Kung Fu Panda has a familiar message, but the pleasing mix of humor, swift martial arts action, and colorful animation makes for winning Summer entertainment. Read critic reviews
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Kung Fu Panda videos
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Our Battle Will Be Legendary!
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Fight for the Dragon Scroll
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - The Origin of Tai Lung
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Tai Lung's Escape
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - The True Secret Ingredient
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - The Legendary Warrior
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Kung Fu Training
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Impersonations at Dinner
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - The Dragon Warrior Trials
Kung Fu Panda: Official Clip - Tai Lung's Revenge
Kung Fu Panda: Trailer 1
Kung Fu Panda Photos
Movie Info
Po the panda (Jack Black) works in his family's noodle shop and dreams of becoming a kung-fu master. His dream becomes a reality when, unexpectedly, he must fulfill an ancient prophecy and study the skills with his idols, the Furious Five. Po needs all the wisdom, strength and ability he can muster to protect his people from an evil snow leopard.
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Rating: PG (Martial Arts Action)
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Genre: Kids & family, Comedy, Adventure, Animation
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Original Language: English
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Director: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
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Producer: Melissa Cobb
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Writer: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $143.5M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
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Production Co: DreamWorks Animation
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View the collection: Kung Fu Panda
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for Kung Fu Panda
Critic Reviews for Kung Fu Panda
Audience Reviews for Kung Fu Panda
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Funny and quite stylish, but entirely insubstantial, which is ok.
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The dialogue provided by the charismatic Jack Black brings magic in this simplistic DreamWorks picture. Kung Fu Panda's blend of action, comedy and animation makes the film a worthwhile treat for all audiences. 5/5
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Vocally, most of the performers fit their roles like gloves, but really, when you look at who they usually play, you never would have guessed most of the people behind these voices, and I only bring that up because, while most of these voice actors are so far out of their comfort zone it's ridiculous, Jack Black is playing Jack Black. No, I don't simply mean that he's playing the character that he always does, I mean that we're looking at a cartoon panda version of Mr. Thomas Jacob Black, because when he's not doing or at least faking some pretty cool stuff, he's a soft-spoken, but still kind of annoying nerd. Seriously, I was just waiting for that big climactic sequence in which Po just busts out a sitar from out of nowhere and vanquishes Ian McShane's Tai Lung character with the Ancient Chinsese Rock. Ol' Jackie boy was right, the metal will strike you down with a vicious blow. That was just a little inside joke for all of the Tenacious D fans out there, even though someone into something that crazy isn't likely to even be interested in a review about animated family film about a panda bear becoming a kung fu master, but hey, to those people, I say that you should at least drop your prejudice againsts family films for, well, a Pixar film. However, next to that, this drop the prejudice for this Dreamworks family film, because although it does get kind of cheesy, if you think that Jack Black is inexplicably as awesome as he fancies himself in real life, then watching this film really will cause your brain to explode out of the top of your head like that one guy at the climax of Tenacious D's performance of "Master Exploder" in "The Pick of Destiny". Slightly obscure Tenacious D references aside, this film is actually pretty darn cool, yet that's not quite enough for you to completely forget about its flaws. Now, I'm not asking for this film to go all-out martial arts film homage and gratuitously run two-and-a-half to three hours, but really, when's the last time a sweeping character study that just barely runs a mere hour-and-a-half worked? Well, I couldn't tell you, but now that I think about it, it couldn't be for a lack of trying, because this film is still rather tight enough to show that a brief martial arts character piece epic could work. Of course, maybe not one this brief, because although the brief runtime isn't terribly damaging to the film, there are points where things feel a bit tacked-on or thrown-together, from some points of exposition to that moderate cop-out of an ending. Still, as much as the editor needed a coffee break, I don't know if we need too much more of more of the same, because as good of a story this is, it's been done to death, not that any kids would know, because I doubt that there are a lot of little youngsters out there that are hardcore fans of the classic bone-crushing, head-smashing martial arts epics that mommy and daddy probably haven't even heard of. It's a family film, so I'm not asking for the most unconventional storyline since... I don't know, because I'm not a big trekker for kung fu films, but what I can tell you is that this story and its morals are pretty familiar ones, both within the kung fu genre and family film genre. However, just because this is nothing that strays too far away from its roots, that doesn't mean that the film isn't about as enjoyable as the other films that it's taking from. In this day and age, story originality doesn't seem to be a big part on the criteria for satisfying family films, but what expectations that do fall upon the shoulders of this film only fail at going unsatisfied. It is a Dreamworks family film, and, as I said, a rather conventional one at that, so go in expecting some cheesy gags from slapstick or Jack Black's Po character just being a big annoying dork, but more than that, expect the humor to, more often than not, really hit with charm and sharp delivery, and also expect that humor to be complimented by some colorful voice work, something to be expected when you've a cast of charmers this massive. The voice performers themself, and by extension, the film, finds itself complimented by some truly dazzling animation, with most everything having a slick complexity to it, as well as a lot of flash and color in the animation to really liven up this world, as well as the humor. Still, when the animation isn't making this film extra charming, it's just plain blowing you away by opening many doors of limitations set by the live-action world and delivering on all that it salvages from the other side, resulting in some pretty amazing action sequences. There is an action sequence between a kung fu-fightin' crane, snake, monkey and tiger against another kung fu-fightin' tiger on top of a shaky, cut rope bridge that's only means of support is a Seth Rogen-voiced praying mantis (Yeah, I'm sold enough on that alone), who eventually joins the fight by using that very bridge as a weapon while everyone else is bouncing around, fighting mostly while airborne, and that one action sequence alone - not joke - almost made me cry, it was so amazing, which isn't to say that it's the only one of these many action sequences that will blow your mind. If that's not enough, you get extra thrills, courtesy of a predictably awesome score by Hans Zimmer... and this John Powell guy. I know that Powell's a pretty successful guy in the score composing business, but when you're working with "the" Hans Zimmer, you may as well be calling this your big break after years of plucking an acoustic guitar along a New York sidewalk. As I said, the film may be a bit too tight, yet no matter how limited its seconds may be, each one is pumped with some thorough enjoyability. Overall, it falls into too many conventions as both a family flick and kung fu tale, only with too much tightness at points, leaving exposition and depth to find itself a touch diluted, but what keeps this film far from forgettable is its very colorful humor and animation - which is complimented by equally colorful voice work -, as well as some booming, wildly thrilling action sequences, ultimately leaving "Kung Fu Panda" a thoroughly entertaining thrill ride that the whole family can enjoy. 3/5 - Good
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From DreamWorks comes the fun and action packed animated film Kung Fu Panda. When a Kung Fu master has a vision of the notorious criminal Tai Lung breaking free from prison, he selects a Panda named Po to be the Dragon Warrior that will protect the valley from evil. The cast features the voice talents of Jake Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, and Ian McShane. While the animation is very good, the story is a bit weak and the setup is rather odd. Still, overall Kung Fu Panda is an entertaining family film with a positive message about faith and courage.
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