Kung Fu Panda

Review by Anthony Morris

There's a limit to how much Jack Black you can take in one lifetime, and Mr Black knows it. Why else would he be moving away from his "Awesome!" persona into more serious roles in more serious films? 

So his work in Kung Fu Panda should be seen less as a case of more of the same from Black, and more like an increasingly rare chance to enjoy his over-enthusiastic take on geek-dom as he plays this film's titular Panda hero. 

Not that he starts out as the hero, of course: the film begins with him as a bored helper at his father's noodle shack, while high above in the local temple the local kung fu masters The Furious Five train themselves under the guidance of their master (the voice of Dustin Hoffman).

What follows is fairly standard kung fu movie stuff.

Panda is somehow chosen to be the all-powerful Dragon Warrior (despite being fat and fairly useless), the other martial arts experts treat him scornfully.

Meanwhile the evil apprentice gone bad (the voice of Ian McShane) escapes from prison and heads back to the valley to get the Dragon Scroll and generally wreak havoc. 

But while there's no surprises here for anyone over the age of 12, there is a lot to enjoy.

The story kicks along at a rapid rate, the comedy is rarely forced, the animation is polished and fluid throughout and the many fight scenes are always exciting to watch. 

The combination of Black's voice and the animation makes this particular hero one of the more likleable in recent times and if you're not cheering even a little by the end you probably don't have a heart.

4 out of 5

Kung Fu Panda
Australian release: 26th June, 2008
Official Site: Kung Fu Panda
Cast: Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu
Director: Mark Osborne & John Stevenson