Dreamworks has finally delivered a theatrical masterpiece the same year it released a more mediocre Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. If you love kung fu fighting but do not expect to see humans in the role, you will want to watch this. Kung fu adventures with adrenaline-rushing action scenes and blatant defiance of the laws of physics, humor, chemistry and the progression of a character doubted to fulfill the vision of a "dragon warrior", cement this movie's place above other movies of the past based on the same genre. What must also be a significant merit is the artwork devoted to giving China such beauty that one would be encouraged by the cultural heritage of the country itself.
Before the main scene, we watch a sequence of artistic awe from the studio logo to a dream sequence of the titular character himself, adapted from Chinese art. The titular character himself is Po, voiced by Jack Black. I would think that Jack pulls his vocal performance with such enthusiasm that it fits the panda who dreams of becoming a kung fu master. The hand-drawn animation coupled with Jack's voice elevates the soul and spirit of anyone who watches, even to the point of a hysterical cliche of dream interruption by external voice. That is the moment that the hand-drawn dream sequence ends and the C.G.I. animation begins. The C.G.I. is so aesthetic that the panda himself looks so plush and crisp. It looks like a big step forward in quality.
Po's father is a goose, and nobody seems to ask. Po is a hardcore fan of the "Furious Five", which comprises of Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Tigress (Angelina Jolie). As I mentioned before, they perform unimaginable feats of defying the laws of physics, case typical of every kung fu movies. This is an exemplary scene of camera zooms to heighten the excitement already rife in an open-air arena. Tigress is voiced by "the most powerful actress in Hollywood", and this movie constantly gives us the impression that she is the Dragon Warrior even though Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) announces Po as one. Once Po is announced as the Dragon Warrior, it causes a stir, obviously because of his lack of skills and poor image and his over-enthusiasm but lack of focus.
So the plot of the movie is that Master Oogway announces the presence of the Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung is in prison but later breaks out to wreck vengeance on the village and reclaim his scroll. Po is "accidentally" chosen as the dragon warrior but is ridiculed for his aforementioned personalities. Master Shi-Fu plots to pressure him in order to force him to quit, which almost succeeds but fails because Po is more than determined to fulfill his dream rather than live a life of mediocrity. Po shows that he would rather fulfill his dream than follow his adoptive father's dream of having Po mtake over his noodle restaurant.
The genius behind this movie must have spent considerable amount of time researching the Chinese culture, without throwing in stereotypes that would incense the wider audience. The animation elevates the quality of the architecture and artwork in every picture, including the Jade Palace. From bright fireworks to explosives, the picture quality is nothing but artistically appealing.
A formula to an epic movie is to build characters. Vocal quality and story arc are crucial to making a character worthy of care. We often acknowledge some characters deserve sympathy for their back-story, even the villain. Tai Lung is a villain voiced by someone who has looked into the soul of a villain and brought it out through his voice. Tai Lung's story goes this way: he believes he should have been the dragon warrior, but Oogway saw darkness in him and denied him the scroll. This denial was validated by Tai's rage and force, which Oogway successfully subjugated. It can be true that fighting fire with fire is not the true measure to defeating a villain, but to extinguish his aura, as demonstrated by Ooway himself. If you have seen past kung fu films, you will agree that this works.
You will notice something odd about the characters: not all of them are given proper names. We have "Po", "Tai Lung", "Shi-Fu" and "Oogway", but the characters named after the animals they are, are not given definite names. Shi-Fu named the snow leopard with a proper name, but not the other characters.
There are many action scenes coupled with impressive C.G.I. and camera angles: the arena choreography, the prison break, the suspension bridge assault, the training sessions, Tai Lung vs. Shi-Fu, Po vs. Shi-Fu. The build-up is so intense that it is in an order of development. There are also comical scenes, such as the firework-propelled chair, the dojo pinball, and the stairs. One character who everyone under-appreciates for his personality, transcends through these scenes in order to become what he has always dreamed of. A panda such as himself lives up to the title of the film.
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