Old story, great script, funny movie

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2011)

Kung Fu Panda is the story of Po, a fat clumsy Panda, son of a noodle shop owner goose, who loves Kung Fu and dreams of being a Kung Fu hero and finds himself being chosen as The Chosen One to fight the evil forces and a renegade who threatens his village.
The animation, an action comedy, is good and very lovable, but nothing remarkable. The story is predictable, the message "believe in yourself no matter what" well known, and the characters stereotypical. However, the script is great, very engaging and funny, the main characters and the performances of most voice actors are so good that you soon forget the flaws of the film and fully immerse yourself in it.
The film is highly indebted to Jack Black's performance and self-deprecating humor, which really suits the personality of Po. At the end of the movie one wonders, what came first, the Panda or Jack? Also brilliant in their dubbing are Dustin Hoffman as the cranky teacher Shifu, Randall Duk Kim as the wise spiritual old tortoise Oogway, James Hong as Po's goose father Mr. Ping, and Dan Fogler as Zeng.
The other characters, despite being important, are mostly action figures and don't have many dialogs, but the voice actors d0 a good job too: Ian McShane as the renegade snow leopard Tai Lung, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as the Mantis, Lucy Liu as the Viper, David Cross as Crane. Angelina Jolie's voicing of Sexy Tigress is very bad; she sounds as if she was reading something without acting; she should have made the effort, as her character has only a few lines, or the directors demand more from her.
This is one of those unpretentious movies that, even if you don't fancy to watch, will certainly entertain and amuse you. Great time and fun for everybody!