Kung Fu Panda

From Dreamworks Animation comes Kung Fu Panda. The story of Po, a tubby, clumsy panda with a passion for kung fu and food. Po is stuck helping his father's noodle restaurant but dreams of life as a kung fu warrior. He is chosen through an ancient prophesy to become the next "Dragon Warrior" and train with his idols "The Furious Five" Crane, Monkey, Mantis, Snake and Tiger, to defend his people from evil.

Dreamworks has given us both ends of the spectrum with their animated films. Some very entertaining films, but also some big disappointments. The first two Shrek films and Over the Hedge are their best efforts and Kung Fu Panda is right there with them. Dreamworks continues to be right on par, if not a little below, with Pixar in terms of character and set design as well as the actual character animation. Where Dreamworks has failed is in the story department. Kung Fu Panda has some of the "heart" that Pixar seems to nail every time. It's not quite to the Pixar level, but it's getting closer. It has the heart but maybe not quite the...what's the word?...."charm" or "magic" of Pixar. That said it is a very well done film. The artistic talent on display is amazing. The character design is great, the sets are beautiful and the animation is very well done. There's a lot of comedy and great action/kung fu sequences. The voice cast does an excellent job, especially Jack Black as the panda and Dustin Hoffman as his kung fu master. I was a little bugged that Dreamworks gave in to cheap comedy again with yet another groin hit joke, only one this time, but still unacceptable. Although Jack Blacks line afterwards makes it somewhat tolerable. The soundtrack is very good and odd to say, but the ending credits are very well done and the music during them is great. And I suggest staying for after the credits, there's a great little moment at the end of them. Solid effort by Dreamworks, although their up and down trend could continue, their next film is a sequel to Madagascar, a movie that doesn't exactly scream for a sequel. We'll see. Next review...The Incredible Hulk...

Oh and I had kind of an Indiana Jones moment after the movie. I had my phone turned off and in my shirt pocket. As I stood up to leave, my phone dropped out and behind the seats in front of me. Keep in mind, my phone is black, thin and off (no lights). I got down on my hands and knees on the seldom cleaned theater floor to look for my phone. Couldn't see a thing. So I had to reach under the chairs and feel around for my phone, grabbing used napkins, wrappers, food, crumbs and who knows what else. What's worse is I wasn't quite sure which seat my phone was under so I had to feel the floor under about 3 chairs. Still no phone. So I grabbed a popcorn bad and used it to sweep out everything from under the seats, and out came my phone, covered in gags of all kinds. Disgusting. I went straight to the bathroom and washed my arms and phone. Maybe I won't be courteous anymore by turning my phone off.

*** out of 4

(Rated PG for lots of kung fu fighting)