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My first impression of this movie titled Kung Fu Panda (2008), honestly speaking, was not an illustrious one. In my mind, I imagined an animated film laden with adolescent humour, ‘cutesie’ characters and with a plot as thin as air, targeted mainly at the young. Watching the show has certainly proved how wrong I was. Although it was no mega-blockbuster, Kung Fu Panda (2008) was a pot full of laughs and enjoyable entertainment for everyone in the family.

The star of the show is, of course, ‘Kung Fu Panda’ himself – an obese and melancholic panda named Po leading a mundane life of selling noodles, voiced by funnyman Jack Black. This panda is in love with kung-fu, and he dreams about learning kung-fu and becoming like the local martial arts heroes The Furious Five. The Furious Five are composed of the Tigress, Crane, Monkey, Snake and Mantis; they are the revered martial arts exponents tutored by the widely respected Masters Shifu and Wugui.

The sudden reappearance of Tai Lung the evil snow-leopard, who was Master Shifu’s previous apprentice who went rogue, forced Master Shifu and Master Wugui to choose a legendary Dragon Warrior from the masses. Through a series of freak but hilarious circumstances, Po was selected by Master Wugui. This came as an offending shock to the fraternity as Po was clumsy, lazy and had no aptitude for kung-fu at all, and it was an especially difficult blow for Tigress as it was widely believed she would be the Chosen One. With the selection, began the arduous task of training and imparting skills to Po. As the time ticked away, Po began to pick up kung-fu and even began to impress Master Shifu and the Five. Eventually, Tai Lung reached the city and so, begins the showdown between Po and the evil Tai Lung.

This show is worth the watch. Why? The first thing is that this show is simply funny. Granted, this is a kid’s show, you will not find intellectual punchlines that will blow you away. However, this flick will keep you smiling or giggling away for the better part of an hour, especially at Po’s antics during his training. Some scenes had me doubling over in laughter, like the time when Po was dueling Master Shifu for a dumpling. Another good reason to catch Kung Fu Panda is that it is visually arresting. Po is irresistibly cute while the other characters like Tai Lung and Tigress are so artfully created that it exudes an aura of authority, fear and respect. Furthermore, this is a kung-fu flick and naturally you can expect attractive fight scenes. Although it is computer-generated, the fight scenes are explosive and beautifully choreographed. Each fight was more exciting and pulse-racing than the one before.

It would be unfair to say that Kung Fu Panda (2008) is devoid of a plot or storyline. It does, albeit a very predictable and boring one. However, we do have to bear in mind that this is a kid’s show and we cannot expect a plot too complicated, and it is true that the merits more than make up for this in the visual department. The one qualm I have is that the other characters seem under-developed. The entire crew of superstars voicing the Five seemed under-utilized. Jackie Chan played the goofy but good-natured Monkey but he could not have spoken for than ten lines in the whole show. The movie revolved too much on just Po.

This movie will not blind you by its ‘awesome-ness’ but it is definitely worth the money for your ticket.

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When two of the most famous Chinese martial exponents-cum-actors come together and star in a Hollywood kungfu blockbuster, you would expect to fully enjoy the approximate 105 minutes of run time of the movie. Fortunately, unlike some of the recent kungfu flicks, The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) is a commendable action-comedy that has cemented Jackie Chan and Jet Li as two of the most celebrated entertainers in the world.

Frankly speaking, the plot synopsis of The Forbidden Kingdom is downright ludicrous and smells much of a flop. The story revolves around an American teenager Jason Tripitakas (note the obvious reference to the monk Tripitakas) played by Michael Angarano who is obsessed with martial arts and kungfu, frequently patroning Lu Yan Pawn Shop in Chinatown to buy classic kungfu movies. He stumbles into an attempted robbery and the owner was shot in the scuffle. The owner then entrusts an old sacred Chinese relic to Jason to ‘return to its rightful owner’. Jason then mysteriously gets transported into the mystical world of ancient folklore China.

Unable to speak or comprehend a word of the language, and with evil troops hot in his pursuit, Jason flees for his life with the sacred staff and encounters a drunken traveler, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) who miraculously speaks English. Lu explains to him that the mystical staff belonged to the great Monkey King, who was imprisoned in stone by the evil authoritarian Jade Warlord (Collin Chou). His mission was to use the staff to free the Monkey King and end the reign of the Jade Warlord - only then could he return home. Along the way, he meets the Silent Monk (Jet Li), a highly skilled monk on a mission to locate the staff and free the Monkey King; and Golden Sparrow, an orphan girl seeking vengeance for her deceased family.

As mentioned earlier, with such a far-fetched plot, I was skeptical about the quality of the movie when I walked into the cinema. Much to my surprise, this show did not disappoint at all - in fact, it was one of the better shows that I have watched in recent weeks. Jackie Chan was his usual goofy self as an aloof Lu Yan, and his characteristic humour brought much laughter to the audience. In contrast, Jet Li’s stern demeanor is a direct opposite to Chan’s but director Rob Minkoff managed to assimilate their two starkly different personalities together, producing a cantankerous yet jovial pair of masters for the young Jason. Their good-natured conflicts and open defiance of each other does produce some classic comedy moments that add more value to the already-entertaining film.

The chemistry between Jet Li and Jackie Chan was impeccable. Clearly, this is the reason why so many fans have called for these two maestros to act in one movie together. Action sequences were superbly choreographed by the excellent Yuen Wo-Ping (of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame) and is non-stop physical and adrenaline pumping martial exchanges, instead of being aided by dodgy camera and computer-graphic effects. Even Michael Angarano puts in some decent kungfu performance against the Jade Warlord towards the end.

I would not call this an epic or a classic - it would be grossly overrating The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). However I really appreciated the way the production crew kept this movie true to its original theme. The Forbidden Kingdom boasts of two kungfu megastars in its cast and the producers did very well to bring out the full potential of a collaboration between Chan and Li, allowing this movie to emphasize on solid kungfu action amidst a Chinese mythical background. It does away with redundant romantic side-plots (while not compromising on an attractive female cast) and whatnots and bravely exhibits the essence of a good kungfu comedy flick. A truly entertaining flick for the family - I am looking forward to Jackie Chan and Jet Li’s next collaboration.

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