PREMIERE'S REVIEW (posted 6/5/08)

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• Exclusive: Kung Fu Panda Directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
• Kung Fu Cannes

Jack Black declared at Cannes, "I am Po and Po is I," and the directors agreed; director John Stevenson told Premiere, "We just imagined Po being Jack, and if he had turned us down, I don't know if there would have been a movie. Really." And it's true; without Black's Po, a noodle-slinging panda who has fantastic dreams of being a kung fu master, Kung Fu Panda would still be good, but it wouldn't be as full of bodacity or heart. Po, who is pretty much exactly like what I'd think Jack Black would be like if he took a handful of Valium, is fumbling, dorky, and haplessly good-natured. Po's secret dream of joining the Furious Five, a team of kung fu experts trained by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), comes true by accident, but, as the wise turtle Oogway notes, there aren't really any accidents.

Dustin Hoffman's turn as Shifu, a grumpy red panda who thinks Po should give up and go back to working in his dad's noodle shop, is excellent, as is Randall Duk Kim as the sage Oogway; the toothless, gentle turtle adds a much deeper layer to this story. Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and David Cross play the Furious Five, and most of the lines are given to Jolie, who sounds like she's sleepwalking through the part of Tigress; the rest are underused. Deadwood's Ian McShane is great as Tai Lung, a wayward kung fu warrior who escapes from jail to destroy the Valley of Peace.

The animation is beautiful, from the ethereal Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom to the elegant Jade Palace and its Moon Pool. The first scene of the film and some of the fight scenes are highly stylized, while others are lightning fast and almost dizzying. One particularly inspired fight scene involved dumplings and chopsticks; one of the kids next to me yelled out, "Dumplings are awesome!"

It was definitely a great idea to give Kung Fu Panda the IMAX treatment. The fight scenes, quivering whiskers and moist noses, foggy mountaintops, and fluttering peach blossoms are equally impressive on the huge, curved screen.

— Jenni MIller