Samouraï Academy

... 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 sat down to watch the 2022 animated movie "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank" with my 12 year old son here in 2022, without ever having heard about the movie. So I didn't know what I was in for, aside from it being an animated samurai movie of sorts.

The storyline in "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank", as written by Ed Stone, Nate Hopper, Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger, was fairly okay. I mean, I was adequately entertained by the storyline.

The animation and art style in "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank" was good, and that definitely carried the movie a great long way. As did the impressive voice acting ensemble, with the likes of Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou and even the legendary Michelle Yeoh.

This 2022 animated movie was watchable and enjoyable enough for what it was, but there are far more impressive and enjoyable animated movies out there, recent ones as well. And I doubt that I will ever return to watch "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank" a second time. And while there were a fair amount of more mature jokes and references, then the overall feel of the animated movie is that aimed for a younger audience.

My rating of directors Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier and Rob Minkoff's "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank" lands on a five out of ten stars.

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.

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

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022) was not great, but it was not awful. I do know that this movie is a child friendly remake of Blazing Saddles (1974) just with samurais, which Is weird.

The voice acting was good like Michael Cera and Samuel L. Jackson, and the animation was not that bad because it had some nice backgrounds with some nice visuals.

There are small funny scenes I laughed at, but most of the jokes are for kids to laugh at. There are some unexpected scenes that happen in the movie that I thought was funny at times.

The action scenes are fast moving and there are references to other movies that can be funny but unnecessary. The references will be funny mostly to parents who take their kids to see this movie.

There are mostly jokes that are not funny, the main villain is not in the movie that much, and the evil plan for the villain is stupid. I am not the target audience for this movie, but this is a quick movie for kids and adults to watch that will not hurt anyone.