Kung Fu Panda

Featuring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Ian McShane, and Angelina Jolie
Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Rated PG

As we’ve come to expect from animated summer films, the story isn’t exactly Lawrence of Arabia. A panda named Po (Jack Black) has dreamed of becoming “a legendary warrior whose feats were legendary.” He gets his chance when the inventor of Kung Fu – a turtle named Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) – chooses the untrained Po to be the Dragon Warrior. He is entrusted with protecting his small Chinese village from the evil Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a snow leopard who has long sought revenge against Oogway and his disciple, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

A little Jack Black goes a long, long way, and what would amount to just enough of anyone else is generally too much Jack Black. But here, the unpredictable Black has found a character and material that fits his genial, larger-than-life persona.

And like the best entries in the animated family category, there aren’t many throwaway roles here, indicating that Kung Fu Panda has been developed from the story outward, rather than starting with the merchandising. Hoffman and McShane are both outstanding, and Angelina Jolie, portraying one of the local bad of kung fu fighters known as The Furious Five, certainly gets our attention, too.

Because this film looks great and has plenty of sight gags, it will no doubt delight the younger ones in the crowd. But it’s a rare film that entertains adults just as much with its sense of humor and sense of purpose, even in spite of its name.