Chef Review

Jon Favreau initially started as an indie film favorite actor and director. He moved on to bigger and better things, but recently came back to doing independent films. His most recent endeavor was Chef (2014). This was a lot of fun on its own, but if you know what to look for, you can view it as a tongue-in-cheek autobiography of sorts. That aspect aside, Chef is a good solid film that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is an acclaimed chef with a family life that seems as decaying as his artistic freedom. Those frustrations boil over into a raucous viral-videoed public confrontation against a restaurant critic (Oliver Platt) who panned his cooking of food that his boss (Dustin Hoffman) ordered him to make against his instincts. Now with his career ruined, Carl's ex-wife, Inez (Sofía Vergara) offers an unorthodox solution in Miami: refit an old food truck to offer quality cooking on his own terms. Now with his young son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), and old colleague, Martin (John Leguizamo), helping, Carl takes a working trip across America with that truck to rediscover his gastronomic passion. With Percy's social media tech savvy and Martin's enthusiasm, Carl finds that he is creating a traveling sensation on the way home. In doing so, Carl discovers he is serving up more than simply food, but also a deeper connection with his life and his family that is truly delicious in its own way.

We have Jon Favreau to thank for getting the Marvel Cinematic Universe rolling. He directed the first two Iron Man movies. If that first Iron Man movie hadn't as amazing as it was, there wouldn't have been additional Marvel movies and we never would have got to The Avengers and other fantastic films. As I'd suggested in my Age of Ultron review, Marvel seems to be constraining and limiting its directors. In the case of Favreau, he was flat out replaced as the director for the third Iron Man movie. I don't know if that was specifically why he didn't direct the third movie, but I'm inclined to think so. It was an influence, at least.

At any rate, Favreau got a big thing going but stopped to return to indie films where he would have more flexibility and creativity with less influence from studio executives controlling his creative process. This was similar to Carl stepping down from a nice restaurant to work in a food truck. Favreau said he also worked comparisons to Carl and himself, such as being a father while having a busy career and coming from a broken home. I get the impression that Chef was a kind of therapeutic means of self expression for Favreau; and I wish more celebrity therapy would result in excellent films like this.

The cast was fantastic in this movie. You can tell that Favreau, himself, threw his whole heart into the role and into the production. Leguizamo was a lot of fun as well, playing an optimist who was both laid back and a hard worker at the same time. This is the first time I've seen child actor Emjay Anthony on screen. His is quite talented for a kid actor; only once or twice did his acting falter, but only by a little bit. Some of Favreau's other actor friends were involved in small roles. For example, this was the second time Favreau, Robert Downy, Jr. and Scarlet Johansson all worked together on a project directed by Favreau. The cast was simply outstanding, and created some highly relatable and likable characters.

The food in Chef was just as important as the characters themselves. And it was positively gorgeous to look at. Watching things simmer, melt, sear, roast, and cook was delightful. Then seeing the succulent meats sliced, and exceedingly fancy dishes prepared was titillating. The food photography was every bit as tantalizing and fascinating as it was in The Hundred-Foot Journey and Julie & Julia. You will probably be famished by the time you're done watching this movie. Even if you aren't intrigued by the main plot, you won't be able to take your eyes away from the amazing food on the screen.

Chef is rated R for language. There are very few characters who don't work in the kitchen at one point or another during the movie. And having worked in a kitchen myself, I know how stressful, frantic, and fast-paced everything often is. Profanity abounds as part of the job. Having said that, the profanity seems perfectly at home in the scenes where it is used. Currently, a PG-13 movie can get away with no more than two F-bombs. Truly the only reason Chef has an R rating is because there are more than two F-bombs. I think it's reasonably applied to the situations and characters, so I don't view it as being bad. It's just maybe not something you would want to play in the presence of impressionable children.

