Movie review: Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda is a DreamWorks Animation production and it is very funny! Good animation, good story and a lot of humour. It has an all-star cast of voice talent such as Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Michael Clarke Duncan, Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan. It's about a panda who dreams of being a Kung Fu master, but doesn't have what it takes. Or does he? I don't think it would be much of a spoiler if I said that, of course, he does achieve his dream in a big way...

I know I wasn't the only one enjoying this movie, from the laughs I heard all around me throughout the movie. It is PG, because of the animated violence, but I don't think it should be a problem for most kids, so bring the whole family! I saw the Imax version and it looks beautiful.

I didn't hear about a sequel being planned for this movie, but I can easily imagine they are already in "secret pre-production"... Talking about sequels, one of the previews was Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, another DreamWorks production. It looks like it's going to be another funny one!

Movie review: The Forbidden Kingdom

A movie starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Li? You bet I'm there! The Forbidden Kingdom is the tale of a young man, Jason (played by Michael Angarano), who is a big fan of Kung Fu movies. He gets most of his authentic movies from an old Chinese man, who also have an old fighting staff in his back room, which turns out to be an important part of ancient Chinese history.

At some point, Jason find himself thrown back in ancient China, with the staff, where he will live a magical journey, filled with magic (of course!), mystery and of course, Kung Fu, which he will learn from two masters, who have very different lifestyles. He turns out to be part of a prophecy, as the one who must return the staff to his rightful owner.

The movie looks great, is well acted and has great fighting choreography. I really liked it. It is not in Chinese with sub-titles, but is filmed in English, for those who worry about such things. There are a few sub-titles here and there when some characters speaks in Chinese, but that's it. I don't know if it's in the work or even being considered, but I can see a sequel being made, although there's not really any absolute signs pointing to it. But the door is definitely open, shall we say.

Movie review: Rush Hour 3

Since I really liked the first two "Rush Hour" movies, seeing Rush Hour 3 was an easy decision. It may not be as 'fresh', but it was still a lot of fun. Lots of humour and action scenes, including fights. Some scenes required special effects, I'm sure, but there is still a lot of live action.

The story starts in LA, USA, but eventually moves to Paris, France. Our heroes must find a critical item to expose the Triads, the powerful Chinese crime organisation. Of course, many people stands in the way, while others wants to help.

Chris Tucker & Jackie Chan works very well together once again, although many scenes must be done a few times to get it right, as shown in the traditional bloopers scenes at the end of the movie, in the beginning of the credits.

A must-see for the fans of the series. Will there be a fourth one? Me thinks so... :-)