Paws of Fury: The Legend of 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.

... 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.

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.

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.

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.