Whatever you do, don't go see Chef on an empty stomach. It's a feel-good foodie film that will have you salivating within minutes. Whether it is an artistic statement or self-justification of film craft, Chef confirms the core talent of Jon Favreau. It's comfort-food-meets-comfort-movie. Favreau wrote, directed, and starred in this excellent film on a smaller scale than his previous films, but this is by no means a film of a poorer quality. The story is a modern telling of a familiar feel-good formula, but it's an excellent example of that formula. As of writing this, it is available to watch streaming on Netflix and I highly recommend seeing it, just not on an empty stomach. I liked Chef well enough to want a copy on my movie shelves.

Can you think of another simi-autobiographical movie like Chef where the movie makes indirect comparison to its writer/director? Comment below and tell me about it!

Kung Fu Panda 2

In general, sequels are not as good as their predecessors. Often times the protagonist has achieved his objectives and become an experienced, stronger character at the end of the first movie. Then for some reason, in the sequel our protagonist seems to lose all experience, knowledge, and skills and has to start the Hero’s Journey all over again. It’s a lazy writing technique that a lot of movies use. I was expecting to see this in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), but someone goofed up and wrote a good sequel that is a logical follow up to the first film.

In the Valley of Peace, Po (Jack Black) is reveling in his fulfilled dreams as he serves as the fabled Dragon Warrior protecting his home with his heroes and closest friends, the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). However, Po and company learn that the murderous Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) of Gongman City is threatening the land with a fearsome new weapon that could mean the end of Kung Fu. They attempt to stop him, but Po is burdened with crippling flashbacks linked to this new villain. Lord Shen is paranoid after a soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) warns him to beware of pandas, so Lord Shen and Po’s destinies are linked more than Po ever imagined. As Po seeks out his past, he struggles to find inner peace to gain an advantage over this formidable foe.

Whenever I see Jack Black in the credits for a movie it makes me cringe. With the exception of the first Kung Fu Panda movie, I haven’t liked a single movie he’s been in. In fact, I wanted to dislike Kung Fu Panda 2, but it was so well done, that I simply couldn’t dislike it. Everything that made the first Kung Fu Panda movie great was reiterated in this sequel; great animation, great voice acting, and great story. Just go read my Kung Fu Panda review and pretend I’m talking about this one.

There’s more to talk about, though! I was so relieved that Po somehow had not forgotten all his experiences and lost his fighting skills, forcing him to have to relearn everything. If that had been done, they may as well have just rereleased the first film again. Po is a Kung Fu master, now. While he’s still bumbling and lovable, he can lay the smack down when he needs to.  But in Kung Fu Panda 2, Po has a revelation. Maybe his father, Mr. Ping the goose (James Hong), isn’t the biological father of Po the Panda. Po starts questioning his origins, and it seems the only one with answers is the evil Lord Shen. This not only creates an interesting dynamic between the hero and villain, but it also allows us to explore Po’s character more deeply, making Po all the more interesting.

Then there’s Lord Shen. I love it when Gary Oldman plays a villain, and he was an excellent villain here. He’s bent on conquering China at all costs; he knows he’s got a powerful new weapon that makes him a force to be reckoned with. One wouldn’t think that a peacock would be all that intimidating, but he’s got this cool, calculating, confident attitude with a little paranoia stirred in. He uses metal blade-like feathers that he throws like knives and has light metal armor on his feet which scrape and cling as he walks, which sound musical, but ominous. He’s also a bit funny; he’ll practice lines for when the perfect moment arrives, “Greetings, Panda; we meet at last,” though when he finally gets to deliver his menacing lines, Po’s ungainly antics usually spoil the moment for him. Lord Shen is a really good villain that I would put on par with Scar from The Lion King or Jafar from Aladdin.

Apart from the fantastic art design, stellar animation, and great writing, (again, read my review of the first film) there’s something to be said about the Foley art. Background sound effects don’t usually stand out; you just expect them to be there. Right from the first fight scene there’s a lot of Foley work that is so well incorporated and sound so good it almost resembles music played on non-instrumental objects. There’s also the sound of Lord Shen slowly walking that also sounds amazing and practically musical. The movie sounds good as well as looks good.

