Kung Fu Panda [PG]

Meet Po, a furry, food-loving panda who works with his father in a restaurant making noodle soup. But this is not what Po wants his life to be. He wants to be a kung fu master like the Furious Five, the famous heroes of China. When the evil and feared Tai Lung escapes from prison to take his revenge, Po is desperate to find out which of the Furious Five will be named Dragon Warrior. However, Po gets a nasty shock when he learns that the Dragon Warrior is in fact him.

When this movie first came out, I thought it was going to be the most stupid thing in the world. How very wrong I was. I ended up pulling it out when it came into work, because I was curious, and ended up completely loving it.

Po the panda is furry, flabby, clumsy, and works with his father in a restaurant making noodle soup. But Po secretly wants to be a kung fu master like the heroes of China: the Furious Five. When the evil Tai Lung escapes from prison to take his revenge on the Valley of Peace and its citizens, Po is desperate to find out which of the Five will be named the Dragon Warrior. But Po gets a nasty shock when he is late and the ceremony starts without him. In a desperate attempt to get inside, Po finally manages to fly over the fence, with the help of a load of fireworks strapped to a chair, but lands smack-bang in the middle of the arena. When he comes to, he learns that the all-knowing Master Oogway has decided that it will be Po who will master the art of kung fu and defeat Tai Lung. It’s all that Po’s ever dreamed of, but there is one small problem: Tai Lung is very powerful and will arrive in the valley in a matter of days, and Po is overweight, out-of-shape, and knows nothing about kung fu.

This was a really good film, filled with loads of action, familiar voices, noodles, and kung fu fighting! Awesome Jack Black is the voice of Po and really, there is no other person who could have done it. Po is the panda equivalent of a Star Wars fanboy and Jack has that type of voice that can express the supreme awe of being in such close proximity with something that you admire. Very funny and awesome. Wonderful, Dustin Hoffman is Master Shifu, the Furious Five and Po’s kung fu teacher. He was brilliant. Grumpy, patronising, and immensely unimpressed with Po, he steals every scene he’s in. Mind you, I just love Dustin Hoffman full stop. Now, let’s meet the Furious Five. Angelina Jolie is Tigress, David Cross in Crane, Seth Rogan is Mantis, Lucy Liu is Viper, and Jackie Chan is Monkey. The film also features the voice talents of Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Randall Luk Kim as Master Oogway, and James Hong as Po’s father. Yes, I have to say that Kung Fu Panda was an immensely funny movie about believing in your own power. It’s filled with action, great punch lines, noodles, wonderful and lovable characters, and of course, kung fu fighting. A treat for the whole family, Rove McManus titled it as “awesomest movie ever!”

"Everybody was kung fu fighting. Those kicks were fast as lightning. In fact is was a little bit frightening. But they fought with expert timing."