Kung Fu Panda

Confucius say: when fat panda kicks ass and makes you laugh the awesomeness is great.

An animated homage to the martial arts genre, 'Kung Fu Panda' opens with a Samurai Jack-esque sequence in which the legendary panda Po, with the help of his legendary friends, defeats his legendary foes with his awesomeness.

This is, of course, a dream. Po (Jack Black) is actually an overweight slob who helps out with the family noodle business whilst secretly dreaming of becoming a kung fu master.

The real kung fu masters — the Furious Five under the tutelage of the diminutive Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) — live in the Jade Temple situated at the top of the mountain overlooking the Valley of Peace where Po lives. Each of the Furious Five embodies a kung fu fighting style: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan) and Mantis (Seth Rogen). Not surprisingly, there is no panda style.

When the Grand Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) prophesises that Shifu's former student-turned-nemesis will break out of the secure prison where he is kept immobile, the students vie for the honour of becoming the Dragon Warrior. Only the Dragon Warrior (with the help of the Dragon Scroll) will be able to defeat the mighty snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane).

Unfortunately, Master Oogway, in his infinite wisdom, names Po the Dragon Warrior. Po can't even make it up the stairs leading to the temple. His heroes the Furious Five shun him and Master Shifu does his best to get rid of him, until they discover that deep within his fat rolls is a warrior just one dumpling away from greatness.

The animation from DreamWorks is magnificent, with rich scenery based on Chinese art and fine attention to detail. The fight sequences are cleverly choreographed and enhanced by the graceful movements of the characters. Especially spectacular is the scene in which Tai Lung escapes from prison.

Jack Black is Po. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect match. Hoffman is great as the Mr Miyagi-like Shifu and Ian McShane makes a terrifying villain. But the star-studded supporting cast is wasted. Sure, Seth Rogen makes a good Mantis and casting Jackie Chan as Monkey is a nice touch, but these actors have so little to work with that they could just as well have been unknowns.

While the plot is thin and rather formulaic, the film is refreshingly devoid of popular culture references and flatulence jokes. However those familiar with the martial arts genre are treated to a feast of allusions.

Go on, watch it. Confucius always right.