More Kung Poo than Kung Fu

“Prepare for awesomeness'' reads the tagline to Kung Fu Panda 2, the sequel to box-office smash Kung Fu Panda. Come the end credits, you will be wondering exactly where the awesomeness you were supposed to prepare for was. After being deemed the Dragon Warrior in the first film, the second picks up with food-loving panda Po (Jack Black) and the Furious Five warriors being tasked with a new and dangerous mission - defeat the evil peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman).

The screenwriters really want this to be a cute animated story that unites all of us.
Essentially the character of Po is a young man, living his life, when suddenly - kapow! He's the Dragon Warrior and he's forced to deal with something. Anything. Can we have a villain here? Oh, wait, there's Lord Shen - a Hitler-esque character complete with his very own Holocaust where he swaps killing Jews for killing pandas. The script plugs too hard for an emotional arc - a journey of self-discovery - when the best thing about the first Kung Fu Panda was the frivolity.

The character of Po is literally Jack Black in panda form, there's no added features or altered voice work. When Po speaks, you just see the chubby comedian. The rest of the voice cast, who actually try and manipulate their pipes to create more believable characters, are completely underused. Talent like Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman, Oldman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Danny McBride and even Jean-Claude Van Damme barely get a few lines. DreamWorks Animation would have paid the big bucks for them, so it seems wasteful for the film to be taken up with Blackisms.

Visually, Kung Fu Panda 2 is faultless and the closest DreamWorks has come to rivalling the superior Pixar. The animators deliver a one-two punch with a combination of first rate computer generated animation in 3D and more traditional, 2D animation used in flashback scenes. Unfortunately a pretty pictures does not a good movie make. With story and humour both lacking, Kung Fu Panda 2 is a school holiday film only young children will find amusing. For the rest of us, it's a boring and been-there-before 90 minutes.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is out Thursday, June 23.

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Mega-mediocre

It is no secret DreamWorks Animation's films are like the discarded younger brother who is locked in the attic and fed fish heads, while Pixar is downstairs getting pats on the back from mum and dad. That may be a long-winded analogy, but when you compare their body of work it is fitting. While Pixar have redefined cinematic and box office expectations with films like The Incredibles, Toy Story, Wall E and Up, DreamWorks Animation have teetered between successes like Shrek and How To Train Your Dragon, and failures Flushed Away and Over The Hedge. Megamind falls somewhere in between – it’s so-so, not spectacular.

Megamind (Will Ferrell) is a super-intelligent, Avatar-esque alien who is sent to Earth as a baby by his parents along with another alien being who eventually becomes a superhero known as Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Megamind discovers the only thing he is good at is being bad and he becomes a supervillain. After years of battling each other in Metro City, it seems Megamind has finally defeated Metro Man when his charred skeleton is all that remains from one of his wicked plans. But ruling a city without a hero is rather pointless for Megamind and his identity crisis leads to a romantic interest in reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), who is unaware of his true identity.The film packs some impressive visuals and although there is nothing to fault technically, all of the DreamWorks Animation characters seem to have the same basic outlines and mannerisms and Megamind is no different. It is an artist flaw that they fail to differ film to film, unlike the works of Disney productions or Henry Selick creations. The lovable supervillain shtick is also nothing new, thanks to the recent anti-hero spin in Despicable Me.

But the impressive voice cast do bring something enjoyable to their roles and Will Ferrell's signature one-liners transfer nicely on screen. Most of the laughs come from the David Cross voiced Minion, but Jonah Hill's Titan is also amusing. Unfortunately that is not enough to make up for the feeling we have been here before. From the predicable plot to sentimental moments, Megamind is an okay, not great, addition to the swag of animated films seeking to please both adults and kids.

Megamind is out next Thursday, December 9.

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The toys are back in town

Finally, I’m so excited that I can share my thoughts on Toy Story 3 with you guys. I saw it three weeks ago and had to sign an embargo with Disney to hold-off on publishing, posting or even mentioning the film on social networking sites until the date was lifted a few days ago. So, here goes.

