Kung Fu Panda

All is peaceful in the Valley of Peace, where lazy panda Po (Jack Black) and his father live and sell noodles. Broth runs thick in their blood. Well, that's all and well, but Po doesn't think he was meant to sell noodles for the rest of his life. He is totally captured by the thought of kung fu. So when the Dragon Warrior is ready to be chosen, Po abandons the noodle cart and races (well not really races) up to Jade Temple to see which of the Furious Five will be chosen. He is too slow and gets shut out of the temple.

Master Oogway is about to point at Tigress (Angelina Jolie) when Po comes crashing down from a chair filled with fireworks. And just like that he becomes the Dragon Warrior, the only one who can keep the peace in the Valley of Peace. Because miles away in a prison built specifically for him Tai Lung (Ian McShane) has escaped. A former pupil of Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), the teacher of the Furious Five, he will stop at nothing to obtain the Dragon Scroll which has written on it the most secret of kung fu techniques that will make the Dragon Warrior unstoppable. Tai Lung believes it belongs to him, and both Shifu and Oogway are denying him his destiny, so after 20 long years he is free and out for revenge.

Back at the Jade Temple, Shifu is trying desperately to get Po to quit, unfortunately for him and his other students Po has no notion of quitting, since all he's ever wanted to do was learn kung fu. However with news of Tai Lung's escape Shifu as no other choice but to trust in Po and he discovers that Po will do extraordinary feats for food and decides to teach him in a very unorthodox way, which leads to a very funny scene involving kung fu fighting chopsticks.

The Furious Five, on the other hand decide it is up to them and they go off to get their collective butts kicked by Tai Lung. On their return Po is given the Dragon Scroll and it is blank. Completely discouraged, Shifu orders the Valley to be evacuated and he alone will face Tai Lung. Po meets up with his father who surprisingly reveals to him the secret of kung fu; nothing. Actually the father revealed to him the secret ingredient of the Secret Ingredient Soup, but it comes out to the same thing. Finally understanding, Po faces Tai Lung and defeats him, bringing peace to the Valley of Peace.

This was an awesome film. It was primarily targeted at children, but it was so absolutely funny that everyone will be entertained.  The only real problem I have is that after twenty years in prison, being completely immobile like Tai Lung was, his muscles should've atrophied or something. Other than that, it was amazing. It was awesome how the only one able to beat Tai Lung was the most oddball character. It wasn't skills or power but the complete lack of both. Tai Lung had this attack that attacked the nerves of the body, stopping the limbs from moving and the only reason it didn't work against Po was that there was so much flub (and fur) that he couldn't reach the nerves. Awesome.

The animation was excellent as was the voice acting, the plot itself was a little cliché in some parts but it wasn't so over the top that it became unbelievable.  So all in all, it was a well done, funny film, something that I haven't seen in a  long time. 

Grade: 9/10