Pleasantly surprised and enjoyable.

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2008)

This was a delightful film. The deep rich color, the contrast, most of the caricature development and voices seem to come together to make a wonderful experience. The story follows the dream of a fat panda and his desire to be trained in the ways of Kung Fu. Laced with a serious overtone, the comedy is on a more mature level, but a level that even a young child can follow and enjoy. Paced well, the movie starts off as well as it ends. A bit predictable once you know all the components in the character constellation, even the anticipation lends its self to the experience.
I have to admit, the most enjoyable and laughable scene to this movie revolves around Po (The panda, voiced by a Jack Black) and what is discovered to motivate him to learn the teachings of his master Shifu (Voiced by Dustin Hoffman). Shifu has been left with the task to train Po to become the ultimate warrior, much to the chagrin of his other disciples: A tigress, a snake, a praying mantis, a monkey and a crane, who have studied for years to become the level of Dragon master. Unfortunately, there is also another beast, a previous student of Shifu, that also believes that level belongs to him. In the end, dark forces against that of light must meet.
One thing I always find disconcerting is that why, out of all the people in the world, do movies like this need to generate any interest from already famous actors? There is so much talent out there, I would think leaving live acting to live actors. Or how about a radio announcer? Or a person that does audio books? I have a hard time believing that this movie couldn't have used an unknown to be a primary voice and still kill at the box office. Just my opinion.
The theater was sparsely populated. I think my wife and I were the only ones there that didn't have young children. The lack of an audience allows for a more pungent viewing, one that isn't caught up in a wave of laughter that usually infects a viewer at a well attended presentation. One very young child tried very hard to understand what was going on through most of the film in a rather loud voice, but this was acceptable. I don't think a child of 3 can truly enjoy this, even as a cartoon. So, as a summer surprise, seeing this was not on my list of movies to see, I was pleasantly surprised. Recommended!