Stars (vocally) Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, JK Simmons, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Kate Hudson with James Hong, Randall Duk Kim and Jackie Chan Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni Well, we finally learn what happened to Tai Lung at the end of the first Kung-Fu Panda flick. In hindsight, that’s a pretty dark move for the hero of the story. Even the sequel went to some dark places, and it’s a tribute to the filmmakers and storytellers that they hand;ed the material in an exceptional manner, allowing the main character to grow and mature. We also learn here that Po was 20 years old by that point. How many more years have passed since then is difficult to determine here, although it’s been five years since we last hung with Po (Jack Black) and his friends. This time, Po has to face increasingly difficult tasks. As his own master, Shi-fu (Dustin Hoffman) has decided to retire from teaching in order to further his own training, the Dragon Warrior now has to teach kung-fu. Then, Po’s biological father, Li (Bryan Cranston) turns up, much to the consternation of his adoptive father, Mr Ping (James Hong). Even as Po is coping with that, an old foe of Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) called Kai (JK Simmons) emerges from the spirit realm to absorb the chi of other kung-fu masters. In order to defeat Kai, Po has to learn the ways of chi (it feels very Star Wars at one point). Li offers to teach Po about chi, but first, Po has to learn to be a true panda! To do this, Po has to travel to the hidden panda village high in the mountains. In all, this is Po’s journey of personal self discovery. James Hong steps up in a big way here, given a far meatier role this time as Mr. Ping comes to terms with the return of Po’s true father. His interactions with Jack Black and Bryan Cranston form some of the more beautifully tender moments showing a father’s love for his son, either by supporting Po in his endeavours or advising Li in dealing with his new-found son. Hong and Cranston also pull off and amazing double act by the third act. JK Simmons as Kai also impresses while the rest of the returning cast handle their roles well. Only Lucy Liu seems short-changed this time around while Jackie Cha’s Monkey seems to have slightly more lines than last time. Chan reportedly voiced Li in the Mandarin version of the movie. The animation and design on this is absolutely gorgeous with a heady mix of animation styles and creative editing. Returning director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, assisted by Alessandro Carloni (animation supervisor and story artist over the previous instalments) on this outing, carries on with flair, an impeccable sense of timing in action and comedy, as well as managing the pacing of the film where a whole lot of story happens. The backgrounds and settings are beautiful, making one wish some of these places are real enough to visit, especially the panda village. The spirit realm lends itself to some very successful 3D effects, and the colour palate gives the movie a vibrancy to behold. John Powell is missing from this, leaving Hans Zimmer to take full control of the music this time around. He gives Kai an impressively ominous theme, even if it’s sampled off Imagine Dragons’ "I’m So Sorry". The evolution of Po’s theme is beautifully elegant here, emphasising his emotions very nicely. There were some scenes that appeared in the trailer that were not in the movie. Can't tell if they were created specifically for the trailer or if there were editorial changes during the production process; the pandas learning to fight, for example. Such things happen quite often in animation features. In all, the movie is highly entertaining and merits returning to on occasion. As a trilogy of films, should this prove to be the final one in the series (there were plans for up to six), Po’s journey has been remarkably laid out and beautifully told with design and animation that still holds up through the years. Here’s hoping DreamWorks Animation can maintain the pace and quality in wrapping up How To Train Your Dragon’s third entry too. Rating: ****/5
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Stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Earle Haley, Charlotte Riley, Alon Aboutboul with Angela Bassett, Colin Salmon, Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell Directed by Babak Najafi Well, that’s a bit of a blast. One might feel this is how the last Die Hard movie should have been. At least, in concept. When the Prime Minister of Britain passes away, US President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) makes the trip across the pond for the funeral only to find himself under siege in London with trusty bodyguard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) on hand to provide protection. That’s about it in a nutshell, and the movie is exactly what you would expect as a sequel to Olympus Has Fallen (2013). The terrorists in the story take years in planning and putting their people in position… and