Kung Fu Panda

[MadMan]

Where's that damn "neutral" smily? This looks lame.

Months later, this post rings truer than ever. Although apparently back then we didn't have a "neutral" smily on this site.

[Spinal]

I'm seeing it Friday.

Anyone else?

I will probably see it sometime this weekend, though not Friday.

[Wryan]

Getting good reviews. I'll see it cause I think it looks funny and my friend wants to see it too.

[KK2.0]

I'll watch it, Over The Hedge was a lot of fun

[Dukefrukem]

I'll see it because JB is my hero.

[Henry Gale]

This was actually really entertaining.

The action and visuals are consistently exciting all the way through, it's funny in the Jack Black comedy way more than it is in the CG kids movie one (pop culture! fart jokes!) and for the most part all of the humour and drama don't feel unbalanced against one another even when both push really hard in the second half. One thing I was a bit disappointed by was that aside from Black, Hoffman and a couple of others, the rest of the characters didn't really feel like they had much to do or say in certain stretches. Like the Furious Five gang (voiced by Jolie, David Cross, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu) never feel like they matter as much later on than they do when they're the big, tough, "you will never be as good as us, Panda!" plot ingredient at the beginning. (I think Chan has like 5 or 6 lines overall...)

But all little nitpicks aside, it looks beautiful, is an absolute blast to watch, and is completely harmless fun with actually more compelling action sequences than most of the other summer movies so far and above all just a nice surprise.

[Watashi]

Thanks to my stupid boss, I won't be able to see this until Monday.

He better not fucking deny me WALL-E.

[Ezee E]

Thanks to my stupid boss, I won't be able to see this until Monday.

He better not fucking deny me WALL-E.

I'm surprised you didn't request that off back in January.

[Spinal]

Good stuff. Lotsa funny. Fun action scenes. Good twist on the 'be true to your self' message. Well worth seeing.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Good stuff. Lotsa funny. Fun action scenes. Good twist on the 'be true to your self' message. Well worth seeing.

This is good to hear. I'll probably be taking my son some time next week. I was hoping it would be worth seeing.

[Sxottlan]

A very pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much given Dreamworks history with animation. Usually I'd be expecting something along the lines of the excrement on display in the Madagascar 2 trailer that ran before the film. A trifle, and feeling more than a little familiar following so soon after The Forbidden Kingdom, but still a lot of fun.

Some of the talent is wasted in the film (namely Chan, Rogen and Jolie), however Black, McShane and especially Dustin Hoffman all do excellent work. The kind of interaction between Lung and Shifu is more of what we should have seen in the Star Wars prequels. Many of the character interactions felt fresh, including that between Po and his father. In a lesser film, the father would have made more of an antagonist. Instead, here he's more loving and supportive.

The film is consistently funny and the action, while a little over the top, is at times even a little thrilling (the chopstick fight is one of the best action scenes of the year so far). The only drawback is how obvious Po's strengths are and how it seems to take everyone so long to see them that you're kind of counting time until his true use comes into play.

Good music too.

[Spinal]

Usually I'd be expecting something along the lines of the excrement on display in the Madagascar 2 trailer that ran before the film.

Yeah, that was painful. Did you get the Pink Panther 2 trailer? That was even worse.

[Sxottlan]

Yeah, that was painful. Did you get the Pink Panther 2 trailer? That was even worse.

Yeah, although I did chuckle a bit at him slicing open the movie screen and then trying to tape it up again. A bit.

Didn't even know there was a sequel coming out, but since I never saw the first one, I'm not surprised.

[Skitch]

Sweet flick. I really, really enjoyed it. The animation was very well done as well.

Did anyone get a Samurai Jack feel from the opening sequence?

[Watashi]

This movie was awesome, awesome, awesome! Best DreamWorks film since Prince of Egypt.

Hell, this is up there with Pixar's stuff. Not quite Bird level, but it's definitely a step in the right direction for non-Pixar animation.

It had the right script, acting, heart, and overall direction. I was surprised how well it worked on an emotional level without cloying to sentimentalism.

"I've only seen paintings of that painting!"

[Watashi]

Oh, and this must be a record for DreamWorks. There was absolutely NO pop culture references, toilet humor, or overbearing song numbers.

[Spinal]

Yes, the best compliment I can pay is that I completely forgot it was a Dreamworks film. Easily the best of theirs that I have seen.

[Ezee E]

No song numbers?

Maybe I'll see this someday.

[Wryan]

Oh, and this must be a record for DreamWorks. There was absolutely NO pop culture references, toilet humor, or overbearing song numbers.

IN the movie at least. New song, please. And definitely not a bad cover of an overused song, please.

Otherwise it was two tons of fun.

A sequel done in the style of the opening dream sequence...please.

Or just a Samurai Jack movie.

[rocus]

For what it's worth, I'll add to the love of the movie. It's the first DreamWorks that I can remember liking (I loathe Shrek). This one was great fun and actually had action sequences that I could follow (I'm looking at you Bourne). The fight on the bridge, and the chopstick battle where fantastic. My only problem was that Po was a little too tough. Nothing ever hurt him and it took away some suspense.

[Sxottlan]

IN the movie at least. New song, please. And definitely not a bad cover of an overused song, please.

Yeah, they just couldn't resist at least one cliche over-used song in the credits.

I've really grown to hate that song.

[number8]

What song was it? Kung Fu Fighting?

[Spinal]

What song was it? Kung Fu Fighting?

Yes.

[Fezzik]

Im going to see this tonight...I'm really looking forward to it.

Any trailers in particular I should keep an eye out for?

[Spinal]

Any trailers in particular I should keep an eye out for?

Mostly junk when I saw it.