Paws of Rage review: The Legend of Hank

Released 1974 – It Was Intended For Racial Satire –blazing saddles I got away with some things that are problematic by today’s standards. Paws of Rage: The Legend of Hank Reimagine blazing saddles As a picture of a samurai with animated talking animals. But it seems that all the creators from the eight different production companies involved have been living under a rock for the past half century. Unless, of course, they are delusional enough to believe that the premise is somewhat less harmful if they replace all the characters with talking animals – which wouldn’t be surprising at all given the intellectual laziness and artistic bankruptcy of every other option in this movie.

This is not extrapolation: Heyoriginal title burning samuraiThe film credits the screenplay by Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Auger as its basis. The update takes the story from the American frontier to feudal, cat-inhabited Japan. These cats roam around by riding horses, because the filmmakers didn’t think so. The mayor’s part black originally is now a Beagle named Hank (Michael Cera), which we discovered in a flashback is set on West side story The score aspires to be a samurai because the other fangs bully him at home. But dogs are not welcome in Japan, and he ends up in death queue. Ika Chu (voiced by Ricky Jervis), who plots to take over the village of Kakamocho, sends Hank there to take over the position of a samurai town, knowing full well that he will be hunted down by the villagers. Instead, Samurai Jimbo shames him (Samuel L. Jackson essentially reprises his role from protagonistHank is training to be the lifesaver Kakamocho desperately needs.

Even in the cartoon, someone like Hank being persecuted in some exotic lands is exactly the kind of toxic internet prankster that the studio morally deplores for turning that into a motion picture in 2022. But by not showing any trace of affinity or reverence for Asian culture or the martial arts about oneself or any of the narrative focal points, paws of anger It also represents the worst kind of cultural appropriation. There is no advisor included in the credits, and there is no evidence that any research of this nature went into the script or the animation. Of the approximately 300 crew members and actors included in the IMDb movie, you can count Japanese names on one hand. Screenwriters Ed Stone and Nate Hopper call the fictional city Kakamocho not because it means anything in Japanese, but because you get something if you replace Ks with Cs.

Aside from “contract” and “beauty salon” correctly rendered in kanji, most of the words that appear in the animation are either illogical scribbles passing for the line or English words in wonton font that have accommodated dining containers in restaurants and school signs Martial arts for decades. Basically, animators are so fond that they can’t be bothered with Google Translate. For the beauty parlour, the signs are (perhaps obviously) not historically accurate, but they do appear to appear largely because filmmakers mix Japanese with Asians of other races who stereotypedly run these businesses.

Meanwhile, Stone and Hopper reach for the lowest possible hanging fruits as cultural indicators. One would imagine that they were incredibly happy themselves to do the origami in the script, but there is also a fat cat who may or may not be surprised named Sumo (Djimon Hounsou). Eka Chu, who underscores the fact that the writers also seem to know nothing about Pokemon, has a British accent for no other reason than being voiced by Gervais. Then there is the shogun, named after the leading man Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, who must be rolled into his grave. To make matters worse, Mifune was voiced by Mel Brooks, who swapped out the red for his blazing saddles With the yellow face in this. South Korean rapper Psy “Gangnam Style” then appeared on the soundtrack in another slow-motion movie style chapter exploring Asian culture.

Reckless cultural sensitivity aside, Stone and Hopper’s writing is simply not clever or funny. Poop and fart jokes form the core of their repertoire, and if you’re interested in how much the movie relied on this material, Paramount actually hands out loud pillows to promote the movie.

Of the eight companies and about 300 cast and crew involved, it’s clear that not enough – if any – red flags have been raised about this production’s lack of thought and filming. Whether or not his predecessor adhered (in whole or in part) to the standards of contemporary sensitivity, blazing saddles Not only did he recruit Richard Pryor as a screenwriter but at least looked forward to commenting on the bigotry he portrayed. paws of anger This film’s caption explains and turns its R-rated ambitions into a reminder of exactly why more people of color need to be involved in creative decision-making — on all projects, but especially like this one.