The last time I watched an incredibly refreshing animated movie was when The Incredibles hit the theaters in 2004, and long before that, Monster’s Inc back in 2001! The others that came out were pretty mediocre. Finding Nemo, Cars, Shrek, I really didn’t like those at all.

When I first heard of Kung Fu Panda, the first thing that came in my head was that Shaolin Soccer movie for some reason. The trailer was okay, and it wasn’t really something provoking that got me really excited to want to watch it. Dreamworks never really hit the right spot for me in terms of their animated films, especially Shrek, which I really disliked. Sinbad, though, was pretty good, so why not, it would be interesting to see how Dreamworks would try to pull off a Panda that could do Kung Fu. To say the least, when I got out of the theater after the movie was done, I had a stupid smile on my face. Something I usually look for when people come out because you would know if the movie was good or not. And this was definitely one of the finest, not to mention most hilarious animated movies I have ever watched.

The movie starts out rather epic, hehe, with Po the Panda, dreaming of his own greatness in being a true hero, a Kung Fu Master. He wakes up to the voice of his duck of a father, who asks him to come down and help him start the day in their noodle shop. Right from the beginning, I was already in awe, of how clean and well drawn the graphics were. And even from the start, I had already began laughing especially when Po was trying to run down the stairs but had to try and shoot a ninja star into his wall… and failed horribly, haha! While serving customers, a legendary tournament of fate was posted in their restaurant, and everyone rushed to the temple to witness who would be crowned the Dragon King, amongst the Furious 5, shown above

This is where the story really begins. The Furious 5 being the greatest warriors of the land, would battle it out to see who the Dragon Warrior would be. Whoever that is, would battle Tai Lung, that vicious tiger, or is it leopard, you see down there, who has escaped from the most secure prison in the land, to claim the Dragon Scroll! The sequence of how Tai Lung escaped was also very alluring, 1000 guards, one way in, one way out, and one prisoner. While the Five were battling, Po struggles to get in the temple, and finally drops from a firecracker chair he made, right in front of the Master Oogway (translated to turtle), who was about to appoint the Dragon Warrior by pointing at him. Of course, it was Po who dropped in front of his finger, and thus, his story begins. The Five are annoyed at the sight of Po, and made his life in the temple miserable so he would quit. The scenes that follow are rather priceless, and Po’s journey to being the Kung Fu warrior he had always wanted to be ensued. I won’t talk about the next scenes anymore so those who haven’t seen this movie can enjoy it as much as I did

The dialogue in this movie, especially those by Po, were just utterly hilarious. I don’t recall ever laughing as hard, or as much, in any movie I’ve seen this year. The concept of having a Panda as fat as he is, be able to TRY and do Kung Fu, was really fresh. The scene when Po was in the Peach Tree location and Master Oogway found him was hilarious.  And the parts where Master Shi Fu was finally training Po for real, was a joy to watch, and was also very funny.  This movie definitely proved a lot of critics wrong, and I can bet that there aren’t a lot of people who will come out and say that this movie was not worth it to watch

The cast was very strong. I had intentionally not looked at who was starring as the voices, so all I knew was that the Panda was Jack Black, who I don’t like either. But when you hear all of them in the film, you’ll realize that their balance was perfect. Dustin Hoffman’s voice reverberates very strongly as Master Shi Fu and the voice of the calmly slow and tissue-box-quote-filled Master Oogway, played by Randall Kim, are really amazingly fit for both roles. I was surprised to know that Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu were also voice talents in this movie, but none more surprising than the fact that even Jackie Chan was one of the Furious 5

In the end, this movie rocked, and totally exceeded my expectations. An animated film that was able to pull off amazing graphics with hilariously funny dialogue, along with a little twist of drama, definitely will be a worldwide success. If you’re bringing your kids to the mall to drop them off to watch this movie, make sure to go watch it with them. I can guarantee that you’ll come out of the theater with a smile on your face, just like your kids will.

Personal Rating (out of 10): 8.9/10
IMDb User Rating (out of 10): 7.8/10
Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu
Genre: Animation / Comedy / Action
Duration: 92 minutes
Links: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes