China is everywhere at the moment. Resources boom in the newspapers; Olympic games teasters on the TV; and Chinese animal martial arts films at the movies.
Kung Fu Panda
A light-hearted, animated film about violent animals
Jack Black plays an animated panda that practices martial arts. What more do I need to say? It’s a little bit frightening.
But it’s mostly good fun. Think of a mix between Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master and Disney’s Mulan – it belongs to the tradition of martial arts films where the hero has a great weakness that becomes a martial arts technique. However all the characters are animated animals.
And the animation is well done. In particular the fight sequences are great to watch and the Chinese landscapes are amazing.
My rating: stars
