Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank Review: A Meta Treat

Ten manufacturing corporations, two distributors, and three administrators unite to deliver a brand new animated martial arts comedy to life. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is about in a land stuffed with cats. We comply with a canine named Hank (Michael Cera) who has been tasked with defending this land as their new samurai. What seemed to be merely a rip-off of Kung Fu Panda with canines and samurai as an alternative of pandas and Dragon Warriors has surprisingly ended up as a enjoyable journey that stands by itself because of its well-written screenplay and a terrific humorousness.

The trailers for this movie marketed two important elements of the film that make it work and separate Paws of Fury from the remaining. The primary is the meta nature of the writing, which is the best asset Paws of Fury has to supply. This film breaks the fourth wall in a fashion just like The Emperor’s New Groove, with a few of the most outrageous jokes to reach in a kids’s film this yr. When you thought the Bond-style opening credit of Minions: The Rise of Gru was probably the most ridiculous meta-reference of a 2022 animated summer season movie, buckle up for a constant collection of gags that may make Deadpool proud.

Past the self-aware nature of the movie, there are a lot of surprisingly humorous jokes with deceptively sharp writing that made me snort even louder than the youngsters within the theater. The comedy pops on this film in a approach that not each animated movie can pull off, and a part of this boils right down to how this undertaking was realized. Initially titled Blazing Samurai, this film is loosely based mostly on the 1974 movie Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks portrays the Shogun on this film, and plenty of of Brooks’ fourth wall breaks and parodical sensibilities shine via on this movie.

The story is admittedly formulaic. Paws of Fury follows Hank, a canine who desires to be a samurai. Sadly, he doesn’t fairly get the chance to be developed as a personality earlier than his name to motion. Nonetheless, as soon as he’s put accountable for defending a city of cats, he enlists the assistance of once-great samurai Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson) to coach him. We’ve seen this story. I do know it, it, and the filmmakers understand it. That’s why an enormous shining arrow studying “As soon as Nice Samurai” falls from the ceiling, pointed at Jimbo. The writers knew this was a cliché story and as an alternative of enjoying it straight, they merely had a enjoyable time telling it.

Moreover the meta-comedy, the advertising and marketing additionally marketed one other facet of the movie, which can deliver extra adults into the seats: the stacked solid. Cera and Jackson are the 2 main gamers, they usually each crank their movie star personas to the max as this mismatched duo in two great performances. The movie’s antagonist is Ika Chu, portrayed by Ricky Gervais, who lends his completely sarcastic voice to the function. A star-studded solid that features George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, and Michelle Yeoh is a big promoting level for the movie, they usually all do a superb job of their roles.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank isn’t top-tier cinema. It’s not on the stage of different 2022 animated movies like Marcel the Shell with Sneakers On or Lightyear, nor will it attain the meme-ability of Morbius or Minions: The Rise of Gru. As an alternative, it is a quick, breezy film that solely runs for 85 minutes with out credit, in line with the characters within the movie. You can too anticipate a few of the loudest laughs of the yr. Even when the film can really feel a bit of too spinoff with its Kronk rip-off and predictable story, it’s a innocent piece of leisure that delivers all the things the trailers promised.

SCORE: 8/10

As ComingSoon’s evaluate coverage explains, a rating of 8 equates to “Nice.” Whereas there are just a few minor points, this rating implies that the artwork succeeds at its objective and leaves a memorable influence.

Disclosure: The critic attended a press screening for ComingSoon’s Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank evaluate.