Kung Fu Panda 2nd Trailer
DreamWorks Animation Movie Stars Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman
How do you mess up a good buzz for a film? Release a trailer like this one for Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks Animation film comes out June 6th.
What is wrong with DreamWorks Animation?
So far, they had done everything right with their upcoming flick Kung Fu Panda, starring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie. Okay, the posters weren't stunning, but the artwork was top-notch. Not only that, the trailers and early reviews promised that this flick would be a sweet reversal for DreamWorks, whose product had been slowly sliding downhill after the 2004 high of Shrek 2.
As fun as it is to dump on lousy films, it's even more fun to see a movie studio regain its mojo, and it looked like Jeffrey Katzenberg's Glendale gang was well on its way with Kung Fu Panda.
But now DreamWorks had to blow the whole thing with a trailer that pretty much tells the whole story of the flick. Guys, what's wrong with you?
Kung Fu Panda trailer starts out strong, loses it in middle
Once again, the aggressive voice-over starts off by talking about the kung fu fighting styles demonstrated in the flick, including "Monkey, Crane, Mantis, Viper, Tiger . . . and Panda . . . I said, Panda!" Yeah, they've used this gag before in previous trailers, but it's still funny as all heck.
Then the viewer gets a bit more of the story: the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung (voiced by Ian McShane) has busted out of prison and Shifu (Hoffman) has to train the lazy Po (Black) to be a kung fu fighter because he is the warrior mentioned in some obscure prophesy. As one character delicately points out, "We're dead!"
So far, so good. Now here's where this trailer falls apart: instead of more gags about Po's training (loved the line in the previous trailer: "When you focus on Kung Fu . . . you suck!"), they then show Po kicking ass on Tai Lung! Way to spoil the flick, folks.
Okay, everyone knows that the good guys always win in summer movies. Nobody's going to drop a downer ending at the end of a summer would-be blockbuster, unless Michael Bay decides to film a version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth (and, even then, there'd probably be some moron executive trying change it up).
However, the trick is not to make it too obvious that Po will eventually win the day. By showing the viewer that our hero is pounding on the villain, the editors for this trailer pretty much give the game away. Not smart, people.
On the plus side, at least DreamWorks resisted the temptation to shoehorn Carl Douglas' 1974 disco hit "Kung Fu Fighting" somewhere into the soundtrack this time. Oh yes, and the artwork is a definite leap forward for DreamWorks, which has always had good-looking animated films. But still, it should be the first rule of movie trailers: NEVER GIVE AWAY THE ENDING!
You can check out the trailer, which will show in theatres before the live-action Speed Racer, by clicking over here. Kung Fu Panda comes out on June 6th.
Fun Fact: Speaking of Jackie Chan, his live-action flick The Forbidden Kingdom, co-starring Jet Li and featuring martial arts choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix), rocks the freakin' house.
