ThefilmstarsapandanamedPo(voiceofJackBlack),whoissofathecanbarelygetoutofbed.Heworksforhisfather,Mr.Ping(JamesHong)inanoodleshop,whichfeaturesPing'slegendarySecretIngredient.HowPing,apparentlyastorkorotherbilledmemberoftheavianfamily,fatheredapandaisamystery,notleasttoPo,butthenthemovieisfilledwithawidevarietyofcreatureswhodon'tmuchseemtonoticetheirdifferences.

　　TheyliveinthebeautifulValleyofPeacewithanancienttempletoweringoverhead,upzillionsofsteps,whichthepudgyPocanbarelyclimb.Butclimbthemhedoes,dragginganoodlewagon,becauseallthepeopleofthevalleyhavegathereduptheretowitnessthechoosingoftheDragonWarrior,whowillengagethedreadedTaiLung(IanMcShane)inkung-fucombat.Fivecontendershavebeenselected,the"FuriousFive":Monkey(JackieChan),Tigress(AngelinaJolie),Mantis(SethRogen),Viper(LucyLiu)andCrane(DavidCross).Tigresslookslikeshemightbeabletodosomeseriousdamage,buttheothersarelessthanimpressive.Mantisinparticularseemstoweighaboutanounce,tops.Allfivehavebeentrained(fornearlyforever,Igather)bythewiseShifu,whowithDustinHoffman'svoiceisoneofthemoredimensionalcharactersinastorythatdoesn'tgivetheothersalotofdepth.Anyway,it'suptothetemplemasterOogway(RandallDukKim),anancientturtle,tomakethefinalselection,andhechooses--yes,hechoosesthehaplessandpudgyPo.

　　Thestorythenbecomesessentiallyaseriesofactionsequences,somewhatunderminedbythefactthatthecombatantsseemunabletobehurt,eveniftheyfallfromdizzyingheightsandcrackstonesopenwiththeirheads.There'sanextendedcombatwithTaiLungonadisintegratingsuspensionbridge(haven'tweseenthatbefore?),hand-to-hand-to-tailcombatwithPoandTaiLung,andupstagingeverything,anenergeticcompetitionoverasingledumpling.

　　"KungFuPanda"isnotoneofthegreatrecentanimatedfilms.Thestoryiswaytoopredictable,andtruthtotell,Pohimselfdidn'toverwhelmmewithhischarisma.Butit'selegantlydrawn,theactionsequencesarepackedwithenergy,andit'sshortenoughthatolderviewerswillbeforgiving.Forthekids,ofcourse,allthisstuffismuchofamuchness,andheretheygoagain.