Samouraï Academy

In a land of cats who live in a state similar to Feudal Japan, feudal lord Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais) seeks destroy the village of Kakamucho as he considers it an eyesore. After orchestrating a raid by bandits that scares away Kakamucho's samurai, the townspeople send a request to the Shogun (Mel Brooks) requesting another Samurai. Ika Chu is ordered by the Shogun to send a replacement samurai and decides to send Hank (Michael Cera) a bumbling dog who is scheduled for trespassing in the land to be executed as Kakamucho's new samurai. Hank having always aspired to be a samurai eagerly accepts the position as an alterative to execution, but once in Kakamucho finds its residents less than hospitable towards dogs. Now with the help of a disgraced former samurai named Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson), Hank trains in the ways of the Samurai as Ika Chu plots the town's demise.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank began life under the title of Blazing Samurai and was spearheaded by Sony Pictures Founder Yair Landau. Originally intended to be about a black samurai in Feudal era Japan with comedian Chris Rock named as a potential co-producer until eventually being retooled to having more of a "funny animal" spin. The movie was noted for its continuous stop/start production cycle with production initially announced in 2014 with a projected 2015 release date by Open Road Films, but due to issues with distribution problems, animation providers, and at one point attempts at "crowdsourcing" the animation by "paying" individuals in exposure (seriously) the movie ended up coming out 8 years after it was announced. Usually when an animated film goes through that level of production and release hell it's usually not a good sign (see Foodfight! For example). With Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, the end result isn't a trainwreck or anything, but it's also very middle of the road and is a rehash of one of the most quoted and beloved comedies of all time.

While Paws of Fury sidesteps the edgier aspects of the Richard Pryor co-scripted Blazing Saddles, people who are familiar with Blazing Saddles will pick up on the similarities from the first scene as the opening credits (which are very stylish) have a song titled "Blazing Samurai" in what's an obvious leftover from when this film was titled as such. However despite Paws of Fury following the same simple plot of the original film, Paws of Fury only plays maybe 40% of its scenes for parody while the remaining 60% are played for legitimate pathos so the movie exists in this weird space where it's being quite glib about storytelling tropes like montages, flashbacks, and other such forth wall breaks made by the characters, but then it also plays parts of the story for drama which seems to miss the point of the original film. While it's not unthinkable that Blazing Saddles plot could've worked played straight (especially since it was essentially a stock western plot designed as a joke machine) even taking Blazing Saddles out of the equation there's been other films that have done this sort of thing better such as the Kung Fu Panda films or even Rango which also featured an ill equipped protector of a small town. There are some things that do work in this movie however. Samuel L. Jackson voices Jimbo who's the equivalent of Gene Wilder's Jim the Waco Kid from the original, and he does bring a lot of energy to his part and gets the lion's share of the laughs from this movie. Ricky Gervais is also pretty amusing playing the equivalent of Harvey Korman's Hedley LaMarr and does get some good moments, even if he has to utter some stupid lines like a joke about a giant toilet called "The Super Bowl". The animation is okay, yes I've seen better but I've also seen far worse and considering this was finished remotely under COVD protocols it's probably better looking than it has any right to be.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank survived nearly a decade of production limbo only to be met with a resounding "meh". There's nothing the movie really does wrong and I supposed if the kids have worn out their Kung Fu Panda movies this might fit the bill for entertainment, but for anyone else it's just a really mediocre film that reminds you periodically of a comedy classic with the same plot, same jokes, and mostly the same characters to the point where if you have seen Blazing Saddles there's not really much here you didn't see originally.

A hard-on-his-luck hound Hank (Michael Cera) finds himself in a town full of cats who need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain's (Ricky Gervais) evil plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant teacher (Samuel L. Jackson) to train him, our underdog and surprising beginner must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day. As Hank, a sympathetic and friendly dog with a head full of dreams about becoming a samurai, sets off in search of his destiny. The only problem... cats hate dogs. Prepare to crack up !. Next summer the fun rises in the east !. Underdog to Top Dog !. Time to mark some territory !. Excitement never ends !. Where else?

This wacky Samurai spoof is packed with lots of silly laughters and great entertainment and fun. The film is an adaptation of Mel Brooks' classic Blazing Saddles in which Hank, a dog destined to become a samaruai, decides to defend the village of Kakamucho from an evil villain who wants Esatt to disappear. In fact, the movie lifts the script and various jokes from ¨Blazing Saddles¨ and puts a more family-friendly spin on them. With attractive voces from Michael Cera as Hank and Samuel L. Jackson as his trainer. Also starring Mel Brooks, George Takei, Aasif Mandvi, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Yeoh, Kylie Kuioka, and Cathy Shim. Hank is a puppy with everything to lose in this city dominated by cats where his presence is not welcomed. The film moves from the American West to feudal Japan, turning Mel Brooks' original Western into an animated samurai movie. And taking lines and plots from other stories as "History of the World Part 1", ¨Men in Tights¨, ¨Karate Kid¨, ¨The good , the bad and the Ugly¨ and Samurai movies as ¨Yojimbo¨ or ¨Seven samurai¨. This is a tribute to Japanese culture that goes back in its setting to the classics of the filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, as well as the Spaghetti subgenre. Turning out to be an animated situation comedy that bases its humor on the clichés of cats and dogs, while making numerous nods to the great classics of cinema and using different animation techniques to tell this fun story.

It displays a lively and enjoyable score by Bear McCreary. Produced by the incombustible Mel Brooks and written by Mel himself along with Nate Hopper, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, being efficiently directed by Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier, Rob Minkoff. The latter , Rob Minkoff, is a successful filmmaker with several hits, such as: The Lion King, Haunted mansion, The Forbidden Kingdom, Stuart Little I and II, Adventures of Peabody and Sherman, Flypaper and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank(2022). Rating: 6.5/10. Well worth watching.

... 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.

I was surprised to see that the Minions outdrew this movie by over 3-1 average per theater so I went to see for myself. Unfortunately, it's a bit stale and uneven. The jokes are Mel Brook-ish and dated so I'm not sure if the kids get it. A few childish tantrums scenes that could have been better written really didn't add to the movie. Storyline execution aside, the voices were good. Samuel, Ricky and George (when given a chance) Ricky were standouts. Sorry for the low rating but Bob's Burgers and The Minions really raised the bar so if you know going in that this movie is a notch below, you'll be OK as your expectations will be met. It's still a nice time out.

We saw this without knowing anything about its long development cycle. Once we heard that Cera, Talal, Jackson, and Mel Brooks were in this movie we had to see it. And who in their right minds won't be charmed by animated cats and dogs?

The critics overthought this remake of Blazing Saddles. Filled with both sight gags and loads of pop culture references, in addition to all the Blazing Saddles humor (and probably some Spaceballs gags as well), this quick-cut, display animated comedy was funny from start to end credits.

We thought it was cute and a great break from the doom and gloom of daily life. We would see it again to catch the bits that went by so quickly we did not get all of them on the first viewing.