My own self

Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
but today is a gift.

That is why it is called the present.

Digital animation movies are - annoyingly enough - apparently here to stay, and Dreamworks have now delivered one that people seem pretty positive towards all around. I can certainly see why.

Kung Fu Panda is fun, entertaining, quick-paced and at times even a little exciting. Of course, it is far from flawless. Like most movies aimed primarily at kids, it is very predictable, and the characters rarely, if ever, surprise you either. They're archetypes from top to bottom, and there is never made any serious attempts at hiding this.

Still, as mentioned, it has several merits. First off, I must say, is some quite stellar names on the voice cast. While I'm of course of the opinion that most of the time you're better off with proper voice-actors than celebrities for this kind of thing, it's nice to see them grace the animation genre with their presence as regular as they have in recent years. Most pleasing was Ian McShane as the movie's feline villain, with facial features clearly inspired by McShane himself. (This was also the case with several other characters, and I wholeheartedly approve of the trend) Also worthy of special mention is Dustin Hoffman as the kung fu mentor-character, and - surprisingly - Jack Black in the main part. I'm no big fan of his, but let's face it, in his typically typecasted roles, he does rather well, and the main character of Kung Fu Panda is a Jack Black-type character if I ever saw one. (If you want to see who all the celebrities voicing more secondary characters were, I suggest you check the movie's imdb-page.)

The movie opens with a dream-sequence that's quite awesome in its distinct style of animation and over-the-top-humour. As is almost always the case with this kind of openings, it sets you up for a huge disappointment when the rest of the movie falls short in every single way when compared to it. It's really too bad - this type of sequence would do so much better as an epilogue at the end of the movie, where the awesomeness of it comes as the cherry on top rather than as the standard next to which the rest of the movie looks bad. (Johnny English springs to mind as another good example of this kind of syndrome) Don't get me wrong - the main movie is enjoyable. But it shouldn't have to live up to a dream-sequence more fun and interesting than the main plot could ever be.

For all its run-of-the-mill-type characters and main plot, there are some really awesome little things planted around the movie - like the panda who has been raised by a chicken for mysterious reasons we're teased with learning but never do. This and similar stunts of the absurd and crazy leap into an otherwise straightforward narrative with delightful freshness. Also deserving a mention is the maximum security prison in which the main villain is kept at the beginning of the movie - one thousand huge rhino guardians for ONE prisoner is such an idea of pure overdone awesome that it made me squeal a little.

The movie is entertaining throughout, sometimes even a little touching or pretty. It won't blow your mind, but it will entertain it, and at 92 little minutes it is just short enough to keep the predictability of the plot to make it feel slow and boring.

7.5/10

There is no charge for awesomeness... or attractiveness.