Thanks for reading my Kung Fu Panda review.  This review is going to be short because I honestly don’t have that much to say about this film.  This is a movie that I haven’t really been looking forward to at all.  Between all of the trailers and photos that I’ve seen I haven’t been all that interested even though I like CG animated films.  The notion of a Jack Black animated film wasn’t a draw to me because I don’t like any of his movies, all though that might change with the release of Tropic Thunder.  Still this movie was packed with big named actors which a couple of them was a draw to me because I like there work for example, Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman but that alone still wasn’t enough to get me excited to see it.  Kung Fu Panda stars Jack Black as the Panda Po, Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Shifu, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Lucy Liu as Viper, Seth Rogan as Mantis, David Cross as Crane with Randall Duk Kim as Oogway, James Hong as Mr. Ping and Ian McShane as Tai Lung.  Thats a pretty big ass cast for this movie but you wouldn’t know it because it was never advertised except for Black, Jolie and Hoffman. 

A movie that I considered not worth going to see before I even saw it pleasantly surprised me after a viewing.  All though Kung Fu Panda lacks the charm of other animated films like The Incredibles and Ratatouille, it’s still an enjoyable viewing pleasure.  In short the animation is remarkable, the story is very cute and it’s a fun movie for all ages, however with out the charm of a movie of this type, I found it difficult to really get into this film as much as I found it to be alright at best.  I still very much had fun with some of the elements that went into this film most notably the villain, Tai Lung.  It doesn’t matter if it’s an adult film or a kids flick, the villain is always an important part of any film that requires the sides of good and evil or the misunderstood.  I have to say, the character of Tai Lung was really cool between the design and the voice of Ian McShane.  His menacing voice really made the character a special villain but also isn’t scary to the point of frightening young children.  Movies that fit into this genre should also be able to make people laugh and all though Kung Fu Panda isn’t something that you’ll laugh hysterically watching, there are several jokes that do work and come across well enough to make you giggle throughout.

On the bad side, like I said before, it was somewhat difficult for me to get into the story because it wasn’t very strong even if it was cute.  That complaint might be something attributed to the lack of a good back round story on the Furious 5.  I myself would have liked to have seen more on those characters but I also understand that there is only so much you can do in 90 minutes especially when the story is focused on the Panda hence the title.  This movie also lacks the element that really makes a movie for me but I can’t explain it since it’s only a feeling.

Overall I can’t honestly complain to much about this film.  It’s a good movie that I think kids will very much enjoy and adults would also find themselves having a laugh or two.  I think that Kung Fu Panda is worth seeing but on the same note, if you don’t see it in theaters and wait for a DVD release that’s ok too.  Kung Fu Panda doesn’t hold the charm of other animated films but holds its own as a film all together granting it an average rating of 7 out of 10.

-Phil