Not that awesome

Rating: 6/10 (8 December 2011)

DreamWorks brings out yet another animated production but does it fill the shoes of the other films that they have recently made? Although this film is good the answer is sadly no. For starters an issue with this film is Jack Black. Granted he isn't that bad in this and it is his voice that is doing the work and not his acting, but his voice is so distinct that I couldn't help but imagine that it was actually him on the screen, especially when the part he is playing is an overweight, cartoon panda. Far to life like for me. Other voice members of this team remain hidden, Hoffman is brilliant as Master Shifu and his voice becomes lost in the character, also Ian McShane as Tai Lung the deadly snow leopard is deep and menacing. The same can't be said for all the other voice cast which includes such stars as Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Lui and David Cross. All seem to get about ten lines each. Perhaps this isn't a problem with the voices but the character as they are so hard to connect with. Five animals, a tigress, crane, monkey, mantis and viper, all kicking ass but saying nothing, yep I can see why we can't connect with them. My favourite character I have to say was the Grand Master Oogway, an old tortoise that seemed to get everything right by accident and then state that nothing is an accident.
The film is about the Panda, Po. He dreams of being a kung fu warrior and not running his Dad's noodle bar, his Dad who is somehow a stork?? On the day that Oogway has a premonition that the feared Tai Lung will escape from jail, Shifu states that they must chose a Dragon Warrior to fend him off. The nominated Furious Five stake their claim but it is the panda that is selected when he accidentally flies into the arena, trying to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Reluctantly Shifu begins to train him and we see that this panda is completely incompetent and the only thing he can do is eat. This however, as noticed by Shifu, is his strength. Relate aspects of kung fu to food and the panda will become awesome.
Tai Lung breaks out of jail, which is a very good sequence of CGI animation, and hurtles across the land to gather a Dragon Scroll out the hands of the Masters. The Dragon Scroll is what the Dragon Warrior possesses and it is an accomplishment that Tai Lung continually misses out on. Tai Lung's tale is told through a back story and his connection brings emotion to the film. Tai Lung eventually arrives at the palace and after defeating the Furious Five and Shifu it is down to the Panda to save the day.
As you can tell from the synopsis there are no real twists or turns and the film holds true to a very simple formula. This becomes a slight issue for me as it means children can connect with it more than adults, which certainly wasn't the case with Toy Story, Shrek, Monsters Inc or Finding Nemo and this is where this film lacks compared to those. There is nothing for an adult audience to really grip and enjoy. There is very little emotion in the film and the main humour is childish or slapstick.
The animation is still good. The Panda and Master Shifu having good genuine expressions but the Furious Five are undeveloped in character and animation. They could have all just been made into one character that has been worked on. Their story is just poor and very uninteresting.
That all being said it is a very easy watch film and I would happily sit down, chilling on a Sunday afternoon and watch it again. However using the term Jack Black must have written into the script as it is all he ever says in other films and over uses in this one, this film is certainly not awesome.