KUNG FU PANDA 2.

When I went into the first Kung Fu Panda, I had such low expectations, but ended up leaving the theater loving it. This time, I went in with much higher expectations... but was that a mistake? We're reunited with the Dragon Warrior, Po (Jack Black), and the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Mantis (Seth Rogen). They've become pretty close, even Po with their master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). But when Shen (Gary Oldman) decides to take over China using weapons of metal and fire (essentially a hybrid of cannons and fireworks), something so powerful that kung fu can't even stop it, it's up to our heroes to stop him. Unfortunately, a dangerous connection with Shen and something from Po's past comes back to haunt him, and he realizes an upsetting truth about his father, Mr. Ping (James Hong). Also giving their voice talents are Michelle Yeoh as a Soothsayer, Danny McBride as the Wolf Boss, and Dennis Haysbert and Jean-Claude Van Damme as two kung fu masters, Ox and Croc (respectively).

One thing I have to give the movie credit for is that it's very much a continuation of the story and not just a rehash of the original. They build on the characters, give them new challenges, and go through a new story. In the first, they were definitely antagonistic tendencies between Po and the Furious Five, particularly Tigress. But this time through, they're all pretty much friends, and there's even something hinted at and developing between Po and Tigress that I hope is explored further in a third chapter. Also, there's a lot of heart in this movie, Po and his internal struggle to discover who he is and who his family truly is. And there were some points near the end, I'll admit, that almost made me cry.

One of the great things about the first movie, though, too, were the action set pieces. Despite being an animated film, the action scenes were stunning and beautifully choreographed. This time through, there's a very slight drop in quality, but there are still some very fun moments. And, again, there's the "special technique" Po must learn that will inevitably help him defeat the enemy. This time it's a bit more obvious throughout, but it's still a good payoff (with a welcome and pretty hardcore "ska-doosh").

Strangely, I think where the movie suffers most is also one of its strongest areas. On the one side, you have a great story with Po struggling about his family and his history. It's a great, heartfelt side-story that brings characters together and really makes you feel for them. Unfortunately, there's the other story of the film--the one involving Shen--that's not as strong. It feels very shallow, and it could have been much deeper and more explored. They try to parallel it with Po's, but it barely misses the mark. I think with maybe one more draft of the script, they could have worked out the kinks, and things might not have felt so uneven or, at times, flat.

The animation, though, is absolutely gorgeous. There are so many fantastic settings and scenes that are amazing to look at. And there's a secondary style used for flashbacks and dream sequences (we saw this briefly in the first film) that is used frequently throughout the film that is completely fantastic. I also saw this one in 3D, and between this and How To Train Your Dragon, Dreamworks seems to know how to use the format. The movie would look stunning either way, and you probably won't miss anything if you don't see it in 3D, but it just adds a little something extra if you're willing to pay for it.

Overall, it doesn't quite reach the heights of the first film. Regardless, it is still a pretty dang entertaining movie, and another solid entry as of late for Dreamworks. If they decided to turn this into a trilogy, I'd still pay to see a third to see where they can take the characters and their relationships with each other. The animation is fantastic, the characters are good, the fighting is fun, and the humor is there. With a few more tweaks, it could have been outstanding, but for what it is, it's just really good.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

60/60 Extra x2: Drunken Master And Rumble In The Bronx.

I decided to double this up considering they are two Jackie Chan films with fun action and horrible dubbing. Ironically, I went into both of these movies hoping to get some foreign films not in English, and both films on Instant Streaming were dubbed. Oh well. Anyway, let's start with the first one I caught...

Drunken Master (1978).

Of course, I'd known of this movie for years, especially since it's referenced in half the kung fu films and TV shows ever. It's also directed by Woo-ping Yuen, who was the fighting choreographer/director for such films as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. For those of you who don't know what it's about, it's about Wong Fei-Hung (Jackie Chan), a cocky adolescent with some good kung fu skills who keeps getting in trouble. But after he beats up some members a high-brow family while protecting a street vendor, Fei-Hung's father brings the boy's uncle, Su Hua Chi (Siu Tien Yuen) to teach the boy some respect. So the old man ends up teaching him a new, masterful style that requires you to be drunk. After a year of training, Fei-Hung must use his new skills in order to protect his family.

