Jack Black voices Po the panda who eventually becomes the hero, the ''Kung Fu Panda.'' (Courtesy photo)

By Bob Polunsky
Guest Columnist

“Kung Fu Panda” puts personality before plot in order to reach kids.  It’s a PG-rated animated film about Po, a pudgy, somewhat clumsy panda bear (voiced by Jack Black) that happens to be a martial arts fan.
He works in his family’s noodle shop but leaves it behind when called to duty by his idols, collectively known as the Furious Five. They include Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan).  Their supervisor and organizer is Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

They all get together to put Tai Lung, a vicious snow leopard (Ian McShane), in his place. This is when the martial arts – and Po’s heroic stand – come in. 

The film is an improbable collection of animals fighting unlikely enemies in amazingly inept ways and getting away with it.  The plot is practically inconsequential. It’s the improbable collection of creatures that make the film work as both an animated fairy tale and an exciting martial arts film with all the rough stuff done as a joke since actual violence is practically non-existent as well as unnecessary in a family-oriented animated film. The personalities count more, and each one is distinctive in both voice and action.

The idea is to make Po the panda live up to his ambitions in spite of his flabby body and, later, because of it.  He gets encouragement from Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), the inventor of Kung Fu; flack from Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), the head of Chorh-Gom Prison and unending problems from Zeng (Dan Fogler), a nervous palace official. But Po doesn’t intend to let anything get in his way of protecting the Furious Five from the snow leopard.

In a way, the film is similar to the Indiana Jones adventures with one seemingly invincible character protecting everyone else in the cast. Since it’s a panda – an unlikely hero at best – the  action and subdued violence take a backseat to the obvious humor of the situation. The characters have as much charisma as a well-populated zoo, and each voice sounds bigger than life.

Both Jack Black and Jackie Chan deliver clever vocal performances that match the style of their live action comedies. We’re prompted to laugh every time they open their mouths and shifting in  and out of kung fu positions.

Since it is a kid’s film, the violence is more like a Marx Brothers routine than a martial arts demonstration. The characters overpower the slim plot with their personalities, and that gives the action and would-be violence a warm glow of familiarity.

“Kung Fu Panda” rivals the originality of the “Shrek” movies from the same studio (Dreamworks) so they have their creativity in common. The real entertainment is watching youngsters in the audience completely engrossed by characters they enjoy watching.

Studio rating: PG
Bob says: “Go for it!”
3 Stars