Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting

[puppetmaker]

Very busy weekend this past weekend in visiting family and friends which was nice. Ariel got to see Robbie who she hadn't seen since February. We also got to visit with his sister Katie who has graduated from college and gotten herself a job based on the degree she earned from college. I know that is rather amazing but she did it. We also roped her into the sketch for Shoreleave (Side note to Susan O, can we do the sketch or should we put it on hold until Farpoint? I am not sure if you got my last couple of e-mails or not.)

We also went to my niece Sarah's 7th birthday party which Caroline had a blast at. Beth knows how to run a party and keep it fun for all parties involved. Ariel had fun playing with her cousins too. I caught up on some news from various in-laws and, as Beth or Peter put it, stage-managed the slip and slide so that all the girls could have fun on it.

That was all Saturday. Sunday Peter went into the city to the Big Apple convention to do some business. He got back home early enough that we took the girls to see "Kung Fu Panda".

I really liked this film as did Peter, Ariel, and Caroline. It is a touching tale of heroes and what it means to be a hero. One thing I liked about it is that there were not a ton of topical references in this film. You can watch it now and twenty years from now and it will have the same resonance. The vocal casting is great. There are characters that we wished they could have done more with like Monkey. But overall it moved forward at a good pace and keeps your attention and the attention of your five-year old (well my 5-year old).

Jack Black, who has been hit or miss for me, did a splendid job as Po the Panda. Dustin Hoffman was wonderful as Shifu the Red Panda. His voice has a rumble to it that he used to his advantage in this one. Ian McShane did a good job as the villian Tai Lung. The prison scene was amazing as were most of the fight scenes even though this was a cartoon. James Hong played Ping the duck who is Po's father with much comic timing. Randall Duk Kim did a wonderful job with Oogway the turtles's dialogue and that could not have been easy. The Furious Five were all well cast. Again I wished they had done more with Monkey (Jackie Chan).

I am grateful for fun films I can feel safe taking my 5 year old to.

Comments

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

I want to see "Panda". It looks really cute. I do like Jack Black for the most part. We'll see what next weekend brings. thanks for hte review.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

It's great fun and the right kind of summer movie. You really don't need to think much to follow along.

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting about Kung Fu Panda! My youngest son is turning 6 this Saturday and he really wants to go see it. It's good to hear that it moves fast and should hold his attention :)

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Caroline hid once or twice when the action got rather intense but she loved it. There were parts where she was laughing loud and long. She only asked a couple of questions to clarify what was going on which is good for her because it means she was following it.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Glad you all had a good weekend! I saw Kung Fu Panda last week and I liked it quite a bit as well. A very fun film.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

What did the kids think?

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Alas, it was an after-work screening so they didn't get to go. I think they'll like it but I don't know that either of them is ready to sit through it in a theater yet. I'm impressed that Caroline does!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

That may be a safe film to test them on. It's 91 minutes long and lots of action and visuals.

Caroline had to learn to behave in those sort of situations because of the number of conventions that we go to as a family. She has always like seeing films on the big screen from the age of 6 months when she saw "Bend it like Beckham".