This is probably, so far, hands down, the most entertaining movie I've watched for a 60/60 Review, despite it only being an Extra. Don't get me wrong... it's not a masterpiece of filmmaking like Seven Samurai, but it's a hell of a fun movie. First off, it's totally bizarre seeing Jackie Chan so young, but you can still see Chan's whimsical style, even this early in his career.

So let's start with the action. There's a ton of it in this movie, and all of it is unique and entertaining. It's not the high-flying kung fu like in Crouching Tiger, but more in a style of most Chan films. You see all the hits, all hits are quick and chaotic (yet somehow perfectly placed), and all whimsical and humorous. Truly some entertaining action.

Being a comedy, the film is pretty dang funny, too. I actually laughed out loud frequently. If you know Chan, you know it'll be a lot of physical humor, a lot of slapstick. But what else helps the comedy is the incredibly bad dubbing. It reminded me, somewhat, of the dubbing in Bio-Zombie. It's strange to the point you're sure they did it on purpose (but I'll get into some REALLY bad dubbing in a minute).

Overall, a fantastically entertaining movie. If you like Jackie Chan at all or his style of kung fu, I highly recommend this one. It really was a blast, and I can't really say all that much else about it.


Royale With Cheese

Rumble in the Bronx.

Now, this one you might be able to argue isn't really a foreign film... I didn't really do the research, so I can't tell you. But since about 2/3s of the film is dubbed over, I'm going to count it just for the heck of it. Keung (Jackie Chan) has come to America--specifically the Bronx--to his uncle's (Bill Tung) place and supermarket to be at his wedding. But when his uncle goes on his honeymoon, a local gang starts causing trouble, and Keung finds himself trying to keep the peace, getting himself involved with one of the girls in the gang, Nancy (Francoise Yip) and her wheelchair-bound little brother, Danny (Morgan Lam). He also tries to deal with his uncle's store parter, Elaine (Anita Mui), who is struggling running the place on her own.

Dear holy God, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the Saints... this movie is awful. But it is so awful that it is amazing. Let me put it this way. I'm sure Tommy Wiseau looked at this movie and thought "Wow. What amazing acting, writing, and voice-over dubbing. Now if I could make a movie of this caliber, but just remove that silly action stuff."

The acting and dubbing are both beyond awful. They're truly stuff of legend. I can't even begin to describe it, really. You can't really separate them from each other. First you have Jackie Chan, who actually dubs over his own voice. That's right. He speaks Chinese in the movie, but then dubs over it in English afterwards. Boy, was that confusing. Then there's Danny, lovingly called "wheelchair kid" by fans. The strange thing with him is that his lip movements are very close to what's being said most of the time, so it looks like he's saying something, but it's just off. Oh, and it's god-awful with some horrendous dialogue. The dialogue doesn't help matters much. It's painful, but the bizarre, over-the-top delivery by either the English-speaking actors or the dub-artists makes it hilariously bearable.

The action, on the other hand, is what makes this movie worth watching (outside of the so-bad-it's-good quality of the rest of the film). I don't find it to be your typical Chan flick, though. It's much more hard-hitting and faster-paced. It's almost as if Jackie Chan was attempting to be more like Jet Li, but he still threw in some of his characteristic whimsy. The strange part is, though... while Chan would use his surroundings to help him in his fights, the music used during the fight scenes made them way too serious, making you take them too seriously. Usually, watching Chan is like watching one of the three stooges do kung fu or something. That's not typically the case here.

Regardless, this film is something to be seen. If you've not seen it, you definitely need to check it out. Watch it with friends if you have to. You'll probably die laughing from how absurd practically everything is in the film. The action is a lot of fun, everything else is awful, but so great because of that.


A Hot Mess

THE KARATE KID (2010).

While I enjoyed the original, it never was one of those "untouchable classics of my childhood." I mean, I've probably only seen the whole thing 2 or 3 times. Needless to say, I wasn't up in arms about the remake... if you can even call it a remake. It does take the basic plot and structure of the original, but changes everything else. Hell, it's not even Karate; it's Kung Fu (as even Jaden Smith angrily declares to his mother at one point).

