Simple, but surprisingly good.

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2008)

Dreamworks Animation has it very tough now a days, living forever in the shadow of Pixar. But it's been hard to feel sorry for them. In the seven years after the smash success of the movie "Shrek", they've only managed to churn out one mediocre and simplistic animated film after the other, set apart only by their top celebrity voices, and laden with kids only humor and tired pop-culture jokes. They haven't been bad per say, but when the competition is the likes of Toy Story or Finding Nemo, you start to wish they'd try a little harder. Now along comes Kung Fu Panda, easily the best CGI kids film the studio has come up with. It's nothing spectacular, but it's great fun, and probably the most fun a family can have together at the movies this summer...in a movie without trash cleaning robots.
The trailers for this film did nothing for me, but the minute its exciting and hilarious 2D opening was done, I knew I was for in something good. The story is definitely not the movie's strong point. It tells the basic tale of Po, voiced by Jack Black, a young and very overweight Great Panda and son of a noodle salesman, who dreams of one day being a Kung Fu master and joining the ranks of his idols, The Furious Five (characters representing the five classic styles of Shaolin Kung-fu: a tiger, crane, monkey, mantis, and snake, voiced by Angelina Jolie, David Cross, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and Lucy Liu respectively). When a premonition warns of the escape of the evil kung fu master Tai-Lung (Ian McShane), former student of the stern sensei Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), it is decided that the sacred title of "Dragon Warrior" must be given to a brave soul in hopes of stopping him.
That title unsurprisingly lands on Po. As you might expect, there is a lot of doubting, and worry, until Po learns about the "hero within" and...well you've seen it all before. It's very bare bones, but it's acceptable enough when the movie's strengths work so well.
The voices and animation are top notch thankfully. All the actors fit well with their characters (Black can do the hefty underdog routine in his sleep) and do a fine job without a hint of them phoning it in, with Hoffman and McShane as the real standout. Hoffman excels as the up tight wise man or teacher that all Kung Fu movies need, though the Furious Five have a disappointingly smaller role then it seems they should, but have some great moments as well.
The animation is crisp and beautiful; this film's fantasized world of ancient China really shines, and must be seen on the big screen. The animation lends itself well to the film's main attraction-the fights. You may think a PG rated kid's film might skimp on quality fights, "Kung Fu" in the title or not, but in this case you'd be very mistaken. The fights are fast paced, thrilling, and delightfully executed (even borrowing some choreography from various well known kung fu flicks in some occasions) and for a PG movie, somewhat brutal. Nothing too serious mind you, but if you're a prude when it comes to kids and violence, beware. Neither the heroes nor the villain in this movie mess around when it comes to the fights.
The movie also seems to be a bit lacking in the humor department, which takes back seat to the action. It's still funny (without having to resort to Pop-culture gags even), but it really isn't the laugh a minute comedy you or your kids might be expecting.
The film's other strong point is its villain. Even in best children movies, a villain's motivation usually never stretches beyond "because he's evil", so imagine my surprise when Kung-Fu Panda not only provides its bad guy with some well done back story and motivation, but even manages to make him a little sympathetic. There's a scene between him and Shifu near the end that contains some strong themes that'll fly over most children's heads, and is a treat to watch. As mentioned, McShane's voice is a major standout, bringing Tai Lung to life with a sneering and devilish quality.
The movie chickens out at the end unfortunately, in order to stay kid friendly, shying it away from greatness. While it still fails just short of the quality and heart of the Pixar films (well, it's better than Cars anyway), KFP still provides a lot of fun and thrills for kids and grown ups a like. It's a fun, simple little summer film that any family should look into, especially if you happen to be raising little kung-fu fans of your own.