Kung Fu Panda (Review)
(DreamWorks Animation)
Starring: Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, and Jackie Chan
Directed by: Mark Osborne, and John Stevenson
Rating: 
Those who know me, know what a huge fan I am of CGI animated movies, especially those made by Pixar. With that said, I must say, “Watch out Pixar, here comes DreamWorks Animation.” Pixar still leads the the field of CGI animated feature films, but with DreamWorks’ latest release of Kung Fu Panda, the gap has narrowed. Not only have they created a more superior CGI product than their past efforts, but an equally impressive story and cast, making Kung Fu Panda one of my favorite movies so far this year.
I have to first acknowledge the casting director — job well done! This is one of the best cast animated movie’s I’ve seen to date. Especially the casting of Jack Black fittingly as the unlikely hero Po, the portly, quirky Panda from the title, and the casting of Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu Master Shifu, a small Yoda-like Fu-Manchu-wearing Red Panda. Equally well cast are that of Shifu’s elite squad of Kung Fu experts, the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Mantis (Seth Rogen).
The story line is the very formulaic “unlikely hero saves the day,” however it is the movie’s lighthearted nature, brilliant humor and enjoyable characters that make this such a great movie. I was laughing so hard at the acupuncture, and the chopstick-battle scenes that my laughter carried on well into the next scenes. It’s moments like this and the brilliantly choreographed Kung Fu fight scenes that really brought this movie into Pixar territory. This is definitely a movie I can see more than once… or five times.
Again, well done Dreamworks. Hopefully you’ll stay on track with your next release, Monsters vs. Aliens.
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