Year: 2008

Director: Mark Osborne and John Silverman

Producers: DreamWorks Animation

Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan

Stepping back in time to 2008 we have Kung Fu Panda the DreamWorks blockbuster directed by Mark Osborne and John Silverman starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Angelina Jolie, it goes without saying the level of star power that this ensemble has with actors such as Seth Rogen Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu in supporting roles alongside very familiar voices such as Michael Clarke Duncan.

If you’ve seen “Kung Fu Panda” already then you can probably stop reading this blog post right now, but for those of you who haven’t watched it yet or if you like me and want to brush yourself up on the story before dipping your toes into the next two installments in time for “Kung Fu Panda 4” here’s a summary.

The story follows Po voiced by Jack Black, and clumsy and lazy panda who works at a ramen shop alongside his adopted father in the Valley of Peace, Po has secret aspirations of becoming a Kung Fu legend but when the evil Tai Lung threatens what’s the safety of Po’s homeland it’s up to Po to fulfill an ancient prophecy, with the help and training of Master Shifu Po’s must prepare himself to save his homeland from Tai Lung’s assault. One of the most vivid memories that I have about this film besides Jack Black’s performance, that of a silly underachiever which he always seems to excel at playing in a lot of his movies, was the action.

Without spoiling too much of the film one scene I remember was when Tai Lung breaks out of prison, after escaping his shackles it was a bit shocking to see some of the rhino prison guards being thrown to their deaths in a failed attempt to prevent Tai Lung’s escape.

“Kung Fu Panda” falls under the category of a kid’s movie that’s so good that it can be enjoyed by everyone of any age, for a 15-year-old movie is looking for a good movie for the whole family to enjoy if you want to brush up on you Kung Fu Panda lore before the fourth movie comes out next year this is a prime opportunity to start now.