Toy Story was the first film released to use only Computer-generated Imagery, CGI and it redefined the course of movie making and animated films forever. Fifteen years later, Pixar and Disney are hoping to recreate that magic with the third film in the franchise.

Toy Story 3 sees Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the beloved characters accidentally dumped in a day-care centre after their owner, Andy, goes to college. From the fantastical opening which captures the imagination of children, to the signature wit and humour of the story, the film is a worthy entrant in the series. Other animated franchises, like Shrek, have struggled to find purpose in the later films. However, Toy Story 3 progresses, it grows up, and introduces new elements instead of trying to rehash formulas that worked previously.
There are also some colourful new characters introduced, the highlights being the flamboyant and uber metro sexual Ken (voiced by Michael Keaton), a dialogue-free security monkey, and Mr Pricklepants (voiced by Timothy Dalton) a stuffed-hedgehog who recites Shakespeare. The use of 3D technology is executed perfectly, immersing the audience in the experience rather than trying to be gimmicky.

Overall this is slower, and a little sadder than its predecessors. Even the adults will be hard pressed to hold back a tear when Andy realises that he has to grow up and leave his childhood friends behind. It feels like the writers have made a conscious effort to wrap up the series, while at the same time leaving the tiniest bit of potential for a fourth film. Only time will tell if the toys once again come out of the box.

Toy Story 3 opens in cinemas this Thursday, and already it is smashing box office records for Pixar and Disney in the US. Looks like there’s no `death by monkey’s’ for this series.

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Get an iron-on for this

Now that the moderate excitement that was Iron Man 2 has died down, prepare to have your minds blown with this awesome fan art made for the movie. I thought the film posters were incredibly lack lustre so it’s not surprising the geek lords out there have come up with something much more creative and downright genius. Tyler Stout aka Tstout.com put together the following collage;
What’s more, is after I recovered from the nerd-out I had while looking at this poster, I flicked through his website and found some other stellar takes on movie posters he has created. Hence, I present to you a trip through Hollywood posterdom via Tyler Stout (note the close ups on the side);

Inglourious Basterds

The Monster Squad

Blade Runner

The Big Lebowski
The Lost Boys
All of these posters are available to purchase through his website and while I’m here, having a an art binge and all that, I also came across an exquisite side project from one of the artists at Pixar. He has recreated some iconic and very adult scenes from movies in the style Pixar is so famous for. The result is quite impressive and I suggest you check them all out at his blog Cooley.

In semi-related news, check out my posts on the worst, the lego and my favourite movie posters of all time.

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Incredibly similar

It's no secret The Incredibles is probably one of my favourite animated movies of all time. Well, it's definitely in the top three . . . .depending on the street. It has recently come to my attention that a very similar super-hero themed animated film is in the works from DreamWorks studio. To be titled Master Mind it's about a super villain who finds himself without a purpose in life after he finally succeeds in killing his heroic nemesis. So-hot-right-now comedy favourites Tina Fey, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr have signed on to voice some of the main characters. If you ask me, which since you are reading this I'm assuming you are, Master Mind reeks of crushing unoriginality. Pixar was the mastermind behind The Incredibles which was a hit at the box office and critically applauded (it scored an amazing 97% on Rotten Tomatoes). It seems blatantly obvious that DreamWorks are once again trying to soc a one-two punch to main rivals by adapting their original idea. Sigh. Both these studios are extremely talented and house some of the most creative graphic artists in the world so I wish they would stop trying to out-do each other and instead concentrate on doing what they do best; bring beautiful, unique, animated films to the big screen. 

A brief history of classic copy-cat syndrome in the animation realm  

Nemo VS  A Shark Tale

Madagascar VS The Wild

Shrek VS Happily N'Ever After 

Flushed Away VS Rataouille

Antz VS A Bugs Life

 - and now -

The Incredibles VS Master Mind

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