by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

Kung Fu Panda is the story of Po (Jack Black – Tropic Thunder), a panda that has spent his life working in the noodle shop belonging to his goose father’s (James Hong – Big Trouble in Little China) noodle shop, while all the while dreaming of becoming a kung fu master. Through a series of wacky accidents, Po is inadvertently chosen to take the mantle of the Dragon Warrior so that he can defend his home, the Valley of Peace, from an escaped criminal, Tai Lung, who also seeks the secret knowledge of the Dragon scroll. Po puts up with the misgivings of his reluctant master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), and overcome his own weaknesses in order to find his inner strength and save the day.

The story might feel a little generic, a typical example of “unlikely protagonist is given a chance to fulfill his dreams, and must discover the hero within himself in order to save his village.” …Only with animals! Luckily, Kung Fu Panda overcomes what might otherwise be a bland kung fu story with a set of interesting characters voiced by an awesome cast, as well as a good blend of action and comedy, and a beautiful sense of style.

Kung Fu Panda is a very strong martial arts comedy, though it is at its funniest when it avoids playing obvious jokes. While the gags played directly to the audience are hit and miss, the film does an excellent job of injecting humor subtly by staging well choreographed and animated fight sequences in absolutely absurd circumstances, the best of which is a sparring match between Po and Shifu in which Po finds his martial arts “voice” in a fight over a dumpling. The comedy is propped up more by a cast of interesting characters, brought to life by the excellent voice talent in the film, led by Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman, but also including Angelina Jolie (Wanted), David Cross (Futurama), Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu (Cashmere Mafia) and Jackie Chan (Robin B Hood).

Kung Fu Panda excels as an action movie even more than as a comedy, because of the excellent animation and over the top martial arts action depicted in the film. The film has a number of excellent fight sequences, and does a good job of adding variety to the participants, location and style of the fights. It also helps that the characters are all designed to have unique fighting styles, which adds variety to the action.

The final touch to the excellent action and humor of the film is the beautiful world that the animators created for their setting. The animation throughout the film is tinged with Chinese inspired aesthetics, which is most obvious in the location and background art. There are several moments in the film where they pull the camera back and show the entire Valley of Peace and the results are breathtaking. The entire film oozes style, from the art direction to the fight choreography.

Blu-ray Extras:
-The Animators’ Corner: Storyboards & Interviews

-Trivia Track (watch the movie again with awesome pop-up trivia!)

-BD Live Features including a documentary about real shaolin monks, and a kung fu/language geek’s dream. Have you ever wondered how to say “ska-doosh” in a dozen languages? Sorted.

The Blu-ray Edition has several special features also featured on the DVD edition, the most interesting being a set of videos detailing some of the work that went on in the background of such a major animated feature, including a “Meet the Cast” video, a summary of how the creators overcame the technical challenges of such an ambitious project, and an explanation of the thought that went into the sound design of the film. There are also videos that look into the background of the culinary elements of the film (starring food geek legend Alton Brown!), a music video, and a selection of DVD games.

While Kung Fu Panda might be more style than substance, it does an excellent job with style, and the beautiful visuals, exciting fight scenes, and funny blend of action and comedy make it easy to forgive the relatively shallow and predictable plot. It might not be for everybody, but as an animated action/comedy with high production values, Kung Fu Panda is definitely worth a try.

Rating:
ComicsOnline.com gives Kung Fu Panda on Blu-ray 4.5 out of five anthropomorphic kung fu masters of awesomeness!”