this movie coasts along

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2008)

The trailer was to the point and part of an excellent marketing campaign, but Kung Fu Panda is weak and seems to drift until two thirds in - about fifty minutes or so - where he actually begins training after the heavy is finally and implausibly unleashed.
The opening Dreamworks logo and back story being in a different animation style was a good call, but from then onward the formula of starting production without a firm script proves to be a problem.
The Panda is immediately out of his depth and granted a savior position thanks only to the loopy, illogical judgment of the top "master." From there on character change their defining positions whenever it suits the needs of the swiss cheese premise: secondary guru (Dustin Hoffman's voice, having to tolerate very functional and single-level dialog) decides now that the baddie is indeed escaped from prison the Panda is the "only one" who can save them despite the previous demonstrations of skill from his team. What is this teaching kids, while we're at it? The one "destined" to blunder into victory only needs a crash course in an art form others have dedicated their lives toward? The movie is getting positive exit polls or word of mouth presently thanks to a stronger third act that only then has a narrative that perhaps should have driven the film from the start: Baddie is on the way and it will take about as long for him to arrive at home base as it will take to whip the would-be hero into shape.
Mind you I saw the film in pirated online form so the images were okay but I'm not glowing about the technical quality. All I'm looking at is the content and that is nowhere near up to the inspired level of most hit animated features these days.
I'm sure the People's Republic of China is happy that the movie has an audience and that it ultimately has nothing to say beyond a bland fortune cookie.