Yet another animated animal movie with a you-can-do-anything message, this is nonetheless fairly entertaining, with well-executed action sequences. The title character is infused with the persona—and, roughly, the physique—of the actor who voices him, Jack Black. A little bit paunchy, he mixes hapless bravado with a deeper insecurity. Being raised by a humble Chinese noodle maker who is also a bird, he fantasizes himself the venerated “dragon warrior” with enemies who “were no match for his bodacity.” But when an accident of fate—the juxtaposed emphasis on both fate and controlling one’s destiny makes no sense, but never mind—actually gives him his wish, he thinks there is a mistake. The aid of a reluctant kung fu master (Dustin Hoffman) and a multi-species posse called the Furious Five, perhaps in tribute to early rapper Grandmaster Flash, gives him the courage to face the excellently voiced villain, Ian McShane’s leopard.
IMDB link
viewed 6/7/08 and 6/21/08 at Moorestown; reviewed 6/27/08
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