By: TYLER THOMAS
June 9, 2008
Source: The Independent Collegian, U. Toledo
Po (Jack Black) is a panda who dreams of one day being the legendary Dragon Warrior, the famed warrior who strikes fear into the hearts of enemies by just looking at them. Sadly though, he is just a panda who works with his father Mr. Ping (James Hong) at a soup restaurant with a very secret ingredient in the soup. Ping sends Po to the big ceremony with the soup cart to sell the food to the onlookers of the festival, and little does Po know that his life would change forever that day.
Po heads to the festival to see the glorious Fab Five, which consists of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). The group is considered the best martial art group all across the land, and is deadly to boot. Yes, their names are the animals they are playing in case you were wondering.
Po, through a series of unfortunate events, ends up being picked as the new Dragon Warrior, much to the dismay of the Fab Five. Po isn’t considered one of them, as he has never trained a day in his life and he constantly eats food and gets tired from walking up more than three stairs.
Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), the leader of the dojo, is weary of Po’s new enlightened status of being the Dragon Warrior, as Shifu thought Tigress would receive it. At first he tries to get Po to leave the dojo by being as mean and cruel as possible, but can Po overcome Shifu’s trails and be who he is destined to be?
There’s also a villain in the film, known as Tai Lung (Ian McShane) who is a renegade tiger who destroys all who come into contact with him. He was imprisoned a long time ago, and now comes to wreck havoc on the people that put him in the prison.
The best part of this movie is something a lot of movies have been lacking lately; family-oriented humor. “Kung Fu Panda” is suitable for all ages, whether you are one or one hundred. There’s a lot of laughter coming from all members of the cast, especially Po. Po really shines not only as the main character, but as the source of the jokes as well.
Jack Black, who has come a long way from his “Orange County” days, is amazing as Po. Long gone are the days of Black running around in his underwear denying a fire he started, he has now officially moved up in the world to the realm of animated films. For his first animated role, the R-rated comedy star does a superb job providing laughter to children and parents alike.
There’s not really a lot of bad things that can be said about the movie, except one minor flaw.
The problem is Tai Lung voice. Ian McShane is just not threatening enough to really provide the real evil sense that people enjoy in a villain. He sounds a little too nice to be considered a true villain in the movie, and thus, his character suffers a bit. While the fight scenes that are with him are truly great to watch, when he talks it just loses a little credibility with the casting selection for the movie.
While this is a very minor flaw, it’s very easily surpassed by the great acting from the Fab Five, as well as its new comer Po. All of the actors and actresses show tremendous talent and the movie flows from start to finish, leaving viewers wanting more panda.
Critic’s Conclusion: It’s rare that an animation film designed for children works great with families as well. “Kung Fu Panda” is entertaining, funny, and overall a great movie, despite a minor flaw with the casting of the villain. Otherwise, this is a top notch movie, and yes there probably will be a sequel in the works, and rightfully so. This is one movie that deserves a sequel.
