Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank Review
Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank is a self-aware, intelligent movie but also has a lack of self-awareness and maturity. How does that work? It’s the type of film about cats that understands Save The Cat (a screenwriter’s Bible of sorts) and mentions what part of the film the characters are in throughout the course of it. It’s also a movie that has more jokes in two minutes than a sitcom; some jokes are universal and others are over your head if you don’t know pop culture. So your left in a place where you should either turn your brain on and keep your ears open for this animated film, or turn your brain off and just enjoy the time in the theater with your kids.
Ricky Gervais as "Ika Chu" and George Takei as "Ohga" in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Align, and Aniventure.
Kakamucho is a small dessert town by the mountainside in the land of cats. In these land, all cities are guarded by a samurai. Having been saved by a samurai at a young age, a dog named Hank (Michael Cera) is looking to be trained. Dogs are not allowed anywhere in the land, but Hank is determined. It’s actually a great thing for Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais), a cat who is building a new palace for the Shogun (Mel Brooks) but has secret desires of his own. Kakamucho is an unsightly town that obstructs his idea of a beautiful view. In order to get rid of the townspeople, he decides to allow Hank to be the samurai of the town in hopes of utter failure.
With no knowledge of how to be a samurai and a town that doesn’t want him there, Hank stumbles upon Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson), a catnip drinkin’, rusty samurai. As Ika Chu sends waves of marauders to intimidate the townspeople, the odd couple (Hank and Jimbo) learn from one another. It’s the typical narrative of an unlikely hero and his mentor.
Michael Cera as “Hank” and Samuel L. Jackson as “Jimbo” in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Align, and Aniventure.
The film does some things well and others not so much. If you enjoy pop culture, there are tons of jokes and callbacks throughout the film. Jackson is the true star here as he brings his signature voice and demeanor to the role of Jimbo. His inflections and delivery are perfect as an old curmudgeon who slowly comes back to life. The film tries to send a message about racism and stereotyping through the dog/cat relationship, but simultaneously slips into stereotyping of Asian people and culture. It’s this odd, dare I say, yin and yang, that gives the film an uneven tone.
This isn’t the type of animated film that becomes an instant classic. It’s riddled with fart jokes and sophomoric humor, while also having witty lines that you need to pay attention to catch. It’s this strange in between that makes this movie memorable and forgettable at the same time. In actuality, it’s an animated remake of Blazing Saddles. If you look at the screenplay credits, outside of Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, it also gives credit to the original Blazing Saddles screenwriters: Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger. But that film was made in a different time where it pulled no punches for better or worse. In 2022, some things don’t fly and leaves this film a bit declawed. Kids will enjoy it and if you don’t think too hard about it, you will too.
Rating: C
