by Isabella Jordan Kung Fu Panda Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. Starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and more. Say what you will of me as a movie critic. But I'm a fan of Jack Black and I'm proud. If my kids had decided they absolutely would not go to see this film, I would have dragged them along anyway or shipped them off to their grandmmother for a couple of hours so I could enjoy it in uninterrupted peace. Lucky for me, the folks at Dream Works did a great marketing job and they were as excited about seeing this film as I was. And what's the verdict after all of this anticipation? I absolutely loved it. So you have Po, a panda bear who dilligently works for his father selling noodles from the family shop. But Po has bigger dreams than one day inherting his father's noodle shop and learning the secret ingredient of the noodle soup (important later). He's a hug fan of kung fu and knows much of its history. He longs to be a kung fu master of such reknown that the Furious Five, the best in the kingdom, will accept and hang out with him. Then there is Shifu. He is the master who trained the Furious Five and has much pride in his accomplishment. Things change quickly for him when he's summoned to see his master, Oogway, who tells him he's had a vision of Tai Lung's escape. We're shown an evil tiger and it's explained that he turned evil when he wasn't named the Dragon Warrior. He's been incarcerated for many years and would pose a great threat if he were to escape. Shifu orders the guard doubled in the prison where Tai Lung is kept, only setting in motion the thing they most fear - the evil tiger's escape.

Oogway tells Shifu that it is time to discover the true Dragon Warrior and a great celebration takes places. The gathering waits for the great master to chose who will be the Dragon Warrior and most believe it will be one of the Furious Five. Po, struggling to get to the ceremony because of his difficulty climbing hundreds of stairs to reach the palace on the mountain (he's a "big, fat, panda") and his father's wish that he sell noodles during the celebration, desperately tries to get in to see the events. His hilarious efforts are rewarded when he lands at the feet of the great master and is named the Dragon Warrior.

What ensues is a funny tale with some serious moments that are handled well and don't ruin the momentum or the film or its comedic effect. The tale is simple enough for even younger children to basically get it but entertaining enough to engage an adult audience as well. The film is gorgeous in its look, the choreography of the fight sequences is impressive, and most of the actors who lent their voices to the characters were amazing. Jack Black's animated and sometimes over-the-top (in a good way) style works so well for Po here and Dustin Hoffman as Shifu was a spot on casting choice. The rest of the cast really had only small parts but they did a wonderful job or breathing life into their characters. With one exception. Angelina Jolie's Tigress was flat and lacked personality. That was the fills only flaw from where I'm sitting.

This film comes in at 92 minutes and its over way too soon. There are brief scary moments involving the evil tiger villain but they are brief and the smaller children will weather those scenes just fine. The final confrontation involving the villain is a comic delight. There is a good message here for the little ones about believing in dreams and what real heros look like. The message is well timed.

Best line:

Po: I'm not a big fat panda. I'm the big fat panda.

Isy