Andhra Pradesh

It’s an enjoyable fare all the way

Film: Kung Fu Panda (Animated)

Voice Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan

Direction: Stevenson and Mark Osborne

Jackie Chan meets Pixar, oops, DreamWorks. Martial art embraces animation in probably the first of such attempts. It is brave without being reckless. It is novel without wearing you down with its novelties. A nice idea attains fruition.

All this, thanks to the amusing lead character Po, the panda who gets you to smile often. His body language, his eye expression, the tenor of his speech -- all add to his appeal.

To add to his computer-generated wizardry is some wonderful over-over work by artistes as adept and varied as Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie. Some like Chan don’t get as much screen time to bring their full-scale action persona to animation. Others, like Black and Hoffman have a field day. The result? The film works for kids who are the target audience and adults, who enjoy the spin-off for being generous with their time.

Directors Stevenson and Mark Osborne’s “Kung Fu Panda” has little kung fu, lots of panda. Nobody is complaining, simply because the cuddly bear is more than just loveable. He is, in fact, gorgeous with the heart of a kid and the body, well, of an overgrown kid.

The little panda, who stumbles and rolls through life, is a wannabe kung fu master. Blessed with the spirit of a warrior but saddled with a body which does not quite lend itself to such arduous tasks as to demolish opponents with a punch, a cut. In his child-like fantasies, he regularly makes mincemeat of his formidable opponents. In reality, he is not quite in the league. Yet, he is chosen as the dragon warrior who must defend good, overcome evil.

It all gives rise to a lot of clean laughs as the panda struggles to find his feet. The pace never slackens. The camaraderie between the animal characters is more than passably good.

Some of the animation work is top class and some voice-overs add more than just a bonus.

So, this weekend, if you have kids at home and in heart, just get out of your home. Catch up with “Kung Fu Panda”. Not quite “Monsters’ Inc”, but it is still enjoyable fare. Good fun.

ZIYA US SALAM

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