Funny, predictable, and full of familiar tropes, such as sacrificing for our loved ones, becoming an unexpected heir to great power, and how working together is stronger than working alone, Paramount+’s “The Tiger’s Apprentice” is a visually entertaining and modernized take on the Chinese zodiac and Chinese mythology. The PG-rated animated film is wholesome fare and a fun way to spend 84 minutes with your family.
Based on Laurence Yep’s popular children’s book series of the same name, “The Tiger’s Apprentice” is a coming-of-age movie following 15-year-old Chinese American Tom Lee (Brandon Soo Hoo) after he learns he’s the last descendant of the Guardians, a lineage of magical protectors. As a Guardian, Tom is trained by a Zodiac tiger warrior named Hu (Henry Golding) to protect the world from Loo (Michelle Yeoh), an evil force who wants to use magic and destroy humanity. Not only must Tom quickly master his new powers even as he begrudgingly accepts that the bedtime stories his grandmother told him were true, he must somehow unite the rest of the 12 Zodiac animal warriors to fight Loo and her “yaoguai” demon minions.
Having It All: Celebrity Voices, Range of Character, Dialogue
“The Tiger’s Apprentice” is a solid family flick, and the quality of animation is particularly notable. I really dug the look of the characters — especially Mistral (Sandra Oh), the dragon warrior in her human form, and Tom’s new friend Rav (Leah Lewis). The animation style feels modern and real, the details of the food, San Francisco, and Chinatown all popping.
Director Raman Hui, who got his start in animation, told me that they wanted to try for a little bit of a painting look, adding shading and painting textures, as well as offsetting it slightly to look less like a picture. “We don’t want it to be too cartoony, because the story itself asks for something in between cartoony and realistic,” said Hui, worrying that overexaggeration would…
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