Asian-centric cinema has been a thing for decades now. Japan, North Korea, and China have been three very prolific countries in the film industry. Lately, the United States has joined them. Films like Crazy Rich Asians,  Everything Everywhere All At Once, Minari, and other Asian films have made this country one that prides itself on its Asian heritage in places like New York City and San Francisco. The latest Asian-centric film which is another animated movie is The Tiger’s Apprentice. 

Tom (Brandon Soo Hoo) is just a little boy when home and his grandmother Mrs. Lee (Keng Hua Tan) is attacked on a bridge by Loo (Michelle Yeoh), an evil witch, and her demonic creatures. They are saved by the Warriors of the Circle of the Twelve, led by Tiger Hu (Henry Golding), otherwise known as The Zodiac. Ever since then, Lu has looked after this boy who is now a teenager going to San Francisco High School. His life will never change though because he realizes he is different than everyone else he knows including a new girl in school Rav (Leah Lewis).

Director Raman Hua and the writers David Magee and Christopher L Yost have created an Asian adventure animated film for the whole family. The Zodiac is a traditional Asian-centric symbol. It represents a great thing in these certain cultures. The film uses the signs of the Zodiac as a great way to tell this pretty solid animated story. Many kids are going to love what this movie stands for in their culture. They are also going to learn a lot as well. Along with the story, the animation and voice acting is a key element of the story.

The animation is pretty straightforward most of the time. During certain sequences, the colors are very vivid and vibrant. When the Twelve Guardians of Zodiac show up that’s when the animation looks the best. Other scenes involving battle scenes at the family home and the climactic battle sequences at the Transamerica Pyramid were amazingly shot and executed by the animation team. This style isn’t on the level of Pixar or Disney but it will suffice to get people to enjoy the movie.

With a film that has so many characters and moving parts, there must be a very good voice-over cast. Other than the cast members I’ve already this movie has a fantastic cast of popular Asian actors and actresses, among them are Sidney the Rat (Bowen Yang), Mistral the Dragon (Sandra Oh), Cynthia/ Nu Kua (Lucy Lui,) Naomi the Monkey (Sherri Cola) Pig (Debra S Craig) Rooster (Jo Koy) Horse (Diana Lee Inosanto) Dog (Patrick Gallagher). This cast is an all-star cast and they do a great job with this story and film.

The Tiger’s Apprentice the movie is based on the book of the same name by Laurence Yep. It takes traditional Asian mythology and infuses it with a modern-day flare. The main character walks two worlds, the mortal world & and the world of magic, Despite its Asian story, the film transcends into a thing that families and kids of all walks of life can relate to and enjoy. There are plenty of action scenes and a coming-of-age type of story within all the fancy Asian mythology and backstory to explain the world the writers adapted from the book and the director brought to the screen. Throw in a Rocky montage with a redo of the classic song “The Eye of the Tiger ” and you have a good animated film. This is a good landing spot on Paramount + as well as February. There isn’t a lot coming out in February so I may have a chance to succeed.  

4 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen