Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Directed by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Produced by Melissa Cobb
Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan.
Label: Review, Action, Comedy, Animation, Hollywood
DreamWorks Animation once again produces a computer animated film that contains martial arts, action, ancient China setting, animation, and comedy. Surprisingly Kung Fu Panda is not contain Shrek routine like anachronistic joke and managed to be a worthwhile family entertainment.



Jack Black voice as Po, a tubby panda who is a big fan of kungfu but his career prospects boil down to inheriting his father's noodle stand. That is, until turtle Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) appoint Po to be the "Dragon Warrior," a kungfu champion who will defend the valley from the wrath of mighty leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane).

How can a chubby novice such as Po compete with Tai Lung? How could Po gain respect from Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and his students The Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross)? Well, it would be too much spoilers if I tell you the story.

Jack Black was a good choice for the main character, Po, and I even get a sense of the real Jack Black. Dustin Hoffman also equally good in his role as Master Shifu, the kung fu master charged with training Po in martial art. However the other voice actors/ actress are replaceable, proving they were brought in merely to sell the film.

The animation is beautiful, the actions are well done, the fight scenes were fun to watch, althought it's not too violent. Emotional moments sometimes gets a little too sentimental. Still, they help us to understand the problems of the characters and the way they had to dealt with their shortcomings.

Some people might complain about the message to "always following your dream" tells kids to be dissatisfied with ordinary jobs. The other might complain about the story has no surprises at all and Kungfu Panda just use usual formula. Still, Kungfu Panda is fun, so who care! (reviewed by DL/ 2008)