The summer of 2008 broke history, and rebuilt it.
America suffered through a bitter presidential election on the road to a globewrecking financial crisis.
In theaters, cinematic generations were rising and falling.
Credit: DreamWorks
Last week:Sex and the Cityand the movie.
Next week:The Happeninghappens!
This week: EW TV critic Darren Franich on the movie where the panda learns Kung Fu.
Everyone can pick their favorite Pixar movie.
The impossibility of finding a definitive choice is part of the fun.
You could argue in every direction:Finding Nemo?
Whos the hipster stumping forInside Out?
Whos the nihilist stumping forWall-E?
A weird game, by comparison, to pick your favorite DreamWorks Animation movie.
There are almost twice as many; theyre about half as good.
ButKung Fu Pandahas always been my choice.
(TheShreksequels ruined Shrek; I dont really countChicken Run, produced by Aardman in glorious claymation.
His journey is sarcastic and sweet in equal measure.
And the films key elements reflect DreamWorks most compelling trait.
This sounds simple enough, but it requires unusual trend-spotting insight.
The layers ofKung Fu Pandas 2008 reflect far-flung cross currents of the decade preceding.
Jack Black as a Tenacious D-era grunge-comic icon.
Angelina Jolie as a razor-eyed action hero.
BecauseKung Fu Pandais an animated film, this feeling of cultural collision isnt always obvious.
Animation is timeless, even if convincing digital fur always looks plastic after a couple of years.
If this sounds more algorithmic than creative, well, it very much is.
Long shots emphasize lush landscapes.
Theyre postcard notions of China-hood, but what postcards!
Oceans of haze around distant mountaintops.
The very bad guy is Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a snow leopard.
When he escapes from his imprisonment, the camera cuts to an extreme wide angle.
There were two moreKung Fu Pandamovies, a TV series, diminishing returns.
Would this film be made today?
And something in the character layout feels creaky now.
The films central power dynamic is complicated, split along unusually precise age demarcations.
In one respect, though, Hollywood has never really stopped makingKung Fu Panda.
Youre so much bigger than your action figures!
Po tells the Furious Five, a kid at his own personal Comic-Con.
Its just, Im such a bigfan.
Po is a kung fu fanboy who gets plucked from obscurity to become a kung fu hero.
His journey is towards self-realization, but its also initially an escape.
Every time you threw a brick at my head, or said I smelled, it hurt!
But it couldneverhurt more than every day of my life, just being me.
Everything is awesome for Po, six years pre-Everything Is Awesome.
LikeThe Lego Movie,Kung Fu Pandalands on the very kind non-message of most movies like this.
Its pleasant, inoffensive, a deconstructed Heros Journey that is actually just the Heros Journey.
A very serene ideaand the most confessional thing DreamWorks Animation ever made.
1:The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon EmperorAug.
6:Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2andPineapple ExpressAug.
13:Tropic ThunderAug.
15:Vicky Cristina BarcelonaandStar Wars: The Clone WarsAug.
22:The House Bunny
