Entertaining and quite beautiful

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2009)

I had the fortune of seeing this film the same day I saw another Dreamworks film in the theater--MONSTERS VS. ALIENS. Because of this experience, I think I enjoyed KUNG FU PANDA much more, as by comparison it was a much better film. In fact, though the Oscar folks would heartily disagree, I even enjoyed it more than last year's Oscar winner, WALL-E. That's because while these other films looked exceptionally nice, KUNG FU PANDA actually looked as good but offered a lot more entertainment and fun. Sure, it wasn't as deep as WALL-E, but it was enjoyable and didn't try to be a message film. And MONSTERS VS. ALIENS had a great idea, but the laughs were rather sparse.
The film is essentially a story about a young panda learning that he has a lot of heart and skills deep within--in other words, it was a lot like THE KARATE KID. But it also had a lovely artistry that I admired---the scenery and style looked very Chinese (although too many voice actors were non-Asians).
I could say a lot more, but now it's a year after the film debuted and there are a bazillion reviews already. Suffice to say that I was surprised that I liked this film so much--it made me smile and was fun from start to finish.