The Case for Hong Kong Fu

I went along to Kung Fu Panda with no expectations whatsoever. It looked like inoffensive, light-hearted, under 90 minute fun. But from the opening cartoon animation, with Jack Black intoning such inspired lines like “There is no repayment necessary for awesomeness”, I was entertained.

The cast for the show is simply incredible. Jack Black leads as the loser Panda, Dustin Hoffman grumbles as the sage Kung Fu Master, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan all lend voices to the kung fu elite warriors. But the fact I only recognised Jack and Angelina kind of left me feeling the star wattage was not really put to good use – what is the point of employing these big names if you can’t really tell it’s them and anyone would have sufficed?

After an opening that really appealed to my sense of humour, the movie itself settled into a more familiar, easily accessible, family-oriented style. The moral of the story was fairly straight forward, though it was told with panache and a few misdirections hither and thither. Jack Black’s crazy influence waned as the story took over and more characters were introduced, but there was enough fun to keep the (surprisingly large for Hoyts) audience, including myself, entertained. I actually think the few children scattered around the theatre appreciated it less than the many adults did in the end.

There is not too much else to say about it. It was a bit of light, frothy fun – not a must see classic, but enjoyable for the whole family.

Verdict: Kung Fu Panda strikes all the gongs with its deft martial art moves. Just right for a cold, wet winter, especially if one doesn’t expect Shakespeare. Or Shrek 1. 7 boards broken out of 10.