Kung Fu Panda (DVD)

Animated comedy martial arts fable, with Jack Black voicing an overweight panda who becomes a warrior to protect the lands from a formidable foe
In the Valley of Peace, Po the Panda (Jack Black) dreams of being a martial arts warrior. The prologue to Kung Fu Panda is a beautifully animated, stylised 2D dream sequence about Po - "Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose legendary skills were the stuff of legend". Only Black could get away with such lines. In reality though, Po is seemingly destined to take over the noodle business run by his father (Hong), who insists, "We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins." Po's only connection with the real martial artists is a fanboy's encyclopaedic knowledge of their moves and deeds.

Everything changes when the venerable tortoise master Oogway (Kim) selects Po, seemingly by accident, to be the "Dragon Warrior", a fabled martial artist who can protect the Valley from the dreaded return of the fearsome Tai Lung (McShane). Oogway's protégé at the Jade Palace, Shifu (Hoffman) and his five highly skilled students - Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Mantis (Rogen), Viper (Liu), and Crane (Cross), aka "the Furious Five" - are understandably bewildered, nay miffed at this decision. They resolve to humiliate Po into giving up and leaving the Palace. Po knows full well he's useless, but he's always wanted to be more than just "me", so good-humouredly persists. Meanwhile, Tai Lung has broken out of prison. He believes it's his destiny to be the Dragon Warrior, despite Oogway's decision to the contrary, so he heads back to wreak destruction and claim the mystical "Dragon Scroll".

There's not much in the way of Shrek-style knowing humour here, beyond a fond affection for the kind of mystical mumbo jumbo to be found in many old martial arts movies. Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, the writers who get the story credit here, previously played around with this kind of comedy homage in Bulletproof Monk, but this film is better realised, picking up on elements of Stephen Chow's comedy martial arts movies (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle).

Its storyline of a nobody given the chance to fulfil his impossible dreams is as hoary as it comes, but the whole endeavour is realised with a highly likeable verve. The cast of characters are like the CGI descendents of The Jungle Book's anthropomorphised animals; they're distinctive, well-rounded and doubtless destined for ranges of much-loved toys and games.

Black lifts Po out of the realm of cliché, while Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane have a lot of fun bringing their characters to life - especially McShane, who is spot on as the aggrieved snow leopard who has some serious father issues. It's such fun, even the tackiness of the inevitable message about self-belief ("To make something special, you just have to believe that it's special") is made tolerable.
Verdict
Just what you need from a family film - Kung Fu Panda is visually striking, exciting, likeable and, most importantly, funny.

great film a must see for all kids and adults. a classic to watch again and again. the plus side is i got a fung fu panda bear with this.

Loved the film had to have the DVD. What I liked apart from the fun, was the message Being Yourself and not try to be someone you are not.

I really liked the film, for a christmas present,
the sleer was great free postage and arrived next day

Remember watching this on sky with my nephew with no real expectations as the genre of cgi animation with animal characters has now become a bit redundant. This was a pleasent suprise and I had to buy the DVD. Story sticks to the Kung Fu Comedy Genre made famous by the likes of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, it was a nice homage to kung fu cinema, Reccomended

This was a very funny film for all the family to see. The next best thing compared to Shrek!! Overall a brilliant,feel good film.

the film itself was amazing, good quality dvd. however, the image provided was that of the 2 disc version, so imagine my dismay when i received 1 disc in the post!

Great thanks my chipmunx were soo pleased, it came just in time for their birthday/christmas!
It was one of many on their dvd list.


Thank You

kung fu panda is a gr8 movie which cn b enjoyed by both kids n adults..kung fu panda is entertainin 4 the whole family..jack black is an excellent actor.

Kung Fu Panda is one of those movies that comes along once every couple of years, it gives you a good message without being patronising in the Disney movie type of way. It shows you a positive outlook on life while giving you genuine laughs without shoving slapstick comedy in your face. I would generally consider constructing my reviews on a pros and cons basis but it's difficult to do that with a film that is simply perfect in every way. I will, however, give you a list of my favourite points of the movie and discuss them in a bit more detail.

The Cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jacky Chan, Lucy Liu and many more. I don't think you can get a more star studded cast than this and they all deliver their own special brand of humour and great voice acting to the roles. Some characters are less funny than others which with a movie like this is to be expected. Together they all make this movie even more memorable.

The Animation: With a fully CGI movie it's going to get put in the same category as films like Shrek and Toy Story for the simple reason that it's a fully computer animated movie. Of course if you're going to make a movie about a panda who wants to learn Kung Fu, CGI is an inevitable way to go in order to bring this story to life. The animation for this movie is incredible, it gives us a slick blend of cartoon animation and detailed surroundings which helps make the movie that bit more realistic.

The Comedy: From one of the first opening lines being "He blinded his enemies with his awesomness" you knew this movie would be a high quality comedy. Jack Black as the lead character, Po, makes this movie great as he brings his typical silliness and projects it through his voice and into the character. At times I could genuinely believe Jack Black would be capable of playing the physical role of Po as the slapstick moments are something you can imagine Jack being a part of.

The Story: The story itself from the get go you can sort of work out where they're going with it. Po, a clumsy Panda bear works for his father making noodles but he dreams of one day becoming a Kung Fu master. Meanwhile up in the jade palace current Kung Fu master Oogway decides he must choose a Kung Fu warrior to receive the dragon scrolls which are believed to be the key to becoming the greatest Kung Fu warrior in history. Po must see this ceremony and whilst trying to get over the walls of the jade palace he finds himself being chosen as the one to receive the scrolls but first he must be trained by Shifu.

Overall it's a really good movie and when finally released on DVD is something that everybody must own.

Like most Dreamworks movies this unites all generations. There are some jokes that only adults will get, but children find it equally entertaining. The casting for the voices of the characters was excellent and all in all this film is a great one for the whole family to watch without anyone becoming bored.