For those of you who don't already know, the story follows Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) as they move to Beijing, China once his mother gets a job there. Dre is not happy about this. To escalate his unhappiness, he immediately makes enemies, specifically with a boy named Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) who know Kung Fu. But he also makes a couple friends, including a love interest named Meiying (Wenwen Han). But after Dre gets beat up one too many times, the apartment maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), saves Dre from a pack of boys beating the crap out of him. Long story short, Mr. Han is forced to teach Dre Kung Fu after getting him signed up in a Kung Fu Tournament to take on the boys and their Kung Fu dojo.

I know one of the biggest things everybody was worried about was Jaden Smith in the role due to past acting issues (primarily The Day The Earth Stood Still). While there are a couple rough lines here and there, he actually does really well. In fact, there are a couple comedic moments where you can definitely see his father shining through (with timing and delivery). Jackie Chan also does well, taking on a more serious role than he has in quite a few years. He might have one or two funny lines (if that), but for the most part, he plays it straight, and it's interesting to see. He even has a real emotional moment that both he and Jaden handle nicely. There's a really good chemistry between the two. And, of course, Taraji P. Henson is pretty good as Sherry Parker, Dre's mother. As for the rest of the cast? Well...Wenwen Han isn't too bad as the love interest, and Zhenwei Wang is brutal and menacing as the main bully... but everybody else is pretty rough. Granted, there aren't all that many other characters besides the ones I just mentioned, but there are a handful (like Dre's friend in Detroit and Dre's first friend in China) that aren't really all that great.

The action we get is brutal (in a good way). There was more than one occasion where I winced. But Kung Fu is always fun to watch (at least for me). And Jaden made it very believable. The training sequences are a lot of fun, as we should expect. They were the highlight of the original, after all (there are some homages to the original, too, like a moment where Mr. Han is waxing his car... or practicing the crane stance). If there's any negative aspect of the action, it's that the camera really walked that border between tolerable and Bourne Supremacy. It never got too bad, though, as you could almost always tell what was going on. However, there were a couple strange moments where you could almost tell the hit didn't make contact, yet there was still the reaction of being hit.

My biggest problem is that the movie takes almost too long to get going. The movie is nearly two and a half hours, but the first 30 minutes or so is just Jaden either getting beat up, hiding, or trying to flirt with Meiying. I know it's setting up the stage for character connections and development, but I think there might have been just one "Jaden getting beat up" scene too many. By the time Jackie Chan actually stepped in to help, and we began the second act, I had started to get a bit antsy. However, once the second act does start, the movie moves pretty fast and it's all good fun.

Overall, this movie wasn't the disaster most people expected it to be. It was actually a good remake(?). It had good acting (from the leads), a good story, good comedy, and great action. Sure it was highly predictable in almost every aspect, but what else did you expect? It was good entertainment all around.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

KUNG FU PANDA.

So I finally got around to seeing Kung Fu Panda, and it really was better than I thought it was gonna be. Po (Jack Black) is a panda that sells noodles at his father’s shop. He idolizes the five greatest kung fu warriors of the time: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross), who are all apprentices of Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). But when Oogway (Daniel Duk Kim) prophesizes the return of the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane), he and Shifu realize it is time to announce the identity of the Dragon Warrior. In what seems to be an accident (though there are no accidents), Po is chosen as the Dragon Warrior, despite his lack of skill and overweight body. Much to the chagrin of Shifu and his five disciples, Po must now train to become the Dragon Warrior of legend and defeat Tai Lung.

First I want to talk about the voice acting. The only name I knew coming into this was Jack Black. Watching the movie, I immediately noticed David Cross’ voice, and recognized the voices of Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, and Ian McShane, though I couldn’t place who they were. Actually, I thought the entire time that Ian McShane was actually Eddie Izzard, because they sounded awfully alike here. It was Shifu/Dustin Hoffman’s voice that drove me crazy the entire time, as I couldn’t place it. But when the credits began rolling and I saw all these big names, including Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, and Lucy Liu, I was incredibly surprised. They all did a nice job.

