What a perfect gem of a movie...

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2008)

This is just the sweet spot you want - animation perfection coupled with a fine story that delivers an extremely enjoyable, very funny lovely gum drop of a film.
I think Dreamworks has easily surpassed Shrek (the first) with Kung Fu Panda. "Shrek" was great, but had so many puns because of the content (Fairy Tales) that it was almost too easy.
With the law-of-diminishing returns Shreks and the passably funny Madagascar under their belt, I had low expectations for "Kung Fu Panda." Pleasant surprise is an understatement: the animators, screenwriters, storytellers, voice actors, and producers all brought their "A game" to this one. This should be considered at the very least a CGI animation and at worst a top 30 animation classic up there with the best from Disney and Pixar. I'd rate it very close to my Pixar favorites, "The Incredibles," and "Monsters, Inc." I won't bother regurgitating the highlights of the plot - others have taken care of that. It's the quality of this movie that's stuck with me; e.g., more laugh-out-loud hilarious moments than I can possibly remember, the tightly woven plot, and the simple, yet powerful message that isn't weighted down with too much sentimentality. I was also drawn unexpectedly to the animation itself - it has such a strong, unique use of color I found that the palette was another element that lifted the film out of the ordinary dreck of CGI.
This is just a great, fun, and very funny movie that is completely worth bringing the whole family to. Don't miss it.