While not solid, Kung Fu Panda is still one of Dreamworks Animation's best films

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2013)

After DreamWorks Animation finished distributing most of their films with their formal company, DreamWorks, they made a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures when they made Over the Hedge. Later, in 2007, two films "Shrek the Third" and "Bee Movie" both became box office hits, but received mixed reviews from critics. Then, in 2008, DreamWorks Animation had found a way to get them back on track. They decided to make a Chinese martial arts adventure with anthropomorphic animals (similar to Disney's Robin Hood) named "Kung Fu Panda", now celebrating it's 5th Anniversary.
The reason why I saw it is because I thought that after Bee Movie disappointed me (it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't a much stronger film either), I was hoping for something better to put them back on track. However, when I sat through the whole thing, I had a smile on my face and with that, this film exceeded my expectations back at 2008 during the summer of that year.
I will admit that it may not be DreamWorks Animation's solid film but before I can get to the flaws, there's a lot to like about this flick.
The story for Kung Fu Panda is very heartwarming and original on it's own right. It pays it's respects to the Chinese culture and gives a lot of moral lessons about believing in yourself and believe that you are a very special person. The martial arts fight sequences are well choreographed and epic it gives you a lot of chills just watching them; the comedy is decent. Not as laugh-out-loud as say "Toy Story", but it gave me some chuckles; the dialog is witty and smart as well.
The music score from Hans Zimmer and John Powell is by no means excellent. It's Chinese-esque flutes in the orchestra is magnificent and the rock-guitars blends very well with the film's action sequences. Of course, let's not forget the characters and by golly they were wonderful. Po is very funny as a clumsy, but determined panda, Shifu is a strict, but kind Master Shifu; Mr. Ping is a very nice goose father to Po and Master Oogway is both wise and a bad*** turtle Kung Fu master, but the best character would have to go to Tai Lung as the sympathetic villain. His back-story is so sad it made me felt sorry for him and the fight scenes with him are great it makes him one of my favorite Non-Disney villains in the history of animation. The voice work for the characters including Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, & Ian McShane is flawless and are a sight to behold.
The best part, however, would have to go to the animation. The settings and the textures are so great they look like a Chinese tapestry (similar to that of Disney's Sleeping Beauty). The character animation is solid with realistic expressions on their faces and the emotions are done very well it would make you feel for these characters as well. A+ for you, DreamWorks.
Now, before I would end this review, I will say that there are two problems that I do have with this flick. While the story is strong, the way they ended it felt pretty silly to me. I mean, you had an epic final battle between Po and Tai Lung, but aside from that, it ended just abruptly and leaves a lot to be desired. Second, is the Furious Five's development. Don't get me wrong. I do think they're great characters as well, but their development was lacking at best (aside from such big voice casts like Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Seth Rogen) and I would've liked to see more of them (well, until the sequel, that is).
Overall, while it isn't solid, Kung Fu Panda is still one of DreamWorks Animation's best films next to Shrek, The Prince of Egypt, and How To Train Your Dragon and is a fun-filled martial arts animated adventure that is heartwarming, beautiful, and hilarious at the same time. Recommended to others who haven't seen it and this deserves a thumbs up from me! :)