Hewlett-Packard was so kind to invite us to the new film from Dreamworks: Kung-Fu Panda.

While the film itself is nice, and from technology point of view very good, I am still shocked that this is supposed to be a film for kids. Okay there are very cute animals jumping around, but 3/4 of the playtime were martial arts scenes. I think they copied quite a lot from Matrix films, Neo fighting Agent Smith. At least thats what the exaggeration of violence shows. Not many original Kung-Fu films show the Kung-Fu Masters jumping kilometers up and landing with making a crater.

Of course there was a non violent aspect in the film that would have fit for a kids movie: Trust your own strength. Believe in yourself.

But for me, this film never would have been rated Teen. if you are unsure wether to watch it with your children, here my main critism:

  • Intro sequence shows a Panda bear killing thousands of attacking black shapes/animals. Also the commendatory uses wording like killing annihilate
  • The evil character fights against a lot of guards, that will get their weapons returned to them. E.g. on scene where the guard was smashed with their own mace into their head.
  • The fight between good and bad is about life and death. This is reflected in how the scenes are made up and the wording used. Its not about beating the opponent, its about killing the enemy.
  • The fights are not won because of wits the good characters show, but about sheer power or strength. This also leads to very exaggerated fighting scenes like described above.

So from my perspective Dreamsworks either failed to make a Kids movie or did apply the wrong label to it.

If you expect something like martial arts film, or a mix of Matrix and Star Wars (Master Yoda is back :-) ) but with cute animated animals, then this film is something for you.