The animation style was really well done, and I loved the little anime sequence at the beginning before it transferred over to computer animation. The action sequences were a lot of fun, even for a children’s animated movie. There were a lot of fun fight scenes, most of them happening back-to-back starting with the dumpling fight with Po and Shifu. And the final fight wasn’t too short or anticlimactic at all, as sometimes happens in martial arts movies. I thought it was just right.

The movie was also pretty funny and had me laughing quite a bit. Even by the time the ‘ska-doosh’ came around, I had a big smile on my face just because of the context of the scene. What I particularly liked was that the jokes weren't childish fart jokes, and the movie didn’t attempt to put in adult innuendo humor like Shrek to appease the adults. The jokes worked all around the board, and the movie didn’t even have to rely on slapstick non-stop, either. I was laughing from the opening anime scene with just Jack Black’s narration.

There’s not much more to say. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and I wouldn’t mind watching it again. It didn’t have to throw in a romantic subplot, and it didn’t have to have any crazy twist ending like most movies these days, and that was really a breath of fresh air. Just something simple and fun. It was a relatively linear plot, and mostly predictable, but the way it was done worked. I liked it. Awesomeness.

Royale With Cheese

THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM.

It’s the event we’ve all been waiting for… and it was freakin awesome! The whole movie is kinda like The Neverending Story meets The Karate Kid. When Jason (Michael Angarano), a Kung Fu-obsessed teenager, gets into trouble with a street gang, he ends up in the possession of an ancient staff that transports him back to ancient China. After meeting drunken traveler Lu Yan (Jackie Chan), Jason discovers that he’s quite possibly a prophesized traveler meant to bring this powerful staff back to its rightful owner, The Monkey King (Jet Li), so that the Monkey King can defeat the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou) and free the land of tyranny. Along the way, they also meet a young musician out for revenge, Sparrow (Yifei Liu), and a traveling monk (also Jet Li), on a journey to help reunite the staff with The Monkey King.

The beginning (after the Monkey King sequence) is really the only downfall to the movie. It’s cliché, questionably acted, and insanely fast-paced, as if they really didn’t care about the setup at all (which I’m sure they didn’t). The beginning stuff in ancient China is cool, but a bit slow. The movie really starts to pick up with the tea house fight scene. This part also introduces us to Sparrow, who… for some strange and unexplained reason… likes to speak in the third person. It’s a bit confusing at first, but you get used to it. Though she’s really hot, so that makes up for it, too.

The fights scenes are amazingly choreographed, and you really can’t tell Jet Li or Jackie Chan’s age in any of it. They move fast, and they move awesomely. And there’s very little Wire-Fu, as the trailers seem to indicate the contrary. It is there, don’t get me wrong, but it’s minimal. Most of it is straight-up Kung Fu action. And the action scenes are all pretty long, which is great… especially the Chan/Li fight, which goes on for about 5-10 minutes at least. The price of admission is worth it simply for that fight, but all the other ones are just as amazing.

The biggest problem people have been having (prior to seeing it) is with the ‘white kid’. Let me tell you, it’s actually not bad. His story arch works, and it isn’t overly cheesy or anything. And his fighting is actually pretty well done. He doesn’t become a super master or anything, so it isn’t all cliché like that. He still gets his ass kicked after learning to fight. The fighting lessons just help him to stand more of a chance than he would have had otherwise.

As for Chan and Li, you could tell they really had a lot of fun making this movie, especially Li with his Monkey King character. It’s over-the-top and goofy, but it works and is just as cool as everything else. The ending of the movie isn’t nearly as cliché or predictable as you would think, as it is only really half of a typical Hollywood ending. The visuals were great, and the music was stunningly amazing. I found that I really enjoyed the music of this movie.

For a kid’s movie, it was really well done, and I loved the action and everything else about the movie. I’d go as far as saying that it’s one of my favorites for the year (thus far). They could have worked on Jason's intro a bit more, but it's really overshadowed by the rest of the movie. And I’m totally gonna go see it again.

A Keanu 'Whoa'