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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Kung Fu Panda vs The Hulk; the ultimate battle?

First, the Ancient secrets of Kung Fu straight from China and then a US Military experiment gone green; just this week I was fortunate enough to watch two movies, you can guess both...Its the Kung Fu Panda and The Incredible Hulk.

Watching both the movies in the same movie hall and from the same seat, I think, puts me in a 'fine' position to judge them both. I'll do that now.

First, a brief intro on both;

Kung Fu Panda: staring Jack Black as the chubby Panda 'Po' and other actors like Jakie Chan, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie, this animated feature follows the story of a Panda in China who dreams to become a famous Kung Fu warrior. The panda's dreams come true when he 'accidentally' gets selected to be the dragon warrior and fight the powerful and evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane. The only problem is that Po's 'to be master' Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) doesn't want to train him and he wants one of his four disciples to be the dragon warrior. However, the tortoise Master Oogway insists that Shifu train the Panda. The Panda does learn Kung Fu, in somewhat a very short period of time, and the fights begin...

The Incredible Hulk: Staring Edward Norton as Hulk or Dr. Bruce Banner and the lovely Liv Tyler as Betty, this movie is the sequel to film Hulk (2003). This movie continues the story of the Hulk who is now hiding in Brazil and is on the run from the US army for 5 years. He attempts to control the transformation through yoga and meditative techniques and also takes help of the then mysterious 'Mr. Blue'; However, his location gets compromised and he is forced to transform into the green monster...

While both of the movies are big-budget and are from the daddy of studios, I think that The Incredible Hulk hasn't been able to make the most of the talent and money spent on it; part of the dislike is credited to the fact that I'm not really a fan of Superhero movies (That's right, I don't like Spiderman). I found an immense lack of emotions in the movie; while attempt has been made to make it a love story too, I must say, it didn't work out. More, the inner conflict that Bruce Banner should have experienced isn't potrayed effectively which leaves a great hole in the vibe of the movie. But, it does deliver more than the first feature, Hulk (2003).

Kung Fu panda is by far, I think, totally my view, what I felt, the best animated film I've seen. The humorous, vivid and entertaining plot and the cast of incredible actors like Jack Black, Jakie Chan and Dustin Hoffman, makes the film a must see. The animation is incredible and isn't at all like Shrek (That's right, I don't like Shrek either). This release comes at a time when China is to host the 2008 Olympics and after the Sichuan Earthquake, which has had both received positive and negative feedback from the Chinese. Also, there where calls for a boycott for the film as its produced by Dreamworks which is owned by Steven Spielberg who resigned from the post of an advisor to the Beijing Olympics.

So, here are my ratings:

Kung Fu Panda: 4 and 1/2 stars
The Incredible Hulk:- 3 stars

Who wins? I say Kung Fu. Haiiiyaaah!

6 comments:

Shraman said...

my god. ive never felt so greedy for 200 bucks in my life!. HULK, the un-incredible hulk should be censored! its that f**king boring! if there werent hot gurls around the hall id have left the movie. i swear

Saral Israel Shrestha said...

^ I know, if it weren't for Liv Tyler, I would have had a good nap.

Atulya Pandey said...

totally agree with u sarall..the incredible hulk was flat..im glad i rented the dvd for 20rs and saved 130rs...haha...insanely boring..

Saral Israel Shrestha said...

130? Now is 150 and 200 bucks man...Inflation.

Unknown said...

u all are totally correct man!! Kung-fu panda was a good movie and i wouldnt give Hulk even 2 stars

Saral Israel Shrestha said...

^ The one extra Star is for the Lovely Liv....damn I forgot the literature technique...what is it called....hang on googling...

Ah! Yes, Alliteration.