I love this movie so fucking much. The sequels too, and I'd go so far as to say there's very few trilogies that can match their overall quality. But that's something I'll talk about another time. Right now I just want to talk about the first.
I think the best way to start talking about the movie is to just post my favorite fight scene, which is the battle on the bridge between the Furious Five and Tai Lung.
Now bear in mind I love all of the other fights, but this one is my favorite for a couple of reasons:
- It shows how strong the Five are together. Before this scene you get glimpses at their strength and characters *saying* how good they are, but this is the scene that proves it.
- It shows how far Tai Lung has come. His prison escape gives you a glimpse at how good he is, but him taking down the Five by having to rely on pressure point attacks both shows how strong the Five are as well as what it takes to actually take them down. It's also a neat flashback to how Oogway took down Tai Lung in the past.
- It's just a well-animated fight. I mean look at that shit! You see how coordinated everything is, along with the desperation on the Five's attacks along with Tai Lung taking on Tigress and Viper with relatively no issues. It's just so exciting, and the finale helps with the anticipation of the upcoming fights.
The theming of the movie is top-notch, too. It shows that there's no shortcuts or magic secret to becoming great, and you should always strive for self-improvement. It's why Po was able to decipher the secret of the Dragon Scrolland why it was able to give him power noooOOOOOO while Shifu and Tai Lung were unable to. Shifu misunderstood what being the Dragon Warrior actually meant, while Tai Lung was so blinded by anger and pride that he couldn't interpret it even when Po flat-out explained it to him. And to Tai Lung, there was no bigger wound to his ego than being beaten by a BIG FAT PANDA.
Color is also a huge part of the theming as well. It took me a second viewing since most of it is so subtle, but two of the most important colors in the movie are green and gold. Gold, according to the filmmakers, represents heroism. Notice that during Po's training sequence features gold somewhat heavily. This is slightly more subtle with Tai Lung; his eyes are gold because he sees himself as the hero. Green also symbolizes knowledge, which is why Po's eyes are green since he has such a large capacity to learn kung-fu.
Honestly I can keep going on and on about how amazing this movie is (and I didn't even talk about how each member of the Five, along with Tai Lung and Po, actually incorporates their own animal style of martial arts because the filmmakers decided to go the extra mile, and how the only animals you see in the movie are animals that exist/existed in China). But really, just watch the entire series. I'll probably talk later about how much I love the second and third movies, but I really only wanted to start with the first. Just watch them! You won't regret it!
KFP 1 = 9/10
KFP 2 = 9/10
KFP 3 = 8/10
KFP 2 = 9/10
KFP 3 = 8/10
I think the best way to start talking about the movie is to just post my favorite fight scene, which is the battle on the bridge between the Furious Five and Tai Lung.
Now bear in mind I love all of the other fights, but this one is my favorite for a couple of reasons:
- It shows how strong the Five are together. Before this scene you get glimpses at their strength and characters *saying* how good they are, but this is the scene that proves it.
- It shows how far Tai Lung has come. His prison escape gives you a glimpse at how good he is, but him taking down the Five by having to rely on pressure point attacks both shows how strong the Five are as well as what it takes to actually take them down. It's also a neat flashback to how Oogway took down Tai Lung in the past.
- It's just a well-animated fight. I mean look at that shit! You see how coordinated everything is, along with the desperation on the Five's attacks along with Tai Lung taking on Tigress and Viper with relatively no issues. It's just so exciting, and the finale helps with the anticipation of the upcoming fights.
The theming of the movie is top-notch, too. It shows that there's no shortcuts or magic secret to becoming great, and you should always strive for self-improvement. It's why Po was able to decipher the secret of the Dragon Scroll
Color is also a huge part of the theming as well. It took me a second viewing since most of it is so subtle, but two of the most important colors in the movie are green and gold. Gold, according to the filmmakers, represents heroism. Notice that during Po's training sequence features gold somewhat heavily. This is slightly more subtle with Tai Lung; his eyes are gold because he sees himself as the hero. Green also symbolizes knowledge, which is why Po's eyes are green since he has such a large capacity to learn kung-fu.
Honestly I can keep going on and on about how amazing this movie is (and I didn't even talk about how each member of the Five, along with Tai Lung and Po, actually incorporates their own animal style of martial arts because the filmmakers decided to go the extra mile, and how the only animals you see in the movie are animals that exist/existed in China). But really, just watch the entire series. I'll probably talk later about how much I love the second and third movies, but I really only wanted to start with the first. Just watch them! You won't regret it!
