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Kung Fu Panda

Movie details

Kung Fu Panda features Po the Panda, a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant, who is a kung fu fanatic but whose shape doesn't exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting. That's a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophesy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day. A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it's too late.

Director Mark Osbourne, John Stevenson

Stars Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie

Animated violence, Some scenes may frighten young children

Our review

"Kung Fu Panda's" plot is so formulaic it could have been constructed from a kit: a loveable, dopey hero is thrust into an unfamiliar, hostile situation where he prospers by believing in himself, winning friends and defeating enemies, blah blah blah.

Here the dopey hero is, unsurprisingly, a panda: Po (voiced by Jack Black) is fat, slow and obsessed with the kung fu masters who live in the Jade Palace on a mountain high above his rustic village.

Po seems destined to toil forever in his family's noodle restaurant until he's unexpectedly named the palace's "dragon master", its ultimate kung fu fighter. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and his five elite pupils are at first horrified, but it's spoiling nothing to reveal that Po ultimately wins their hearts and defeats wicked warrior Tai Ling (Ian McShane)... after he learns to believe in himself.

Blergh.

So the plot is formulaic but nevertheless "Kung Fu Panda" will delight audiences young and old, as it's rescued from movie mediocrity by two things.

The first is the charm of the voice cast - Black is immediately likeable and not nearly as annoying his detractors might expect, while Hoffman is impressively enigmatic. Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogan, Lucy Liu and David Cross also lend their voices as Shifu's dedicated pupils.

The second and arguably most important factor is the gorgeous look of the film, which is simply incredible: characters are saturated with colours, the backgrounds are lavishly detailed, and the landscapes are often breathtaking. It's incredible to think that directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson and their team at Dreamworks crafted this entire world inside a computer.

No doubt the PC Brigade will take umbrage with the plentiful Chinese stereotypes, but they're lovingly used and enhance the visual richness of the film.

7/10

Samuel Downing