Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"Kung Fu Panda" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/07/2012
A clumsy and gluttonous panda is revealed to be the chosen one to become the Dragon Warrior and defeat the evil former student of his master. Kung Fu Panda pretty much does what it says on the tin. It's exactly the kind of Americanized version of Eastern culture I was expecting, including the Karate Kid format, usual fortune cookie philosophy and pseudo-martial arts, right through to the slightly embarrassing use of Carl Douglas' Kung Fu Fighting for the credits. It is a very technically accomplished film however, with animation of a very high standard and some very, very pretty use of imagery. Jack Black also managed to dial himself down a notch so even those who find him terminally irritating should be able to swallow him for 90 minutes and it's all very difficult to dislike. I'm sure …
Rating of
3/4
Everybody went Kung Fu Fighting!!!
mdtinney - wrote on 10/17/2009
Kung Fu Panda is both a send-up of and a tribute to the kung-fu genre, and it works. Innocent eyes will goggle at the beautifully rendered characters, break-neck action, and gentle humor; more experienced viewers will laugh at loud at all of the kung fu movie clichés... a hopeless loser that goes from zero to hero in about one day of intense training... a promising but evil student who turns against his master... the wise, ancient master... the prophesy... the various forms of animal-style kung-fu practiced by actual creatures of the correct type... it's all there, without any wires, and without the awful dialogue you would expect from a chop-sockey film. Jack Black entertains, and shares some excellent dialogue with Master Sifu, voiced by Dustin Hoffman. The Furious Five, a group of …
Rating of
3/4
Really Good!
Franz Patrick - wrote on 08/15/2008
My friends did not really want to watch this animated flick but I forced them anyway because it got great reviews. As the movie went on, I heard them laughing their butts off and by the end of the film, they even clapped because they enjoyed it so much. This movie is definitely for kids but that does not mean that it does not have anything to offer for adults. There’s no fart jokes here–which is pretty darn great. Instead, there are references to other kung fu movies, bona fide sense of humour that doesn’t insult one’s intelligence, intense action sequences that doesn’t involve blood and limb-severing, and thoughtful life lessons. The all-star voice talent actually enchanced the film instead of making it distracting. As for the animation, it rivals those of Pixar’s best. I …
Rating of
3/4
The secret is NOTHING
BryanFury - wrote on 06/16/2008
It is definitely hard not to like a chubby panda. That is why this movie unexpectedly succeeded character wise and story wise with Jack Black as the puppet master. He really does his thing with swagger that brought a lot of dimension to an animated creature. His comedy chops is undeniably well used in this film. Plus there are too many heavy weight stars that are on board to help JB aka Poe achieved that level of greatness in this film. The story is something very familiar to everyone, but who the heck cares we all want to see a panda doing some butt kicking action. Dustin Hoffman as the Kung Fu master does all the right moves with a little extra kick of comedy and cuteness in his character. The theme also brings a somewhat old school Chinese action flick to the surface which is …
Rating of
1/4
The Panda Has Accomplished An Epic Fail.
LeopardExplosion - wrote on 06/15/2008
=( describes this. I though this would have huge potential. I see it opening day, and it,well,sucked. The characters weren't done well. The only one with real character traits was the panda and tiger. the panda was lazy, and funny. The tiger was a bitch. End of story. If I didn't know better, the tiger had a crush on the panda, because, that panda got no RESPECT from the cat. I mean, if the tiger and all the other kung fu warriors, can't take on an irish leopard, and the kung fu panda can, then they must be crappy kung fu warriors. The master who has nothing but hate towards the new dragon warrior, and knows that he is full of shortcomings. One too many, really. the master was a bad take on yoda. Small and powerful. old and Wise. The only one who knew what he was doing, was the …
Rating of
3.5/4
The most fun, EVERYBODY can have at a theater!
Tino - wrote on 06/14/2008
This is definitely the most surprising film of the year. It was advertised very cheaply, trying to bank on Jack Black's goofy voice, and playing what else, but "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting" as background music.
Black stars as the pudgy Po, a very likeable Panda, who works with his father, a duck, in a noodle shop. The film revolves around the panda who loves martial arts, who has been 'accidentally' chosen as the Dragon warrior, destined to bring peace to the valley, and stop the evil Tai Lan (masterfully voiced by Ian McShane). The great thing here is that it is such a simple story, which honestly borrows ideas from many kung fu flicks, the Matrix, and countless other movie cliches. But none of that matters. It is so incredibly well done, anyone can see past the simple yet …
Rating of
3/4
Unbelievably fun and undeniably gorgeous
newmans_own - wrote on 06/10/2008
If the plot is just a slight variation on the hero’s journey, it more than makes up for it with its inventive and fresh humor. Lovingly paying tribute to countless martial arts films while remaining broad enough to attract a wide audience, KUNG FU PANDA is one of those films that have something to offer everyone. There are surprisingly little of the typical martial arts jokes; the quick camera zooms are few and far between and there isn’t any mismatched dialogue in sight. Instead, the most successful gags in the film come from Po’s exaggerated physical comedic style and lovably geeky personality. Po is perfectly brought to life by Black, who proves once again that he deserves to be at the front of the comedy film world, going the lengths and stretching himself in ways that most …
Rating of
3/4
"There is no charge for awesomeness."
Arbogast1960 - wrote on 06/07/2008
Like every sensible filmgoer, I hear the words "Dreamworks Animation" and cringe a bit. Pixar has consistently turned out A+ products, while Dreamworks often shells out tripe that appears better suited for straight-to-video release--not just in terms of lackluster characters and stories, but (even more sadly) in terms of its animation. Dreamworks' films have been visually flat, unimaginative, and amateurish. It is hard to say that one could ever be "disappointed" by a Dreamworks Animation release, because the studio has set the bar at basement level.
And then there came Kung Fu Panda. The movie works on all levels. It is funny, often wildly so. It has heart (the story, admittedly, has been done before, but rarely with such panache). Most impressively, the film is a visual …
Rating of
3/4
Kung Fu Awesome!
Taz - wrote on 06/07/2008
I don't know why but I got really excited about this movie before it came out. It looked really funny and fun and boy was I right. Kung Fu Panda was one a great animated children's movie. Sometimes these movies don't have any hummer for adults but I felt that the humor in this was pretty universally funny with a little extra for the adults. The story is fun and has a great message for kids. Keep in mind there is nothing ground breaking in this movie. Over all it is very formulaic but they add enough humor and good characters to make it fresh. Po is a great character that you can't help but fall in love with and the rest of the characters are endearing as well. You could probably wait until this comes out on DVD but if you are looking for a fun movie to go see or you have small …
