Paws of Fury: Die Legende von Hank

Same movie as blazing saddles but samurai and for kids. Because of this it's very predictable. Still like it tho and I think kids would love it. Solid seven stars.

THINGS I LIKED: The fantastic voice talents include Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, and Michelle Yeoh.

The movie also includes the voice and talents of the legendary Mel Brooks. He's also one of the Executive Producers. In fact, the original movie was going to be a remake of his popular movie Blazing Saddles by calling this one Blazing Samurai, giving the writers of that movie screen credits in this one. Ultimately, it was decided to make this one more family-friendly. Adults will get a kick out of all his adult humor which will mostly fly over the heads of kids.

There were so many laugh-out-loud moments for me. The visual gags are just as hilarious as the spoken ones.

Bear McCreary offers some fun, original music.

The animation is gorgeous to look at with some truly stunning landscapes and impressive details.

When characters break the 4th wall, I'm always amused. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am. The movie definitely has an awareness of itself.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: The story feels like a blend/rip-off of several movies at the same time, such as Kung Fu Panda and even The Three Amigos.

Some visual jokes fly by so fast that I wanted to hit pause many times just so I had enough time to soak in everything on the screen. That being said, not all of the jokes land.

It's pretty doggone predictable.

Some of the jokes are dated and inappropriate for a kid's movie.

For me, I quickly started losing interest in the tedious story in Act 1 but something happened and I really enjoyed Acts 2 & 3.

The name of the town "Kakamucho" sounds VERY Mel Brooks. In Spanish, it means "a lot of poop."

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Lots of fart jokes, as expected.

Some of the adult humor is quite...adult.

Animated violence

THEMES: Persistence Taking action on goals Friendship Working together Prejudice Power Believing in yourself Supporting others Hard work

If you're wondering where the title "Paws of Fury" comes from, then you're not a Bruce Lee fan. Arguably Bruce Lee's best movie was 1972's "Fist of Fury." Since then there's been "Blind Fury," "Balls of Fury," and now "Paws of Fury."

In a land where everyone was cats, an evil governor named Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais) wanted to make a huge impression on the Shogun (Mel Brooks) during his visit. To do that he wanted to totally eliminate a small village. He had to make sure that in eliminating the village he was not implicated. His hopes were that by providing the village a terrible samurai (because it was his duty to provide the village with a samurai) he could then use a secret army of samurai to lay waste to the village with little resistance.

For the job of samurai he chose Hank (Michael Cera), a dog who was on his way to being executed because no dogs were allowed in that land.

Hank didn't know the first thing about being a samurai. In fact, he'd come to that land to learn how to be a samurai. Ika Chu saw his plan's success in Hank. He would let him go free to be the samurai of the village.

Hank found a teacher in Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson), though Jimbo was very reluctant to take on the teacher role. Jimbo would have to train Hank enough in order for him to save the village from the impending attack that Ika Chu would send.

"Paws of Fury" falls into the plot category of about 80% of animations: embracing differences. With Hank being the only dog in the land, everyone hated him and wanted him gone or dead. The unfortunate lesson of this animation is that Hank had to prove himself worthy of being embraced. In other words, if he couldn't help the town, then the town would go on hating him simply because he was a dog.

That's not to say that the movie wasn't good or entertaining. It was funny and had its moments. You could see Mel Brooks' mark on the movie with the characters frequently breaking the fourth wall. For instance, I know that the movie was only 85 minutes because Jimbo mentioned that they only had a total of 85 minutes to get the job done.

Rounding out the stars who lent their voices were George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, Djimon Hounsou, and Michelle Yeoh. "Paws of Fury" isn't going to knock your socks off, but it will easily entertain you and your kids.

It's a alright family film, few adult jokes in it as well. It's not the best kids film but worth a watch with the kids. My daughter was laughing throughout. Could of been better though. So wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.

... to the point of stupidity. Really.

No, it is not a "ripoff of kung fu panda." China and Japan are actually different places with different cultures.

This was also not someone "ripping off" Mel Brooks. He directed it! He's in it! And the role he plays is the same one he plays in Blazing Saddles.

Because it IS Blazing Saddles. The writers of the original are even credited. Given how many American Westerns were redone Samurai movies, it's a pretty established pattern.

It's definitely got some tongue-in-cheek references. It has some jokes that (as Mel Brooks movies do) push the line. But it tells a good story and has solid voice acting, so I'm not sure where some of the complaints are coming from.