenes pobably aren’t too far off what I’d imagine porn to be. 🙂

  11. ShaolinTiger September 8, 2008 at 9:58 am #

    eyeris: Yah I did think the animation was superb, very detailed and vivid. Might be worth a rewatch on a big screen.

    kevin: Looking forwards to Zohan, I love stupid movies! Panda is worth a watch.

    Gallivanter: Love Guru looks terrible.

    davidlian: Jack Black is lame and annoying.

    iris: Glad you enjoyed it!

    Dabido: Yah very much a kids movie, very vivid and interesting through-out it’s fairly well paced so it’ll hold a child attention span. I’ve watched Wanted, haven’t reviewed it yet 🙂 Movies aren’t edited for planes any more either as it’s on demand now it’s not piped any more, they are edited for size/ratio to fit on the screen that’s all. They just didn’t have much dialogue.

    chee hong: Yah maybe I’d give it 6.5 for the animation if I saw it on a big screen, 7 might be pushing it a bit.

    Christina: The Chinese culture references were pretty good, but still I found the whole thing a bit cheesy.

    t: American vs British humour is entirely different, American is more physical/slapstick generally where as British tends to be more language based/satire/subtle. It may have physical elements but the dialogue will tell another story.

  12. bluebonics December 16, 2008 at 8:22 am #

    “American is more physical/slapstick generally where as British tends to be more language based/satire/subtle.”

    wow, really? yea, i enjoyed all the language based subtleties of mr. bean.

    frankly, this review is a bit amateurish. it’s a kid’s movie about a kung fu panda, and you expect the plot to be…?

  13. ShaolinTiger December 17, 2008 at 3:36 am #

    bluebonics: If your statements weren’t quite so retarded I might bother to reply properly.

  14. ben January 16, 2009 at 8:21 am #

    po would always kick tai lungs butt (a talking panda in real life rrrrriight!)tai lung was unable to focuse.and po’s fighting style was something he had never faced before (po didn’t even know what he was going to do next).also real pandas in the wild always have to fend off enemies simular to this AND its a mooovviiee!enjoy them,stop analizing them.OH!,tigress is proof you dont need bubbles or big breast to be a hottie.gggrrrrrowl!

 
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