It was okay

Rating: 6/10 (30 January 2016)

I'm about 8 years late, but I've wanted to say this ever since I saw Kung Fu Panda.
I actually never had the desire to see this movie. I recall seeing a trailer some time in 2007, probably with Shrek 3, but I'm not sure. I just thought that it was too childish for my tastes. Then, the summer rolled around, and my brother dragged my mom and me to the movies to see this.
Honestly, I spent about 10-15 minutes trying to figure out why a panda had a goose for a father before I just settled on adoption. After that, I basically just dwelt on the humorless jokes and how irritating I found Po. He was a man-child who did and said the most foolish things. I couldn't keep myself from rolling my eyes.
Upon Po being chosen as the Dragon Warrior, I began to pity him. I mean, I was thinking that there was no way a panda could learn kung fu AND defeat the bad guy. But I thought that his treatment by the Five and Shifu was unnecessary and harsh. Plus, I thought it was upsetting that he possessed such a poor self-image. As annoying as I found him, I never thought he was a "disgrace" or some "thing" or anything else the others believed him to be. He just had a dream, albeit a seemingly unrealistic one, that he now had the opportunity to pursue.
Fast forward to his training with Shifu. I actually thought his combat scene before the keep-away thing with the dumpling was another dream and was shocked when I learned it was real. But I still thought that he couldn't beat Tai Lung.
At the end when Mr. Ping told Po his secret ingredient for the soup, I actually began to like this movie. I give it a 6 because, in spite of those poor attempts at humor, I saw something valuable. In spite of the incredulity expressed by the others, Po remained determined and managed to beat the odds. I think that scroll managed to dispel that self-loathing we saw earlier. That's a cool message to teach to people of any age and allowed me to appreciate some of what I'd written off earlier.
Overall, kids can enjoy the movie, and I know many members of older audiences did, as well. It's worth watching at least once.