I tried not to, but I really did love Kung Fu Panda 2. There’s some great character and plot development to make it interesting for adults as well as tons of slapstick humor to keep viewers of all ages engaged. I was rolling on the floor laughing at all the physical comedy and watched the engaging conflict with rapt attention. It’s a great family movie that heralds back to classic Kung Fu movies just as the first film did. Kung Fu Panda 2 is better than the first movie, in my opinion. I highly recommend both of these movies to anyone; just make sure you see them in chronological order. Both movies are worth owning on Blu-Ray.

It’s rare that a sequel is better than the first movie. What is another example of a sequel being better than its predecessor? Comment below and tell me all about it!

Kung Fu Panda Movie Review

Dreamworks has done several animated movies that  were mediocre attempts to capitalize on the success of Pixar’s masterpieces. Dreamworks tried to undermine Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998) with Antz (1998). They did it again when they released Shark Tale (2004) after the success of Finding Nemo (2003). When Dreamworks does their own movies, instead of copying Pixar, they really let themselves shine. I’m leery of anything with Jack Black in it, so I watched Kung Fu Panda (2008) with some hesitation.

Po (Jack Black) is an overweight, lazy, irreverent panda who is a dedicated fan of Kung Fu, but his skills are limited to making noodle soup at his father’s restaurant. Po adores the Furious Five - Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) – a team of Kung Fu masters trained by the red panda named Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to protect their peaceful valley. One day, Shifu's mentor, the old tortoise Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), has a vision that Shifu's former student and adoptive son, the evil snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), will escape from prison and return to take revenge for being denied the Dragon Scroll, which is said to hold the secret to limitless power. Oogway holds a tournament to discover who is worthy of the Dragon Scroll and become the Dragon Warrior who can defeat Tai Lung. Through a blundering mishap, Po is selected. Shifu, lacking faith in Po, attempts to scare off Po with grueling training. But Po’s unwavering enthusiasm for Kung Fu keeps him going. True to Oogway’s vision, Tai Lung escapes and begins journeying to the temple. Po can’t seem to grasp even the most basic concepts of Kung Fu, but Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. Using this discovery, Shifu begins training Po and incorporating these feats into a makeshift, yet effective Kung Fu style. But will it be enough to stop Tai Lung from getting the Dragon Scroll, and unlimited power?

I don’t like Jack Black on general principle; he gets cast in irritating roles in movies that do pretty badly. Year One (2009) and Gulliver's Travels (2010) are great examples of this. It’s hard to overlook these eyesores and look at his good movies, such as King Kong (2005) and Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black actually was funny in this movie. His screwball delivery really worked well with Po’s hilarious expressions. He is still playing his usual dim witted impertinent character, but Po is more interesting and complex than most of the other characters I’ve seen Jack Black play. You really do see Po develop and learn as the movie progresses. It was also good to see a hero that was a clumsy, fat character; generally the best that this archetype can hope for is a bumbling sidekick who is the brunt of most of the jokes. I’ve never seen so much belly bouncing combined with martial arts as was done with this character.

I kept becoming awestruck at the artistic scenery of the colorful ancient China. Little details here and there really helped make the art stand out; the trees, mountains, and buildings were beautifully designed. The China-inspired relics and art were comparable to actual art work of ancient China. There was a whole lot of detail in the art design, which helped make the movie endearing.

The animation was quite impressive, too. Most of the characters looked like cute, fluffy stuffed animals. This, coupled with the believable martial arts movements, created a humorous sense of irony throughout the film. Even the movements for Viper, who is a snake, were interesting; she has no arms or legs, yet her fighting movements still resembled martial arts.

I love it when I expect a movie to be substandard and I end up being wrong. Kung Fu Panda is an example of this. There’s a whole lot of slapstick in this film, but it doesn’t detract from the interesting characters and fun story that is reminiscent of old Kung Fu flicks. I’d recommend this movie to anyone, young or old. It is engaging, funny, and worth the watch.