Truly wonderful, a masterpiece for kids and adults

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2008)

Kung Fu Panda is a remarkable film. From the horrid title, you go into the movie expecting some cheap rip off of the Jackie Chan movies. But only a short ways into Kung Fu Panda, you realize that it is a truly beautiful and well done movie. It mixes smart (and yes, sometimes stupid) humor with beautiful rendered and artistically proficient scenes.
Still, the plot (more so "theme) is atypical for the genre (the old "underdog" theme), and the movie at times seems like it wants to fall back upon overused animated movie tools. But this should not deter you at all from the movie. It's stunning in every aspect.
The voice acting? Incredible. Jack Black is truly wonderful as Po, and all of the other actors do a superb job (Angelina Jolie was Master Tigress?! I didn't even know that until the credits.). Sadly, the only character that sounds truly Chinese is the Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan. You cannot make a good kung-fu movie without him).
Music? Lets just shorten this by saying it deserves an Oscar nomination (or winning *hint hint*) Now I HAVE to wrap up this by writing about oogways death scene. I am truly amazed to say I cried over a dead turtle. And I don't even cry at the end of sad movies! But the pure beauty of this scene is just so moving, even the hardest heart will soften. The music is very wonderful (although I will say I'm glad they refrained the catchy, but god awful "kung fu fighting" song to the credits).
Go and see it. You'll see it more than once.
You must believe.