Now available on digital platforms is the animated comedy, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. The film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD October 18, 2022.
The film stars the voice talents of Michael Cera, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, and Samuel L. Jackson. That is certainly an interesting cast (very diverse).
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank takes place in ancient Japan where rulers used Shoguns to fight their wars. In the film, Japan is also entirely inhabited by cats.
A ruler named Ika Chu wants to expand his palace. In order to do so, he needs to take over the small village next door called Kakamucho.
Ika Chu sends thugs to scare out the villagers, but it does not succeed. Instead the villages demand that Ika Chu provide them with a Samurai to help protect them. Not wanting to truly protect them, Ika Chu makes a dog, who is a prisoner, their Samurai. The dog’s name is Hank, and he knows nothing about being a Samurai, nor can help truly protect the villages (which is exactly what Ika Chu wants to happen).
A Samuari named Jimbo is tasked with training Hank the ways of the Samurai, in hopes that he can learn enough to protect the village. That is easier said than done, especially when events happen to lead Hank into believing that he doesn’t need to be trained in the ways of the Samurai.
Will Hank succeed in protecting the village from Ika Chu after all, or will his his lack of training and unwilling to learn spell doom for the village of Kakamucho? To find out, check out Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. Look for it on your favorite digital streaming platform (now), and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 18, 2022.
This is a cute animated film for the whole family. It’s one of those films where there are jokes and situations that adults will find funny, and not children, and vice versa. A lot of the humor for the children is in the form of slapstick humor.
My husband watched the film with me. He’s not easily impressed. I heard him chuckled a few times throughout the film.
The animated is fairly decent in this film. I’m still amazed at how far animation has come since I was a child. Characters are no longer “flat” and scenery comes alive.
Most of the characters in this film are likeable. Some are drawn cuter than others. Take the role of Jimbo. He’s a likeable character, but his animated character is not cute. If that makes any sense?
I liked Hank. He’s a likeable character. He has a good heart and really does want to help out the villagers, even though he doesn’t always know what he’s doing, and things don’t always go his way.
This film is rated PG and has a run time of an hour and forty-three minutes. I think the film runs a wee bit too long. I think ninety minutes would have been enough time to tell the story. There were parts that seemed to drag a bit which could have been taken out of the film to condense the time a bit. I also think that younger children won’t be able to sit through such a long film, regardless of whether it’s an animation or not, without getting restless and wiggly.
I think if your children enjoyed a film franchise about another Samurai-like character (I won’t mention it in this review, but I’m sure many people will know what franchise I am referring to), then they should enjoy this film.
Below is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment. This is the movie theater trailer. The film is no longer in theaters. The film is available for home viewing.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.