"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, which is why we call it the present

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2008)

The wonderful bit of dialogue mentioned just above is not from an artsy fartsy movie or some sweeping epic that will stun the Academy for years to come. Instead, we receive this nice line (albeit used before) from the surprisingly good Kung Fu Panda. While it is not even close to being original, Kung Fu Panda is surprisingly funny, surprisingly rich, and has a surprising amount of decent fight choreography that might even impress the legend Jackie Chan. With Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman leading the way with their superb voice acting skills, we have the best animated Dreamworks picture since Madagascar. Yes, this includes the Shrek sequels.
Kung Fu Panda follows Po (Jack Black), a friendly fat panda that has one dream in life, and that is to be the best at martial arts. Unfortunately, his size and his lack of coordination hamper his potential. His opportunity actually arrives after he is revealed to be the chosen one that will save the village from an extremely angry tiger. Much to the dismay of the better fighters in the area and their trainer (Dustin Hoffman), they must whether accept this revelation of attempt to take in the role of protectors themselves. As you can tell, the plot borrows heavily from other films past and present, but we're not totally about the narrativebesides, the short running time doesn't allow us to dwell into the storyline either.
Visually, the movie is the best since Madagascar as well. While the Shrek sequels never attempt to enter the next level in animation to the likes of Cars and Ratatouille, or attempt to try something different, Kung Fu Panda offers a variety of animated styles that includes but isn't limited to: slowing the action down, freeze-framing some shots, rendering into 2-D, and then sometimes speeding up the action so quickly you have to be paying attention closely or you'll miss out. The physical humor here resembles that of Madagascar; fast-paced, witty, and with plenty of it to go about. The fights themselves are actually well-choreographed and quite creative; some of the best you'll see in quite some time. A good fight is tough to film, even tougher to create from scratch. The advantage of animation is that you can manipulate the camera and allow it to catch up to the action, and they use this ability well. Unfortunately, the good action sequences occur only in the second half of the movie.
Besides Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman, the voice acting isn't that wonderful. There is no point in Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and Angelina Jolie getting paid the millions they are probably receiving for their rolesthey barely have over 20 lines in the film. The main chemistry and relationship that works well in Kung Fu Panda is that of the main character and his mentor. Dustim Hoffman's performance as the mentor is easily one of the best animated performances of the decade, going up there with Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo, Holly Hunter in The Incredibles, and Sacha Baron Cohen in Madagascar.
Bottom Line: Kung Fu Panda starts off slow, but then builds plenty of momentum once the story shifts gears and the climax is approaching (literally and figuratively). The fights are good, the animation is good, the laughs are definitely in here, and its surprisingly rich dialogue offers some useful advice for kids and adults. The movie isn't going to be a hallmark in film history like Pixar's best work, but it's definitely better than most Dreamworks animated films. Kung Fu Panda is a good original story that will entertain audiences of all ages.
P.S. Dreamworks was smart in releasing this before the heavily-buzzed Wall-E.