Okay, finally saw it.
The problem is, when you intersperse AMAZINGLY BADASS martial arts sequences with LAME-ASS CLICHE plot, the end result is simply ... all right. I'm not asking for much, you know. I don't require character development or a story that makes sense ... it's a freakin MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE fer cryin out loud! All I ask is that it not be ASTONISHINGLY LAME.
On which point, they failed.
Those martial arts sequences, though ... zomg, some of the best I've ever seen, in any movie, ever.
Other thoughts:
- Opening dream sequence by James Baxter animation: ultimate win! Also one of the funniest parts of the movie, with Jack Black's narration. (Anyone know how they did it? It was 2D, but had some of the smoothness of motion of 3D. Cell-shaded? Aftereffects? Or they just followed the Richard Williams school of thought and did it all on ones? ;)
- "Believe"? Believe in
what? So tired of this worn-out bromide, Hollywood. Find something new.
- Textures, shading, lighting, all looked fantastic. I'm getting a little freaked out, though, by hyperrealistic shaders on hyper-stylized characters. These cartoony characters had
teeth! Individual, wet-looking, shiny teeth, with that strange glossy highlight that makes them look ever so slightly translucent. They did a brilliant job--I mean, it looks
real--but visually it's jarring, the contrast between a cartoony, simplified character and his super-realistic, super-detailed fur, clothes, eyes, teeth.
I tried to find a picture of the Kung Fu Master, the worst offender in the creepy teeth department, but all I could find was this action photo of Tigress.
- By the same token, the environments were
gorgeous, and the lighting pretty good overall. I liked the bits of the movie with more stylized locations and lighting better than the ones where they went for a more naturalistic style. See above for my reasons. ;) The backgrounds paintings were especially terrific, kind of soft and impressionistic. Unfortunately, see above for that whole clash-between-realism-and-cartoonyness thing. >__<
In short, this was a movie that didn't know what it wanted to be. Was it a martial arts comedy, a sort of
Beverly Hills Ninja with animals? Was it a stirring action adventure? The hero's journey of a callow youth? Even the visual style was confused. It tried to be everything, without ever clearly being one thing, and came out a muddled mess.
Those martial arts sequences, though. omg.
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capnflynn's journal
The film was definitely Jack Black in that you get some type of positive message conveyed in some trippy comedic, semi-serious way. At least, that's what I get from most of his movies I've watched. o.o;
Loved the opening sequence with the 2D-ish stuffs. Reminded me of Samurai Jack. :3