Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Michael Clarke Duncan

Directed by: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson

Dreamworks Pictures

The Official Site of Kuung Fu Panda

Discuss Kuung Fu Panda on the boards!

Kung Fu Panda tells the story of Po the Panda, a wisecracking loveable goof with the passion for Kung Fu but the body for noodle making (and eating by the looks of it.) Though his father is sure Po is destine for noodle making, Po dreams of grander adventures and epic battles of Kung Fu along side his heroes The Furious Five.

The Five, a star studded cast of voices representing varying animal fighting styles, are all vying to become the next Dragon Warrior, a legendary position of power and respect coveted by all the Kung Fu masters of the land. It goes without saying that everyone is a little surprised when the wise old master declares not one of The Five, but Po as the great Dragon Warrior. The unlikely hero has some big expectations to fill and following an awkward start Po, and the movie, live up to the hype.

After a rock-solid fantasy sequence introduction, that awards Jackie Chan the first big laugh of the film, Kung Fu Panda slams on the breaks and suffers through some tried and true (slow and boring) set-up. Standard stuff really. Believe in yourself, follow your dreams, unlikely hero – you’ve seen it all before – but this extended establishing sequence is hurt by a somewhat unfamiliar element: Everyone is a jerk. Everyone except Po that is. He is almost universally disliked and unwelcome in the Jade Temple were The Furious Five, bitter at being passed over for an inferior Panda, mock and humiliate him. This of course would pay off later when Po would prove himself (did I real spoil that for you?) but it became increasingly difficult to engage the characters when there wasn’t a likeable one in the bunch.

Things don’t really pick up until an outstanding prison break, the first of a half dozen remarkable Kung Fu sequences that absolutely took my breath away. And if Panda distinguishes itself from the pack of animated movies constantly being released it’s there, in the brilliantly staged battle that whip cracks this movie out of its slumber and straight to the top on the list of 2008’s releases.

The kid's movie arena seems perfectly suited to Jack Black who stars as Po. Now, Black has a very big personality. I'm a fan but I recognize that a little goes a long way and in the past Black has been one of those performers who throws everything he's got at you, and not all of it sticks. His presence is definitely felt in Panda, Po reacts as Black would in most circumstances (who else would offer an enthusiastic "AWESOME!!!" following a severe beat down by one of his heroes?), but it's never over the top. Enough light touches to bring some humor to the film but no so many to distract you either.

Black brings a great charm, good nature, and child-like authenticity to the star struck Panda in the presence of his idols. While I had trouble bonding with the Furious Five and their grouchy master Shifu, really well played by Dustin Hoffman, I was immediately endeared to Po and his enthusiastic nature.

Kung Fu Panda is a wonderfully crafted story with some really clever pay-offs down the road and a sneaky little moral that may be too big for the little ones to get on the first viewing but will certainly ring true once they've torn through it on DVD a couple dozen times. I think you grown-ups will be just as impressed as well, if only for the truly impressive action. Quick, slick and inventive enough to make you feel like a kid for an hour and a half.

Rating: 7 out of 10 - I had a fantastic time at Kung Fu Panda but is it a winner for the kids? During the screening I found that I laughed WAY more than the children in the theater. Is that a sign of me being a big kid, the movie being a stinker or maybe the heat wave we’re having in New York right now lulling my mid afternoon crowd into an early nap? Either way people seemed to respond across the country by making it the number 1 movie this past weekend in a summer season already filled with proven hits.

And I couldn’t be happier for its success. Whether or not my crowd was feeling it, I certainly was and even though I had less than impressive things to say about the beginning, I was absolutely dazzled by the Kung Fu. And I want MORE. Sequel. Bring it on, even if it has to include some hackneyed Panda love interest.

I perhaps made too much of the issue of Po being the only likeable character in the first third of the movie but when no one likes him it bites a little. Of course, earning the respect of his heroes is the big reward at the end and I suppose the first third of the film will replay less oppressively on home video. I'm certainly putting this on my mid-fall shopping list. At the very least I can skip noodles and jerks and just get my Kung Fu on.

Within the clicks of a beautifully put together flash site set up for Kung Fun Panda lies a personality quiz called The Kung Fu Personality Challenge. The quiz asks of you a series of questions to see with whom you would be best suited to train. I ended up with Master Viper, but there’s no real surprise there. Who wouldn’t want to spend more time hanging out with Lucy Liu? Even without the freckles… or boobs… aww cripes! Can I take this thing over again!?

Give it a shot. You may just learn a little something about yourself.

The Pink Panther 2 - There was a lot of kid friendly previews in front of Panda to choose from including clips for Madagascar 2 and a heartwarming kid's sports movie called The Longshot directed by… (ready?)… Fred Durst. Yep, the dude from Limp Bizkit. Here you go. Have yourself a little laugh. It looks harmless enough it just such a departure. I wonder if he lost some street credibility or if he even cares.

Anyway, with all of that I decided that I wanted to spotlight a teaser trailer for The Pink Panther 2 that was made specifically to go in front of Kung Fu Panda. It's short and it's awkward and it tells us very little about what the plot of the movie may actually be. It only confirms how far Steve Martin has fallen.

That said, Martin's Pink Panther reboot was actually pretty funny and, as odd as this sounds, the previews for that film looked just as terrible as the ones for this second one so, in some sort of ass-backwards way, I have hope for The Pink Panther 2. Decide for yourselves:

Hey, before I get into any self promotional garbage, do me a favor and check out my friend Lee's band Transmission Fields. They're currently in the running to perform at Lollapalooza through this internet voting dealio so give them a listen, and if you like what you hear, cast your vote and send a great band on to perform at the show. Good luck, man!

Ok, now my crap. I've been podcast crazy lately with my regular gigs on the Pimpcast and The Triple Feature, but last week I did guest spot on the Hobo Radio Podcast over at Hobotrashcan.com. Joel and I had a great chat about The Simpsons and where animation has gone on TV lately. It was a topic I didn't even know I wanted to discuss until I started talking about it. I had a lot of fun though. So much so that I'll be stopping by later this summer to chat about The Dark Knight. I'll keep you posted on that one.

The mystery of my missing hat continues as it makes a couple of appearances over at the new webcomic Hell Has Found Me by Aleric. Here are a couple of direct links to see that hat in action!

Has my hat shown up in your comic? Let me know I'll give you a little shout out. Thanks to Aleric for playing along and Jon for kicking it off.

That's it for today, gang but if you need more be sure to check out my other strips Matriculated and Turtle vs. Bunny, which are both due for updates tomorrow. I better get to work on that…