Some are born to greatness, others have it thrust upon them. And then there are those who know they've earned a shot at greatness, who've worked hard for it, but ... fate has other ideas.
"Kung Fu Panda," a delightful and somewhat refreshing animated feature from DreamWorks, is about all those categories of players in the mysterious game of destiny.
The movie might be the umpteenth variation on Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky," in which a nobody gets a seemingly random crack at being a winner by believing in himself (zzzz). But, for once, there's a faint trace of a question — a riddle of faith, really — as to why fortune sometimes favors those who don't, at first blush, seem to deserve it.
In "Kung Fu Panda," as in life, events have to play out before anyone can know the answer to that. And some characters in this charming story, set in ancient China, are sorely vexed having to wait for that answer.
Jack Black provides, outstandingly so, the voice of Po, a portly panda who joylessly serves noodles in his father's shop. Po idolizes both the art of kung fu and legendary local fighters the Furious Five, who live in a fortress at the top of a hill. (The wonderful James Hong voices Po's very likable dad, Mr. Ping, who is not a panda but — I believe — a crane. The species conflict between father and son is treated with a light, ironic touch.)
The Furious Five consist of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). Yes, that is a terrific vocal cast, and it gets even better. Under the watchful eye of a kung fu master, a mouse named Shifu (Dustin Hoffman, in an emotionally complex but funny performance), the Five stand by knowing one among them will be chosen as an ultimate champion when the time comes.
When the fierce and seemingly unstoppable villain Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a tiger, seems bent on destroying Po's village, that time has arrived. But Shifu's master, the wizened Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), doesn't select one of the well-prepared Furious Five to lead the fight against Tai Lung. He picks the slovenly, slacking Po instead.
From there, "Kung Fu Panda" becomes a sometimes moving story about how individuals occasionally have to leave their egos (and doubts, disappointments and fears) at the village gates and get on with the collective good.
Before that happens, however, a lot of comic mischief ensues as Shifu sets about humiliating Po just to demonstrate his dissatisfaction. Likewise, the Five take a long time to warm up to him.
Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson find numerous creative ways to have fun with Po's torment, including putting him through a number of reflex-testing machines that smack him around as in an old Looney Tunes cartoon.
But they also subtly tweak the characters' relationships and perspectives, so that when Po is inevitably embraced by the community, there's good fodder for laughs as well as warm, fuzzy feelings. Hoffman and Black, especially, evolve into an instantly classic comedy team — the former a grumpy but benevolent mentor, the latter a heroic goofball.
There's something about the look of "Kung Fu Panda" that is so novel and pleasing. Perhaps it's just that we haven't seen this vintage, Far East world in a computer-animated movie before. Even with talking animals and a lot of slapstick panda-monium, "Kung Fu Panda" is a nice break from the kinds of environments (suburban, tropical, desert, etc.) the new breed of animated movie seems to favor.
That blend of fantasy and verisimilitude we've seen in "Cars" or "Shrek" takes on, for the most part, an unusually colorful, earthly but intriguing look in "Panda." This is a film with some set pieces and backdrops that linger in the imagination long after the film.
Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com
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