Kung Fu Panda (Osborne/Stevenson, 2008)

Charming comedy with a great big heart and equal wit to match. The animation finds such good balance between kinetic action sequences and detailed, believable recreation of the principle characters as animals. Jack Black is entirely lovable, without an ounce nor hint of the hubris he sometimes exhibits in playing larger than life characters with cockiness. The support cast, from Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman to Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan never sound like those actors (take that "Madagascar"!) and manage to make the roles their own. One of the much better animation films of the last year or so.

I had given up on any other studio, except perhaps Pixar, ever capable of making a fun, charming yet accessible across-all-age-groups animated film, but I'm glad to say that "Kung Fu Panda" proved me wrong. Perhaps the single biggest selling point for me, compared to movies like "Madagascar" and to a lesser extent even "Ice Age" etc etc, is the fact that this film never relies on pop-culture references, despite the whole mythology of the martial arts world being arguably inspired by films like "Crouching Tiger", "Hero" et al. It is a wonderful achievement of originality and quick, clean wit. A stupendously good film.

Rating: 4/5