Skidoosh

This is one of Jack Black's punch lines in Kung Fu Panda. To say I was pleasantly surprised by this film is a major understatement. Ever since we saw the previews for this - probably prior to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kristie and KoKo have been excited to see it. I thought it looked pretty funny, but it seemed to me that they pretty much told the entire story in the trailer (What is Hollywood's fascination with doing this lately? I think they ruined Sex and the City for a lot of people by showing - or at least hinting at - every major surprise in the film!).

After getting the kids back from their dads, we decided last Sunday afternoon to venture over to Grand Forks to take in the film and take care of a few other things - a little shopping and getting Casey a haircut (that was until he sprung this shocker on us: he wants to die his hair black and green! Kristie was having none of that with his senior pictures less than two months away.)

The River Cinema theater in East Grand Forks was a relief from the brutal heat, but as we took our seats I began to worry that Kristie and I might be only a handful of parents in the theater. And that was pretty much the case, but oddly enough once the film began and the children stopped their fussing, the kids really made the film (along with a grandfather sitting ahead of us).

I wo't' say that the film is on the level of the Shrek series, where there are two forms of humor at work - the funny antics that the kids delight in and all of the asides and allusions that make the parents laugh (and that the kids won't realize for a few more years yet). But the film was a pleasant surprise.

After watching Black's previous film, Be Kind Rewind, which might be the worst film I've ever seen, I didn't have great expectations, but once the story got rolling and the special effects kicked it, the film was hilarious.

The aforementioned grandfather could hardly contain his laughter in some spots - as could I in a couple of key battle scenes.

The film was short too, less than an hour and a half. And it kept the story moving along and the laughs coming. What is even better is that it neither took itself too seriously (as cartoons like Brother Bear - with its heavy morals) nor did it take itself too lightly (like Shark Tale, which seemed just like an excuse to create dance scenes to fill up space and sell copies of the soundtrack).

In fact, the film was summed up best by one of the little boys who had been sitting a row behind us. As we got up to leave, the boy stood up, still clutching his pop corn bucket, which was just about as large as he was, his mother asked him, "Did you like it?"

The boy didn't hesitate replying - loud enough for everyone to hear - and chuckle at -- "I LOOOOVED it!"