by Eboni Manning

Created on: September 23, 2008

As a general rule, I go to the theater to laugh. I've always preferred comedy to drama, mostly because I don't enjoy coming out of a movie, scratching my head and wondering what I've just seen.(If you've seen a Nicholas Cage or Denzel Washington movie in recent years, I think you know what I'm talking about.) So, when I saw the previews for the DreamWorks film "Kung Fu Panda," I thought, that's right up my alley.

It took me awhile to get around to seeing it, but I must admit that I enjoyed it a great deal. How can you go wrong with a movie that begins with Jack Black narrating over a heroic, nearly apocalyptic animated sequence, using words like "bodacity" and "awesomeness?" He was perfectly suited for the role of the rollicking and rotund title character, Po, a very large panda with an even bigger imagination.
Po dreams of becoming a Kung Fu master, and looks up to his idols, the Furious Five. This motley crew of butt-kicking animals is comprised of a tigress, a monkey, a snake, a mantis and a crane. Trained by the great Master ShiFu, a red panda, they have become quite lethal. When Po is chosen to be the revered Dragon Warrior by the aged tortoise, Master Ougway, the Five aren't about to throw out the welcome mate for him.
I won't give a way the entire plot, in the interest of those who have not yet seen the movie. But I will say that it involves a very bad kitty, the nefarious snow leopard Tai Lung, whose sour grapes will drive him to do some not so nice things to his former neighbors. Let's just call him the 'prodigal son' of a certain small red panda.
The only small disappointment for me was that Jackie Chan, who lent his voice to the monkey member of the Five, didn't have more lines. To be quite honest, he didn't even have enough lines for me to pick up on his voice. I waited for the credits to see who it was, and that's how I discovered it. I've heard people say that Angelina Jolie's performance as Tigress was forgettable, but I really don't' see that. It was a Jack Black vehicle, so he really shone, but I thought the voice acting was very good overall. With a cast so impressive (Dustin Hoffman as Shifu, Randall Duk Kim as Ouguay, Ian McShane as Tai Lung)the dialogue really sparkled.
So, for those of you who love your movies hilarious, with just a taste of chop-busting and fisticuffs, I would definitely recommend this movie. Fans of Jack Black will especially enjoy this film, because his trademark silliness is translates perfectly through his onscreen counterpart, the big and bodacious Po.

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