Cinema
Kung Fu Panda (PG) ****
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MARK Osborne and John Stevenson's computer animated comedy does exactly what it says on the tin, spinning a familiar story of triumph against the odds around a rotund bear with a passion for martial arts.
Jack Black is perfectly cast as the voice of the eponymous guzzler, who sees himself as "a legendary warrior whose fighting skills were the stuff of legend".
"He was so deadly, his enemies would go blind from his awesomeness!" adds the bear in a hilarious opening monologue, complete with two-dimensional animation, to tip us off that the portly protagonist has a febrile imagination to match his considerable girth.
Big is beautiful in Kung Fu Panda, the best family-oriented offering from DreamWorks Animation since box office smash Shrek.
Colourful visuals and excellent vocal performances, including Dustin Hoffman as an acerbic mentor, guarantee a lively 92 minutes of low blows and last gasp victories, disproving one naysayer who sneers "that flabby panda cannot possibly be the answer to our problems".
He's definitely the answer for parents who need to keep pint-sized charges amused this weekend.
Po (voiced by Black) has a passion for kung fu, although no natural ability. Instead, he is destined to inherit the family shop run by his long-suffering father, Mr Ping (James Wong).
"We are noodle folk - broth runs through our veins," sagely observes the old man.
Unthinkably, local sensei Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) anoints Po as the next Dragon Warrior, who must protect the village from the threat of escaped prisoner Tai Lung (Ian McShane).
Oogway's choice of successor stuns his protege Shifu (Hoffman) and loyal students Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (Angelina Jolie) and Viper (Lucy Liu), better known as The Furious Five.
These fighting masters feel certain that Oogway should have chosen one of them instead and wait patiently for Po to fall by the wayside.
The bear, meanwhile, is delighted to be in the presence of greatness.
"Whoa! The Furious Five!" he gasps. "You're so much bigger than your action figures... except for you Mantis, you're about the same size!"
Under the tutelage of a despairing Shifu, Po aims to meet his potential, presuming he can keep his mitts off the temple's stash of cookies.
Kung Fu Panda wins us over instantly with its lovable characters and affection for martial arts cliches as the overweight hero discovers his inner strength somewhere within that growling belly.
With lots of heart and a profusion of broad humour, Osborne and Stevenson's film gently promotes Mr Ping's mantra that "to make something special, you just have to believe something is special".
Fight sequences are animated at breakneck speed, matched by quick-fire banter between Black's ill-equipped saviour and Hoffman's dour master, whose entire reputation rests on a dreamer who runs out of breath half way up the temple steps.
Thankfully, the film keeps up a head of steam(ed dumplings) until the rousing final frame.
See it at the Odeon, Empire, ABC
3:58pm Friday 4th July 2008
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