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'

LKMYNTS: Cypher.

While he hasn't done that many movies, Vincenzo Natali is quite an underrated director who needs a big break. But then again, I'm not sure how (or if) Hollywood would appreciate his odd style. Like many people, I discovered Vincenzo with Cube. I then went to Nothing, which was almost too strange and out-there. And then I heard about this film, which is probably the closest he's gotten to mainstream (mostly due to having an ending that actually has closure and isn't mind-bending).

Cypher is about Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam), an average man who gets a job with a high-tech corporation called DigiCorp as a spy, changing his name to Jack Thursby. They send him around the country to boring conventions to spy on their rivals, Sunways. But at these conventions, he keeps running into a sexy femme fatale named Rita (Lucy Liu), who begins to show Morgan that there's more to this than there seems. She warns him that he must remember that he is Morgan, not Jack Thursby, and she gives him help in the form of both advice and other (medication, shots, etc.) that help him see what's really going on with DigiCorp. And what follows is a twisty, turny espionage thriller (with a twist of sci-fi) about mind control where you can never be sure who to trust and who is telling the truth.

This movie is a total mind-freak. It's slow to start, but interesting enough to keep you involved. But eventually, it just starts going all-out and you have no idea what the hell is going on anymore (I mean, the film is completely understandable, it's just you're never sure who to trust, much like Morgan himself). There are so many twists and turns in this film, it's ridiculous. Is DigiCorp really evil? Is Sunways good, or are they playing Morgan just like DigiCorp? Who is Rita? And is her boss to be trusted, or is he yet another person he may or may not be able to trust? Needless to say, it's almost literally an insane ride.

The acting is really good, too. At first I thought a couple parts were questionable, but as it turns out from what you discover later... well, let's just say even the acting makes sense in how it was done. Jeremy Northam looks like a strange blend of David Duchovny and Tim Blake Nelson (and one more I can't place). He plays well going from the giddy new spy to the 'wtf have I gotten myself into' guy. Lucy Liu was great as the femme fatale, as well. Quite a bit different than what else I've seen her in as of late. And then there's David Hewlett, who is to Vincenzo Natali as Johnny Depp is to Tim Burton (except without being too over-exposed). He does really well as usual... sorry I can't be more specific here, but his role really isn't that huge. It's fun, though.

For such a low budget film (for its genre, anyway), as are all Vincenzo Natali films, the special effects were really good. I swear, Natali needs to teach filmmakers how to do more with less, because he's mastered it. From Cube to this, he can make completely engaging films with so little budget (this film was only made with 7.5 mil).

Overall, I really recommend the film if you're into spy thrillers, 'near-future' sci-fi, identity confusion, or just mind-freak films in general. It's certainly one heck of a ride. There are a ton of twists, some easier to see than others, and a satisfying ending.


A Keanu 'Whoa'

LKMYNTS: Watching The Detectives.

I thought I’d start out the New Year with a Little Known Movie You Need To See. This has to be one of the most original romantic comedies that I’ve seen in a long time. Neil (Cillian Murphy) is a film buff who runs a video rental store with his friends and lives his life based on the classics and B-movies. But one day, Violet (Lucy Liu) shows up in the store and completely changes his life around. Violet does everything in her power to turn Neil’s life upset down and chaotic, which is almost too much for him to handle. And unfortunately for Neil, Violet becomes like the girl who cried wolf, so he never really knows if whatever situation he’s in is actually real or staged.

To start with the acting, the only two you would recognize in this film are Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu. But were they really some inspired casting choices or what? To see Cillian in a comedy was a sight to behold, and he really pulled off the movie buff dork very well. In fact, I haven’t felt so in tune with a character before this one. I really felt like I could really relate to him, because he was a lot like me (sadly enough). So whenever something uncomfortable happened to him that played on his gullibility, I felt uncomfortable, too (mostly because Lucy Liu’s character reminded me of a much more extreme version of one of my exes). And speaking of Lucy Liu, she was absolutely perfect for the role. It reminded me somewhat of her role in Lucky Number Slevin, except not as hyper and much more out-there. But both played their roles very well.

And then there’s the supporting cast who are always around and made me wonder why none of them are bigger stars, because they were all pretty funny. One of my favorite scenes involved them trying to figure out what scene a movie was stopped at just by looking at the tape reel inside the VHS cassette. And then there’s all the little movie conversations that are had throughout. This really is a movie for movie lovers, as there are all sorts of references and what have you, even in the background with movie posters. I even saw a magazine sitting in the background that had an image of Oh Dae-su from Oldboy. It’s just detailed stuff like that that when you catch it, it makes it that much better.

If I have any issues with the movie, there are only two, and one is much more minor than the other. To start with the minor issue, there’s a scene toward the end that’s a crying montage from Cillian Murphy that almost killed it for me. The crying was so over-the-top and ridiculous that it totally took me out of the movie. There’s a similar crying moment at the beginning, too, but it’s the montage toward the end that got to me. The more major issue was the plot… or lack thereof. There really isn’t a tight plot to pull everything together. It’s mostly just random antics from Violet toward Neil, and you’re just watching and wondering if it’s real this time or not. HOWEVER, it is all made up for at the end when there’s a nice little twist that suddenly has everything make sense. It’s just awkward to have you wait the entire movie before you realize what the plot was. To get all English-y on you, it’s kind of like writing a research paper and waiting until the end to introduce the thesis statement: sure you can do it, but it takes a talent to pull it off correctly. And did this movie pull it off? For the most part, yeah.

So if you’re a fan of Cillian Murphy (and who isn’t?), and you would like to see him do a comedy, I’d check this out. It’s not your average movie experience at all, which is ironic because the whole thing is about and an homage to movies. I thought it was great, anyway.

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