Kung Fu Panda

Kung fu Panda is quite deceptive. It comes across as a "different" cartoon that benefits from a decent setting, charismatic voices, and excellent (!) action scenes. However, on the climb up the final stairs, the story gradually runs out of steam enough to just wheeze out a few moral lessons, and the viewer realizes that DreamWorks has actually just reworked the first Shrek model, without pop culture references and with more winking at children. That’s too bad because they could have shaken hands with Pixar with that awesome animation. (26.10.2008)

You too can do what a toucan can. And when I see a panda, I jump with joy and start laughing, kinda. A panda with a gut like a hippo and the power of kung-fu. While I was expecting a regular DreamWorks ado. In other words, one pop-culture reference haphazardly after another, a worn-out edit sequence to the tune of a pop hit and loads of parodical joking around that we’ve seen (at least) a hundred times before. For all the Chinese saints, imagine this: somebody had the amazing idea of not doing a parody on kung-fu movies, but instead a completely classic, while lightweight and kid-friendly, kung-fu picture with everything that this brings. The good and the bad things. Although this Panda odyssey isn’t one of the peak of kung-fu genre, it is the best animated representative of the genre that I know (on the other hand, I don’t know too many of them). And who would have guessed that a family animated movie would treat me to the best and most ingenious action sequences this year. I just hope that Master Shifu and his followers don’t spoil it with a part two, which probably won’t take long to appear. I almost want to add the word “unfortunately". (14.06.2008)

A bomb that animated competition can hardly catch its breath and possibly the last chance in which Dreamworks at least once successfully tried to equalize more successful rivals. It relies on its certainty, but it has heart, an incredible dose of martial arts fandom, and above all, so much exaggeration, humor, and sentiment that it elevates the legacy of adventurous Disney movies to a new level. And comparing it to Shrek is completely out of place here - perhaps no one wants to convince me that Po, as an individual with a desire to become a hero since forever, can be compared to a grumpy troublemaker who only embarks on adventures against his will. The unknown twins of screenwriters and directors have boldly stepped into the world of success. It's been almost ten years since I watched it, so I don't understand why only the former is often mentioned, but at least I'm glad for that. (26.01.2009)

Das ist einer der besten animierten Filme. Das Tolle daran ist, dass er sowohl als Kinderkomödie als auch als Actionfilm funktioniert. Zum Beispiel erinnert die Szene mit der Flucht des Tigers aus dem Gefängnis absichtlich an ein Videospiel und der Kampf des Pandas um einen riesigen Knödel spielt auf die berühmtesten Filme von Jackie Chan an. Ein ausgezeichneter Spaß auch nach mehrmaligem Anschauen. (01.05.2010)

They may not be as good as Pixar, but you can’t say that the guys at DreamWorks aren’t trying. Kung Fu Panda is a great martial arts movie, a tribute to older Chinese movies (a great scene with the last dumpling, by the way ;-), and also a great cartoon about a big, fat, panda with the snappiest of lines. And I was overjoyed whenever Mr. Turtle (Master Oogway) made an appearance. He had greater charisma than anybody I know. (30.10.2008)

Kung Fu Panda ist wunderschön gemacht. Nicht schön oder hübsch, sondern wirklich wunderschön. Und damit meine ich nicht nur die Animation. Die Farbstilisierung und das Konzept jeder Szene sind ausgezeichnet. Zimmers Musik hat dazu beigetragen, dass ein bezauberndes Werk entstanden ist. Es gibt aber ein Problem… Die Geschichte. Die ist nämlich schrecklich banal. Ein Trottel wird wahrscheinlich zum Helden, obwohl damit weder er noch sein Umfeld rechnet. Deshalb habe ich gehofft, dass es in dem Film wenigstens viele Witze geben wird. Leider ist es nicht der Fall. Zum Glück gibt es hier sympathische Figuren (den Meister mit der Stimme von Dustin Hoffman mochte ich mehr als den Haupthelden) und schwungvoll und witzig aufgenommene Kampfszenen (die beste Szene ist der Kampf "um das Knödelchen"). Dreieinhalb Sterne… Und gerade jetzt habe ich mich entschieden, dass ich meine Bewertung aufrunde. Nur so. (05.05.2010)

But yeah, after the disappointment of Ratatouille, I was quite pleased with Kung Fu Panda. In the beginning it seems like a perfectly overblown genre homage, with the best jokes coming out of that ("No, this scroll cannot see eyes other than yours... give it here", or blowing out candles), only later it's replaced by humor like "panda is unable to walk up the long stairs for the seventh time" and constant infantile jokes when the main character falls somewhere or does some other inanity. Fortunately there is a lot of good action (except the last wtf fight) and the dumpling fight in particular was good, so as an animated one-shot I enjoyed it. (24.11.2009)

It is simply a movie that I liked. Although I wondered why I liked it back then, I realized the second time that I liked it rightfully. It is such a nice animated tribute to kung fu movies, which is excellent thanks to the 3D execution where the creators could play around. Animals as kung fu heroes come to life fantastically, and the story is pleasantly cheesy, cliché, and unoriginal. (25.03.2015)