Cast: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angelina Jolie (Tigress)
For complete info, see IMDb's Kung Fu Panda page.
To be fair to Kung Fu Panda, I have to say that I don't like live action Kung Fu movies (at all) and point out that perhaps that's a requirement for enjoying Kung Fu Panda to the fullest. I had heard such great things about the movie that I was pretty bummed I couldn't see it on the big screen. I did, however, see it on Blu-ray Disc on my pretty big TV, so it wasn't much of a downgrade. Though I'm glad I rented it, I'm not at all sad that I missed seeing it on the big screen. In fact, if I'd paid to see it in a theatre, I might have felt ripped off.
Perhaps the problem I have with most animated movies is that I compare them all to Pixar movies. I realize this isn't fair to the other movies, but Pixar has set the standard and this year's WALL-E was totally amazing. All other animated movies pale in comparison, but with all the positive comments I heard about Kung Fu Panda I expected it to be closer to the quality of Pixar's movies than it turned out to be.
That being said, I even enjoyed Disney's Mulan a lot more than I did Kung Fu Panda and I think Disney movies are a much more fair comparison. If you like animated movies and enjoy Kung Fu movies, I'd definitely recommend renting this one. If not, you might want to consider putting it pretty low on your rental list.
Grade: C+
Labels: action, adventure, Angelina Jolie, animated, comedy, Dustin Hoffman, family, Jack Black
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:45 PM show | 0 screams