Kung Fu Panda
“Sarah, what are you doing?”
“I’m watching Kung Fu Panda but I swear it’s for a school
assignment, dad.”
Kung Fu Panda takes place in the Valley of Peace, China. It
follows the story of an oversized panda named Po who dreams of becoming a kung
fu master. He looks up to the five great kung fu masters who inhabit the
village, “The Furious Five,” who are trained in the Jade Palace by two
grandmasters: Shifu and Oogway. By a stroke of fate, Po is declared the
legendary “Dragon Warrior” and it is up to him to save the village from the
power-hungry villain Tai Lung.
The movie masterfully blends Eastern philosophy with Western
humor. The combination of imagery and music is gorgeous. And most importantly,
there are so many valuable things to be learned from Po’s story.
- Embrace difference. Po doesn’t look like a typical kung fu master. He is ridiculed for his size and it hurts his confidence sometimes. But ultimately, his size helps him defeat Tai Lung and his difference becomes his secret weapon. And by the end of the movie, he accepts his identity as an unconventional martial artist and serves the following line fiercely:
- Work hard and find what motivates you. Po is athletically challenged but if you motivate him with a dumpling he will combat whatever obstacles stand in his way.
- Kindness defeats physical strength. Po has a good heart and a pure love for kung fu that can’t be defeated. He isn’t phased by scrutiny because he’s armed with enthusiasm and positivity. On the other hand, Tai Lung, a well-trained and strong martial artist, is motivated by greed instead, which corrupts him.
- There is no “secret ingredient” or shortcut to success, but all of the above help achieve it.
“I’m not a big fat panda. I’m the big fat panda.”
Po sets an example for all of us to embrace whatever makes us different as an asset.
Po sets an example for all of us to embrace whatever makes us different as an asset.
I find this movie to be so inspirational and an absolute joy to
watch–it will always have a special place in my heart.
I agree with everything that was said in the review. You did a great job describing the movie to appeal with teenagers and adults who may think this movie is "childish" and "doesn't relate to the actual world".
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a chubby Asian dude, myself, having the hero being a giant plush dope for a change is pretty cool, so Kung Fu Panda has always been a favorite of mine. A lot of the stuff you listed seem like they should probably be tired and cliche. But I feel like Kung Fu Panda actually manages to make them charming by not pretending to be more serious than it is. They sort of break the fourth wall by mocking the traditional action movie and action hero with their story. The badass Furious Five don't actually end up doing a whole lot. They recognize the general premise of an action narrative like theirs is stupid. It's honest about how lame it is, so the cliches actually come off as cute. It's also deeply underrated, honestly it's better than most recent Pixar movies.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you interpreted a seemingly generic cartoon movie by brining up some deeper themes one wouldn't discover at first glance. I think your analysis is proof that like Kung Fu Panda and other modern movies, there is so much we can learn about society through simply watching and understanding the media of the time. Your post reminded me a lot of Race, Class, Gender (Mr. Leff's class) I took last year in which we analyzed 20th century film and tv to learn about the specific time period and its ideals.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! I too am an avid Kung-Fu Panda fan, and I hate when people laugh at me for watching it. I think that it tells really important themes, as you stated above, in a simple and easy to watch manner, which is something so many other films struggle with.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting review. I agree with all the points you made about Kung Fu Panda, I also think it is very important for all the values that you listed to be presented to young children. The cute animation style and comedy really help press home the important points, while still entertaining the viewer. I think that Kung Fu Panda was overall an amazing movie and helped young viewers subliminally learn these very important lessons.
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