Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Kung Fu Panda (Mark Osbourne & John Stevenson, 2008)

At the very soul of DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda is a quotation from the father (James Hong) of Po (Jack Black), the titular panda: "The secret ingredient to the secret ingredient soup is that there is no secret ingredient." The pot-bellied panda does not need decades of kung fu training or the secrets of the Dragon Scroll to defeat the deadly Tai Lung (Ian McShane), he only needs himself and his voracious appetite for food. As such, the soul of Kung Fu Panda is as generic as the quotations written on a Hallmark Card; and the same has been the perennial soul of almost every movie coming out of the mediocre animation studio: from the ogre who rescues both a princess and a kingdom despite his being an ogre; to the janitor fish who with the help of a vegetarian shark was able to survive a shark mafia; to the domesticated zoo animals who were able to adapt to the wild.

I guess in a market that is saturated with computer animated films, I desperately needed one with a secret ingredient and none of that "the secret ingredient is that there is no secret ingredient" crap. Luckily, Kung Fu Panda turns out to be a genuinely entertaining romp despite its unabashedly meager ambitions. The movie is funny most of the time (thanks mostly to Black's personable voicing). The action sequences are kinetic and at some moments exciting, despite them being animated, and despite the animation being computer generated.

It helps that the directors Mark Osbourne (who directed some episodes of the successful and hilarious Nickolodeon show Spongebob Squarepants) and John Stevenson have a bit of sense in their heads. Apart from the fact that the animation here ranges from serviceable to spectacular, the movie has a palpable personality. While Black leads the cast with his zany voice work, the rest of the cast (most especially Dustin Hoffman (as serious kung fu master Shifu), Randall Duk Kim (as grandfatherly Oogway) and Hong) provide ample star power and flavor. The five kung fu greats, Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan), and Crane (David Cross) don't get to do much, but they add a bit of variety to the romp. By shying away from easy laughs (fart jokes and other toilet-inspired humor) and mining the wealth of its basic idea of kung fu fighting animals in China, Osbourne and Stevenson were able to come up with something worthwhile, an unhealthy but tasty mix of Hong Kong influences and purely Hollywood commercial sensibilities.

Kung Fu Panda is a good start, at least for the young ones who might dig tales of underachievers going on to do great things. In fact, a bit of research for the movie's millions of viewers would open for them a treasure trove of forgotten gems that might provide longer lasting satisfaction than a summertime spectacle. If only to spark a genuine interest for the little ones to browse through the titles that are gathering dust in any video store's bargain bin, Kung Fu Panda is a definite recommendation (but of course, I would prefer people to just skip on this and munch on the classics).

Easier to find is Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (2005), where some of the gags and stunts are borrowed from, but let's really start with the influence for the panda which is the inimitable Sammo Hung who despite his physical heft, can kick ass like no digitized character can. Start with his The Magnificent Butcher (Sammo Hung & Yuen Woo-ping, 1979) or Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind (Sammo Hung, 1980). Then there's Jackie Chan's non-Hollywood flicks, most famous of which are his Drunken Master movies, where he plays a lad who trains in the art of the Drunken Fist (conveniently, since he loves his wine) to defeat an evil martial arts master. Further down history are the works of King Hu (Dragon Gate Inn (1966), A Touch of Zen (1969)), Chang Cheh (The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), Golden Swallow (1968)), and Liu Chia-Liang (Executioners from Shaolin (1977), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978)). There's just a lot more in this world than hungry pandas and irate tigers.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Andrew Adamson, 2008)

Perhaps I've misjudged Andrew Adamson as a mere craftsman of empty-headed spectacles. Thus, it is quite surprising that his adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (his second time an adaptation of a Narnia book) is quite an enjoyable treat. Sure, Adamson still relishes in showing off his adeptness in creating eye-popping visuals (the Peter Jackson-esque battles with computer-generated tree roots wreaking havoc and pixelated river gods drowning legions of baddies) but there's something more to the movie than the artificially crafted extravagance, which I thought was the major downfall of his cinematic reimagining of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005). That movie was far too glossy, far too blockbuster-oriented that it conveniently skirted on what made C. S. Lewis' Narnia books special in the first place. In the end, it became a lose-lose situation for Adamson and his team: ordinary moviegoers found the movie too Christian, and fans of the novels found the movie too commercial.

While Prince Caspian still adheres to more commercial sensibilities, especially with its unfettered reliance on epic battles, sword fights, and spectacular scenery, the movie manages to have a near-authentic air of melancholy amidst the pageantry of digitized vistas and mythical creatures. The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia after a year, not knowing that an Earth year is equivalent to a thousand or so Narnian years. Thus, they discover Narnia as a totally different place, ruled over by Telmarines, migratory men and women who conquered the Narnians shortly after the Pevensies returned to Earth. The Telmarines are themselves in a bit of trouble, with Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) trying to take over Narnia by attempting to assassinate the king-to-be Caspian (Ben Barnes) the night his wife gave birth to a son. Caspian escapes, rallies the Narnians (basically different kinds of creatures ranging from minotaurs to knightly mice) and teams up with the Pevensies to restore peace to the land.

The biggest problem with this adaptation is that Caspian is portrayed as dashing and swoony man-boy, complete with the requisite Mediterranean accent and flowing black hair yet ultimately lacking in personality and character. In short, Caspian has all the appearance of romance book hero yet none of the libido, a mere Fabio-in-waiting. Adamson sneaks in romantic hints between Caspian and Susan Pevensie (Anna Popplewell), culminating with the two teen heroes locking lips at one point in the film. Of course, it's all for kid-friendly titillation; something that will ultimately please the juvenile market, the same market that voraciously feeds on Disney's fads. The decision to transform Caspian into an action hero is a mistake. In the book, he appears brave and wise beyond his years, a deserving king of Narnia. As a heavily accented soap opera star, he ends up the spineless standard-bearer who inherits a throne out of sheer destiny.

If Caspian seems to be a dull crowd pleaser, at least the Pevensies are given enough time and room to distinguish themselves from each other. From the moment Susan coyly avoids conversation from an admirer from a neighboring school, Peter (William Moseley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are pulled out from a brawl, and Lucy (Georgie Henley) never gets the attention she deserves because of her youth, we are aware that the Pevensies have both changed and are changing. In the end, Susan erupts from her shell, Peter learns self-restraint, Edmund and Lucy both flounder and flourish on their faith. Prince Caspian, beyond the battles and the creatures, is a coming-of-age story for the Pevensies.

Adamson, although this is quite hard to admit on my part since I've never liked any of his films (both Shrek and Shrek 2 are animated spoofs, while The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a mystifying bore), was able to craft something genuinely intriguing, probably not in the way Lewis imagined his beloved characters would be, but in a more conventional, traditional, yet very familiar way. There's a palpable depth when any of the siblings risk life or limb for Narnia. They've graduated from being cardboard cut-outs to actual characters that feel and grow. The storming of Miraz's castle for example (although a deviation from the book), is both an exhilarating action sequence and a showcase that these characters Adamson has nestled since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are living, breathing, and feeling entities, with a genuine concern (worth thousands of years) for the citizenry of Narnia. If only for the well-drawn personalities of the Pevensies, I would give Prince Caspian a hesitant thumbs up. Of course, there's so much to nitpick on, but I'll save that for next time.