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KUNG FU PANDA - SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Since “Toy Story” debuted back in 1995 cinema hasn’t been the same, suddenly there was hole different way to tell stories. Digital animation opened up a world full of possibilities, Pixar decided to stay with original stories that were not necessarily exclusive for children, other studios followed a different path. DreamWorks Animation is arguably Pixar’s main competitor, with films like “Shrek”, “Madagascar” and “How to Train Your Dragon” to their name. Not all their movies are great though, some are actually really bad, but “Kung Fu Panda” is not.

What makes a movie work and don’t sound stupid or nonsense is the way it is set on its own reality, what really matters is to create rules and barriers inside that world. It is crucial to tell the audience how far the movie can go, for example if you could see blood or not or if a character could die or not. If you break the rules you yourself set then the story is on a wrong path. An excellent example to understand this is “The Grand Budapest Hotel” by Wes Anderson, it’s a very particular film but the atmosphere and the reality inside that particular world seems logical enough. Even if it isn’t for us, the way the movie is made makes us believe that that is actually happening in that reality. This rule is a must in animation. 

Animated movies, all of them, are already unreal. From talking toys to personified feelings of joy and sadness, to ants and even a fish that travels the entire sea. It is all unreal but what works is how they’re grounded to a specific reality. So, a panda that wants to do Kung Fu and is trained to fight an evil tiger, if done correctly, should not be the exception.

First of all I want to highlight the work of Hans Zimmer, yet again he delivered a perfect score that feels colorful and fresh, it gave the film a shape and a tone perfect for the story. The editing and animation are very well made, they made the film strong and gave it an impressing pace. About the story, I believe it is great, it not only has an amazing message but also deals with things that we know but seem to forget. I loved how they captured this essence of wisdom and the things that transcend us and that are beyond our comprehension. It is very hard to set the difference between destiny and manipulation in cinema, the last one is just laziness and you are only pushing the story where you want it to go. Destiny however is about facing the consequences of our decisions, and showing how everything happens for a reason (yet again the things that we can’t comprehend). Kung Fu Panda succeeded here and delivered a powerful teaching by doing so.

Of course it has flaws, but an all-star cast and a likeable, relatable hero make this film an enjoyable, hilarious and feel-good experience that screams this powerful statement throughout the entire film: You are more than enough.

Kung Fu Panda (2008) Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson – Rated PG

Action | Animation         1 hr 32 mins