Kung Fu Panda packs a punch

5:00pm Monday 1st December 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Kung Fu Panda

Overweight panda Po (voiced by Jack Black) has a passion for kung fu, though no natural ability.

Instead, he is destined to inherit the family noodle shop run by his long-suffering father, Mr Ping (James Hong).

Unthinkably, local sensei Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) anoints Po as the next Dragon Warrior, who must protect the village from harm, specifically from the threat posed by escaped prisoner Tai Lung (Ian McShane).

Oogway’s choice of successor stuns his protege Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and loyal students Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (Angelina Jolie) and Viper (Lucy Liu), better known as The Furious Five, who have trained their entire lives for such an honour.

They feel certain that Oogway should have chosen one of them instead and wait patiently for Po to fall by the wayside.

Kung Fu Panda is the best family-oriented offering from DreamWorks Animation since box office smash Shrek.

Lush, colourful visuals and excellent vocal performances guarantee a lively and enjoyable 88 minutes of low blows and last-gasp victories.

Mark Osborne and John Stevenson’s computer animated comedy wins viewers over instantly with its lovable characters and affection for martial arts clichés, as the overweight hero discovers his inner strength somewhere within that protuberant, growling belly.

With lots of heart and wide-ranging humour, the film gently promotes Mr Ping’s mantra that, “To make something special, you just have to believe something is special”.

Fight sequences are animated at breakneck speed — including a memorable standoff on a rope bridge — matched by quick-fire banter between Black’s ill-equipped saviour and Hoffman’s dour master.

RATING: ****

DAMON SMITH