in the likes of James Bond or the Die Hard movies, it takes one overly determined guy to be the monkey wrench in their plans. It’s the stuff of action entertainment. For some, this is the kind of action film where you simply check your brains at the door and enjoy the ride. There are some impressive action set-pieces with several scenes of very recognisable stars (among them, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Earle Haley, Colin Salmon, Melissa Leo) sitting or standing around discussing what the heck happened and what are they going to do about it. To be fair, there is one very solid and impressive action set-piece. Banning, backed by some soldiers, have to make their way down a street to the building where the terrorists are holed-up, and in a single tracking shot, they run a gauntlet standing in their way fighting for every inch of ground to be covered. Aside from that, the movie takes itself a little too seriously to be a fun piece of entertainment, but it is likely to satisfy an action junkie’s craving. The acting feels like the stars are going through the paces given the scenario they’re in. The direction tries some interesting tricks, like the aforementioned single take action beat, but some of the CG effects shine through in glaring measures. In all that, the movie still does what it sets out to do. There just isn’t much else you can expect from it. Rating: **/5 Stars (vocally) Gennifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Nate Torrance, Jenny Slate, Shakira and Alan Tudyk Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush Zootopia feels like quite a departure from Disney’s more recent output, and yet, it also falls exactly in line in terms of thematic approach. While the movie plays out like a mismatched-buddy-cop movie, there is the underlying theme of speciesism/racism at play. While they’re not specifying between colours, the divide comes down to two groups- predator and prey. In the city of Zootopia, such things are not supposed to exist as evolution had supposedly taken care of that (as explained at the very beginning in setting up the world), but despite noble intentions, this is a world where might still makes right, and so, the mighty lion is in charge of the whole city. But let’s put all that aside and take a look at the overall plot. The movie takes its time setting up its protagonist, Judy Hopps (Gennifer Goodwin), an idealistic and optimistic bunny who, from childhood, works her way to becoming the first bunny cop assigned to Zootopia’s police force. Once there, she gets treated as a token bunny, assigned to take care of parking violations instead of major cases. The police chief Bogo (a water buffalo voiced by Idris Elba) can barely tolerate her presence. All the other cops are large beasts, raging from tigers to elephants and rhinos, and Bogo doesn’t think a bunny can contribute much. When Judy takes interferes in a major missing persons case that’s been going on for weeks, Bogo gives her two days to find one missing otter. If she fails, she has to resign. In her investigation, Judy ends up getting help from a con-man fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). All that is within the first half hour! What follows is essentially a junior version of a Shane Black thriller, where the case being investigated is a small part of something bigger and nefarious. (See Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, even Iron Man 3). In this case, that nefarious bit plays into the prejudices of the characters, even with Judy. Because the characters are clearly defined by their species, appearances clearly count, especially as the movie races to its conclusion and the underlying racism and stereotyping comes to the forefront as part of the plot. The movie deals with it in a truly smart, if overly simplistic, way. The vocal performances are superb with Gennifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman leading the way. Maurice LaMarche is hilarious imitating Marlon Brando as Mr Big while Alan Tudyk pops up as Duke Weaselton (he was the Duke of Wesselton in Frozen). Sloth lover Kristen Bell (Elsa in Frozen) gets to voice a sloth, Priscilla. The sloths are a hilarious highlight of the movie. The animation and design is astounding with the city of Zootopia being made up of four distinct districts- urban, jungle, desert/savannah and icy terrain. Buildings, transports and more are designed to cater to the numerous species that populate the world where tiny rodents can live alongside massive hippos or elephants. It’s a very realised world. Still, this is more a crime thriller with some truly nefarious deeds being carried out by the villains and there is a sense that younger members of the audience may not necessarily understand what is going on. To the credit of the filmmakers, they try to keep things simple enough by relying on the behaviours of their cast of creatures, both perceived and instinctual to play out the major themes of the movie. In that, it’s a well presented lesson. Rating: ****/5 |
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