When I ask Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson how she feels about being one of the highest grossing female directors of all time, she demurs and gives all the credit to her star.
“I think it is a testament to how much people like Po and like these films. There is such a huge fan base it is really flattering to have been helming something that huge.”
Alessandro Carloni, her directing partner on Kung Fu Panda 3, adds, “I think it will be fair to assume this will be the highest grossing movie ever to be directed by a Korean woman and an Italian man.”
For the uninitiated, Po is the clumsy giant panda that became an improbable hero, dumpling-eating champion and kung fu master in the first two movies. Voiced by Jack Black, in the new film he is reunited with his biological father Li Shan (Bryan Cranston) who takes his son back to the Panda Village so the youngster can learn about himself, become a Chi master and do battle with Kai, a supernatural bull villain played by Oscar winner J.K. Simmons.
Both directors have great affection for Po and understand why audiences have fallen in love with the character.
“We love how enthusiastic he is, how geeky he is, how much passion he has,” says Alessandro. “One thing I have heard someone say is often there are movies where the side cast steals the show because they are the most fun while the central character is the straight guy. But we made a movie around a goofball and everybody else are the straight characters. He is the one who steals the show. When Po is on screen you will love him.”
“He has got so much enthusiasm and is basically wishing for something that is bigger than him,” says Yuh. “Something he is not able to achieve and yet he perseveres. That’s why we root for him because we’ve been there. Everyone has been there where there is something you wish you could do but don’t have the means to do it and yet you keep on going. You have to root for that.”
The pair have been with Po for a long time. Yuh was head of story and the action sequence supervisor on Kung Fu Panda before taking over the reins for the second film. Carloni worked on the first film as animation supervisor and story artist on part two.
Their almost 10-year journey with Po has been shared with Jack Black, who was the model for the character.
“He’s very unique in that he’s so funny but underneath the funny he’s got so much heart,” says Yuh of Black.
“He’s not somebody you laugh at, you laugh with him. You root for him and that is very rare. Usually you have these more jaded guys that are funny and you laugh at them when they fall on their face. But you feel bad for this guy when he falls on his face. I think that just leaks out of his performance.”
In “Kung Fu Panda 3,” Po (voice of Jack Black), the Warrior of Black-and-White, continues his “legendary adventures of awesomeness” when his long-lost panda father suddenly reappears. The movie reunites the stars from the first two films, Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman, and ups the marquee value with the addition of Bryan Cranston as Po’s dad and J.K. Simmons as Kai, a supernatural bull villain but will it deliver the same kind of Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique fun of the first two?
A quick catch-up: Over the course of two films dating back to 2008, a clumsy, giant panda named Po became an improbable hero, dumpling eating champion and kung fu master. Raised by a noodle-making goose named Mr. Ping (James Hong), he becomes the leader of the Furious Five—Angelina Jolie Pitt as Tigress, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Lucy Liu as Viper and David Cross as Crane—a celebrated band of warriors with prodigious fighting skills.
The new film sees Po reunited with his biological father Li Shan (Cranston) who takes his son back to the Panda Village so the youngster can learn about himself and become a Chi master. Meanwhile Kai (Simmons) has returned to the mortal world after a five hundred year absence with an army of Jade Warriors. He’s been collecting the Chi—the life force—of China’s masters and only needs two more for a complete set, the ancient tortoise Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) and his protégée, who happens to be Po.
The “Kung Fu Panda” movies don’t look like anything else. State of the art 3D computer animation brings the characters to life, but the gorgeous hand drawn animation in the action sequences is uncommonly sumptuous and gives the movie real character. High tech and traditional art collide to create a beautiful backdrop for the slapstick of Po and company.
Simmons and Cranston are welcome additions to the cast, bringing distinctive voices and humour to their characters.
The visuals are captivating but the star here, the reason to return for a third time to the “Kung Fu Panda” franchise, is Po. He’s a classic character, an underdog (underbear?) unsure of his abilities, going up against great challenges. He’s lovable, aspirational and audiences like to laugh with him, rather than at him. He is us… only in panda form and he—along with Jack Black’s voice work—is worth the price of admission.
“Kung Fu Panda 3” is the rare sequel that holds up to the original. It’s respectful to the story but more importantly it’s respectful to the audiences who have grown to love these characters.
Richard hosted a Q&A with “Kung Fu Panda 3” directors Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni at the Yonge & Dundas Cineplex in Toronto. Check Richard’s Metro “In Focus” column on Friday January 29 to reads all about it!
“Goosebumps,” the new Jack Black comedy-horror based on R.L. Stine’s wildly popular books, is more silly than scary but contains enough tricks to be a fun treat for Halloween.
Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) isn’t too happy about moving from New York City to Madison, Delaware but his attitude improves when Hannah (Odeya Rush), the cute girl in the big, spooky house next door, introduces herself. She welcomes the big city kid but her father, R.L. Stine (Jack Black), isn’t so hospitable. “You see that fence?” he snarls. “Stay on your side of it!”
