White (and Black) Bears Can't Fight...

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2016)

Where does the fascination for Kung-Fu movies come from?
My guess is that it relies on three simple levels: first, it's aesthetically appealing and visually gracious for what is still a fighting sport, unlike boxing or say, other martial arts, like Judo, any duel feels like choreography. Secondly, it is over the top in a very spectacular way, and thus explain its exploitation for video games, when the human body became as dangerous and efficient as some robotic armor. Besides, there's something fun in watching Kung-Fu movies, it is comical precisely because of the exaggerated moves and an actor like Jackie Chan based a successful career on turning it into comedy, without mocking the essence of Kung-Fu of course, but rather its applications.
Last but not least, there's an inner element of underdog stories in all martial arts, but especially Kung-Fu because it's one of these disciplines where you have the feeling that you can defeat the odds more than in any sports, as most of the learning is in the brains before the brawn, and the cliché of the pint-sized Master, being the sum of all his wisdom and capable to triumph over an army of towering thugs, is inspirational to all the little guys who wished they could master Kung-Fu when it could help them. So, for all its underdog, comedy and spectacular premises, Kung-Fu was a darling for Japanese anime, and I, myself, grew up with a great cartoon called "School of Kung- Fu", but these were hand-drawn classic animation that didn't explore the true potentiality of CGI animation, like for video-games.
Finally "Kung Fu Panda", DreamWorks' animated movie, released in 2008, knew how to handle the sports sub-genre with the perfect mix of special effects and comedy, telling the story of Po, a panda who's designated by an old master (or fool, or both) as the new Dragon Warrior, much to everyone's surprise, including Po. Po is a panda, so obviously, he's a fat, a bit lazy, a bit easygoing, so inevitably hilarious character, and he's voiced by Jack Black, who strikes again after his Lenny in "A Shark Tale". But "Kung Fu Panda" is much more fun and engaging, there's no pop-culture reference, only Kung-Fu archetypes. We're all used to: initiations, wise masters delivering wise lines with such a quick wit we all feel dumb in comparison, long stairs to mount, super-choreographed fights, but these elements never feel recycled because the story finds a way to be original within the predictability of its plot.
Calling it predictable is a bit unfair actually, because there are many original things that strike: Po is a Panda living in a restaurant, his father for some reason, is a duck (James Hong) and there's absolutely no explanation, but his restaurant waiter Job, would serve the story (so to speak) in the most interesting way. Secondly, the panda has no personal pretension to seek any title, he's a fan of martial arts, but would rather watch the show (after triumphing over the stairs) than play the game. But the old turtle Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), tells Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) that he had a vision of the Dragon Warrior, Shifu displays the talents of his Furious Five, a tigress, a mantis, a crane, a monkey and a snake, but despite their talent, Oogway picks Po who accidentally disrupted the show. As he says, there are no accidents.
There are no accidents indeed as another vision of the turtle is proved true as he foresaw: the redoubtable Tai Lung escaped from prison to seek a revenge. I wouldn't dare to spoil the backstory of Tai Lung, but along with Shifu, Po and Oogway, he creates a quarter of great characters. Tigress, played by Angelina Jolie, is a close runner-up but I don't know what the fuss is about with the all-star cast of the Furious Five, they always operate as a whole and are not given much dimensionality or depth as the others. If only for the interaction between Shi-fu and Po, the film was worth to watch, despite Seth Rogen or Lucy Liu's efforts. Tigress isn't really exploited to her fullest, and the training part is rather brief, so I think there was a wasted potential, although the final result is still entertaining.
So we get a story where the hero doesn't consider himself a hero, nor does his master, but somewhat they're forced to believe in it, until the prophecy fulfills, it's one of these tales that encourage you to believe in your potential and the result would have been dull if it didn't use a clever use of Po's gluttony, and the wisdom of his father. The fight scenes are entertaining and spectacular, as the film had brilliantly explored the potentialities of CGI to make entertaining and spectacular stuff. In fact, it is a little overplayed as it gets closer to the appeal of video games, to the point you never get the feeling the characters can ever die, they defy gravity, they survive explosions or high falls so we're closer to Street Fighter than the real Kung Fu. But let's not make it a reason to dismiss the spectacle the film has to offer.