'The Tiger's Apprentice' Review: Animated Fantasy Kids Flick Lacks a Mighty Roar
Based on the novel series by Laurence Yep, The Tiger's Apprentice is the latest theatrical-turned-streaming flick from the always underwhelming Paramount Animation. It sounded promising, considering its development dates back to 2019. What if the Power Rangers were Chinese Zodiac animals and had to save the world from supernatural threats? That's a cool premise I'd watch in a theater. Oh wait… Brian Robbins became CEO and decreed, "If your animated movie isn't Paramount-owned IP, it ain't going to theaters!" It could've ended like the studio's last release, Under the Boardwalk: on VOD with no Paramount+ release date. I loathe this new model where animated flicks made for theaters end up on streaming instead. However, The Tiger's Apprentice made me reconsider that stance.
PG: action/violence, thematic elements, some language and suggestive references
Runtime: 1 Hours and 22 Minutes
Production Companies: Paramount Animation, Jane Startz Productions
Distributor: Paramount+
Director: Raman Hui
Writers: David Magee, Christopher Yost
Cast: Henry Golding, Lucy Liu, Brandon Soo Hoo, Bowen Yang, Jo Koy, Sherry Cola, Leah Lewis, Sandra Oh
Michelle Yeoh
Release Date: February 2, 2024
Only on Paramount+
Chinese-American teenager Tom Lee (Brandon Soo Hoo) thinks the tales about Guardians – a team of magical, shapeshifting Chinese Zodiac warriors – and his family lineage acting as sworn protectors of their Phoenix charm, told by his wise grandmother (Kheng Hua Tan), are merely bedtime stories. Those stories are proven true when Loo (Michelle Yeoh), a powerful witch, arrives to take the mighty Phoenix stone. As Loo attacks Tom's home, Mr. Hu (Henry Golding), a shapeshifting tiger, saves him. Grandmother sacrifices herself to save Tom, leaving him as the next Phoenix Guardian protector. Hu takes him in as his apprentice and trains him to become a warrior.
The Tiger's Apprentice features a solely Asian voice cast, and everyone pours charisma that fits the film's frantic pacing. Led by Henry Golding's suave, silky voice as the stubborn Tiger Hu, the ensemble compensates for the flat writing. To no one's surprise, Michelle Yeoh stands out as the villainous Loo. You can hear her having a delightful time hamming it up with sinister line delivery, matching her character's spooky design.
Style over substance is The Tiger's Apprentice's motto, for director Raman Hui's exhilarating action direction is the film's strongest facet. Hui, an experienced animation vet, has a keen eye for fast-paced action choreography. It's in his prior works like the Monster Hunt series and co-directing Shrek the Third and is present through dynamic movement and energy in the ample fight sequences. Much of the fights bear the same magical ambiance as my youth's classic Saturday morning action cartoons. I'm talking about Kids’ WB stuff, like Jackie Chan Adventures and Xiaolin Showdown.
Remember Wonder Park? The last theatrically released Paramount Animation flick? The one that didn’t have a credited director because he was a harasser? Of course, you don't. But for the few who do, remember how the story is like an extensive backdoor pilot? The Tiger’s Apprentice arrives with the same glorified pilot packaged as a movie, which is funny considering there's no Tiger's Apprentice show in the works. It's one of those animated movies meant to be put in the background to entertain the most energetic kids rather than flesh out any of its potential as a buddy action comedy flick.
It's called The Tiger's Apprentice, and there's hardly any significance in Hu and Tom's relationship apart from their shared grief once Mrs. Lee departs. The “smart-aleck student meets a disgruntled mentor” dynamic goes through familiar beats reminiscent of The Karate Kid, Kung Fu Panda, and Into the Spider-Verse in a more derivative fashion. The script by David Magee (The Little Mermaid '23) and Christopher Yost (Secret Headquarters) goes through uninspired motions. Tom and Hu bicker at odds until the plot requires them to settle their differences as the adventure hinges on protecting a McGuffin, which the villain seeks to use to control the world.
A pet peeve of mine in animated movies (other than the dance sequence finale) is when characters are chatty but never funny. This is one of those movies where every character speaks in quips and puns, disrupting the tone and undercutting the action sequences’ fun factor. Every Zodiac character is guilty of this, for they lack personality in favor of a painfully unfunny joke or empty dialogue. If you thought Jo Koy’s Golden Globes jokes were bad, wait till you hear him make rooster puns.
As the film clocks in at 82 minutes (75 minutes without credits), you can't help but wonder where the production went wrong. How did a beloved series of novels optioned for adaptation twenty years ago become this unremarkable? In its current form, it barely resembles a fluid movie.
Mikros Animation Europe has their work cut out for them this week as both The Tiger's Apprentice and DreamWorks' Orion and the Dark drop this weekend. Whereas I adored Orion's Jim Henson-like visual style, The Tiger's Apprentice aims for visually unappealing generic realism. The basic character designs leave much to be desired, and the animation quality could've been better polished. In the last few years, many Chinese animated movies have taken liberties with bizarre character designs, like The Monkey King, which I'm not fond of as a narrative but adored its anarchist look. Outside the direction and several mystical elements added to the detailed environments, nothing makes Tiger's Apprentice's underwhelming worldbuilding stand out.
So many sparks of a roaringly okay movie are present in The Tiger's Apprentice in direction and voice cast. Unfortunately, the uninspired story and lack of character diminish its potential at every turn. Sigh, another L for Paramount Animation. How is this the same company that made Rango and Anomalisa?
Rating: 2/5 | 43%