Of course Zach ignores the warning and soon finds himself on the wrong side of the fence, inside Stine’s library. The shelves are lined with dozens of books with titles like “The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena” and “The Werewolf of Fever Swamp.” It’s Stine’s life’s work, a collection of scary novels for kids, populated by creatures that exist only in the author’s imagination… until Zach opens one of the books and unleashes the fiends into the real world. As the Abominable Snowman wreaks havoc in Madison, Zach learns that Hannah and Stine keep the book’s beasts locked up inside the manuscripts. With Vampires, and Werewolves, and Demons—oh my!—
On the loose the town is in danger. Only Stine and the kids can put an end to the monster mayhem and take the beasties from the stage to back on the page.
“Goosebumps” will tickle your funny-bone more than raise any actual goosebumps, but it’s a fun throwback to the kind of teenage thriller best enjoyed at a Saturday afternoon matinee movie with a large box of popcorn and a Coke. The movie is meant for teens, but older viewers—whether you’re of the “Monster Squad” age or the “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” generation—should get a nostalgic blast from the harmless scary fun on display.
Not since The Beverly Hillbillies’ Miss Jane has there been such a bird crazy character. “The Big Year,” a new comedy starring the tryptic of comics Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, is based on a true story of birders trying to break a world record.
“This is a true story,” the opening credit reads. “Only the facts have been changed.” Wilson is Bostick, the world’s best birder (they don’t like being called bird watchers). He is the king of The Big Year, an annual competition to see the greatest amount of birds in North America in a calendar year. There’s no prize other than bragging rights, but, jokes Brad Harris (Jack Black), “the bird seed endorsements are huge.” The film follows Bostick and the efforts of two newcomers to the Big Year, Stu (Martin), a wealthy CEO who is finally taking time to smell the roses and look at the birds, and Harris, an unhappy office grunt who loves anything that flies, as they vie for the top spot.
Whether or not audiences will migrate to “The Big Year” depends on their tolerance for a soundtrack stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey with bird songs like a jazz version of “Blackbird,” and the trio of leading men.
Each plays to his strength. Black provides the slapstick, martin is the silver haired charmer and Wilson plays the edgy jerk he’s perfected in movies like “Drillbit Taylor.” The three different styles work well together even though nothing about it really feels fresh. Despite its subject it never really takes flight. There’s a more ripple of giggles throughout but the big laughs are fewer and further between. Surely some Blue Footed Booby jokes could have spiced things up just a bit.
Having said that, “The Big Year” is enjoyable enough, particularly if you like footage of our fine feathered friends. The final third tugs at the heart strings when it becomes more about the characters than their birding obsession. Not really memorable, but at least it’s not another installment of Martin’s dreadful Inspector Clouseau series.
We can blame Stephen Frears for the travesty that is “Gulliver’s Travels.” Frears didn’t director or work on this big budget 3D adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s satiric novel. In fact he might not have been within a hundred miles of the set, but ten years ago he cast Jack Black in “High Fidelity,” a movie that showcased the actor’s unhinged brand of humor and made him a star. Black had kicked around Hollywood previously, taking small roles in movies like “The Jackal” and “Enemy of the State,” but Frears gave voice to Black’s now trademarked manic enfant terrible act. Since then there’s been good moments—“School of Rock,” “Kung Fu Panda”—some bad moments—“Envy” and “Year One” and now a downright ugly film—“Gulliver’s Travels.”
Black plays Lemuel Gulliver, a ten year mail room veteran at a big publishing company with only one ambition—to date Darcy (Amanda Peet) a pretty magazine travel editor. When he finally works up the courage to ask her out a misunderstanding leads to him being offered a travel writing assignment instead. Sent to the Bermuda Triangle, he gets sucked into a vortex and lands in Lilliput, a miniature kingdom under constant attack by a neighbouring nation. When Gulliver helps defend the diminutive country he becomes a hero to all except the scheming General Edward (Chris O’Dowd) who will stop at nothing to cut the giant down to size.
At one point during the action Jack Black cracks a joke and follows the punch line with, “Does that translate? Is that a joke here?” a question he probably should have asked after initially reading the script. The satiric tone of the novel has been surgically removed, replaced with “Star Wars” references, a lame musical number and Black’s incessant mugging. I get that this has been reinvented with a young audience in mind, but dumbing down a classic novel like this just seems wrong. It’s like watching “King Lear” interpreted by The Three Stooges with Larry, Curly and Moe as Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. It just doesn’t fit. Perhaps a title change might have been in order. May I suggest “Gulliver’s Twaddle”?
The problem doesn’t lie completely with the script. It’s terrible to be sure, but its Black’s antics that really sink the movie. He dominates the movie, and not just because he is twenty times the size of his co-stars. Perhaps it’s just that a little bit of his hyperactive slacker routine goes a long way or perhaps that we’re weary of his overgrown kid shtick. What once seemed so fresh now seems tired and worse, not funny.
“Gulliver’s Travels” suffers from some dodgy special effects, a dreary script and an over abundance of Black, and for that I blame Stephen Frears.
Shivers go up and down my spine when holiday movies use words like “heartwarming” in their ads. I’ve seen enough of them to know what that really means. Usually “heartwarming” actually translates to saccharine. Now combine heartwarming AKA saccharine, with a romantic comedy set during the holidays; Add in one dancing for joy scene, usually in a kitchen or just after receiving some good news on the phone, and you have The Holiday, the latest romantic comedy from evil genius Nancy Meyers.
The Holiday combines all manner of romantic comedy stereotypes. There is the fish-out-of-water routine as English Rose Kate Winslett and California cutie Cameron Diaz decide to trade homes (and countries) for the holidays to help themselves heal from failed relationships. There’s the above-mentioned dancing, the odd pairings—could it ever really work out between Winslett and Jack Black?—the predictable pairings—why wouldn’t it work out between Diaz and Jude Law?—and lots of beautiful homes, great scenery and even some cute kids.
Why then did this movie bug me so much? I think it probably has something to do with its inherent misogyny. At the heart of The Holiday, lurking just under the glitzy surface is the idea that a woman isn’t complete unless she has a man in her life. Both female leads are successful women with careers and lives and yet both only really feel complete in the company of men.
The Holiday is formulaic, too long by half an hour and if all holidays were like this I would never leave my house again.
“Kung Fu Panda 2’s” all star mix of action, slapstick and furry fists of fury makes for a mighty kid friendly martial arts movie.
The story begins with a fable about Shen (Gary Oldman), a peacock hungry for revenge after being kicked out of his kingdom by his parents. Unless he and his fire breathing weapon are stopped it could mean the end of Kung Fu, but how can Kung Fu stop a weapon that can stop Kung Fu? That is the question Po (Jack Black) and the rest of the Furious Five (Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Lucy Liu as Viper, Seth Rogen as Mantis and David Cross as Crane) must ponder as they try and save China and their sacred martial art.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” doesn’t exactly improve on the original, a surprise hit from 2008, but it maintains status quo. The new film is a little sketchier with the story—there is a subplot about Po’s real parents that only appears to have been included to add some heart to the mostly action storyline and to set up a threequel—which seems to take a backseat to the frenetic, but kid friendly, action scenes, but it’s buoyed by some high kicking animation and good voice work from the leads, particularly Jack Black and Oldman, as Shen, the silky voiced villain.
The 3D doesn’t get in the way of the beautiful animation, and actually adds a layer of excitement to the action scenes. The animation, both in the present day scenes and Po’s vibrant anime inspired sequences, is a cut above any other non-Pixar work out there.
The film, like all good martial arts films is heavy on the action scenes, but the best stuff isn’t the big set pieces but the smaller set pieces. When Po, disguised as a parade dragon eats a baddie and then digests him and… excretes him out the back end of the costume it’s imaginative and kid-tastic fun. The wilder scenes are nicely put together but the smaller intimate scenes have more punch.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” is just one of 27 sequels hitting theatres this year, but so far it’s one of the better ones.
The funniest movie animal is, of course, the chimp, followed by the talking dog and then the dancing pig. With the release of the new Jack Black animated film you can add to that list the Kung Fu Panda.
In this lush computer animated film Black portrays Po, an overweight kung fu crazy panda who dreams of becoming a master warrior. In his rich fantasy life his enemies would go blind from his “sheer awesomeness.” In reality he is the son of a noodle maker with no moves, no skill.
When he is accidentally crowned Dragon Warrior, a once-in-a-thousand-years-honor, he must look inside himself to conjure the skills to live up to the title and beat the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane).
Training with the Furious Five warriors and Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) he learns to leave his insecurities behind. “I’m not a fat Panda,” he says, “I’m the fat Panda.”
His self confidence may be at an all time high, but will it be enough to defeat Tai Lung and bring peace to his valley?
Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson use a mixed bag of techniques to tell the story. State of the art computer animation brings the characters to life, but the gorgeous hand drawn animation in the fantasy sequences is uncommonly sumptuous for a story like this and gives the movie real character. Imagine if Akira Kurosawa had directed a kid’s movie and you’ll get the idea.
Also strong is the voice work, particularly from old pros Hoffman and McShane, two nicely cast voices you don’t expect to hear in a movie aimed at kids.
Beautifully animated and cleverly written Kung Fun Panda should easily fill the space left on the Dreamworks slate until the next Shrek hits the screens. Packed with wit and action it is the rare kind of animated feature that should appeal to all members of the family, although it might not be quite silly enough for the nine and under crowd, but that’s a good thing for parents who will likely have to sit through this one many times over.
By Richard Crouse – Metro In Focus
