Kung Fu Panda

Voices of: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan, Wayne Knight, Kyle Gass
Directed by: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A regular panda (Jack Black) is proclaimed to be the legendary Dragon Warrior, which causes problems when this kung fu novice is called upon to stop a deadly threat.

Review:

Tim: It took me an extremely long time to finally see Kung Fu Panda. In fact, the whole trilogy was released before I finally saw the first film. I have to say that I enjoyed it, even though there's probably something inherently wrong about building an animated kids' film around anthropomorphic animals violently fighting each other. Still, there's some good lessons to be learned here, some good humor. Overall, this was a solid effort by Dreamworks.

The film does a good job of establishing memorable characters. Po the Panda is certainly lovable and it helps to have Jack Black voicing him. He's an entertaining character and someone you certainly want to root for. Dustin Hoffman does good work as Shifu. The supporting cast is really strong- Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu- they are work extremely well together. Each of their voices is different and distinct and it all blends together quite well. I also enjoyed hearing Ian McShane here as well. Truly, this is one of the better animated voice casts I've heard.

The animation is really well done. It's becoming more expected and less stunning to see these beautifully rendered worlds, but there's still something fun about seeing these characters and their world depicted in such vivid colors. The animation was quite strong. If you're not irked by the multiple instances of fighting and violence (which did both me some), the film does boast a lot of really well done action sequences. Animated fight scenes aren't especially common, and Kung Fu Panda gives us some of the better ones we've seen.

I also enjoyed the story, especially Po's character arc. It was fun to see this story about a regular person start to believe in himself. It's really an underdog story and Po's enthusiasm and determination are admirable. It really is a strong about having confidence in yourself, even if no one else does. I thought the whole plot point about the Dragon Scroll was interesting. It felt like it was building to an especially powerful "whoa" moment, but it just kind of fizzled out. I certainly understand the point the film was trying to make, but it easily could have been significantly more powerful than it actually was.

While Kung Fu Panda doesn't belong in the upper echelon of animated films, it's a solid, entertaining, funny movie that introduces some worthwhile, memorable characters. It might be a second tier effort, but it's a good movie. I appreciated the film and I look forward to the sequels.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Kung Fu Panda 2, Kung Fu Panda 3