Review: Kung Fu Panda

This well-made animated kid pic opens with a clever kick-ass dream sequence where obese fanboy Po (voiced by Black) fantasizes his kung-fu destiny. Mocking verve is shelved for blander fare when he wakes up to his chores at the noodle stand run by his single parent. Why Po is a panda and his pop is a goose is anyone’s guess. Rigging fireworks to a chair, Po makes an aerial entrance to the big rite for anointing the next kung-fu defender of the kingdom. Can scripture err in making this underachiever and overeater the savior? Po will learn a secret whose secret is that there is no secret. Believe in yourself and you’ll become who you wish to be—a morsel of wisdom ingested by our erstwhile ursine hero. The daddy issues in the screenplay by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (co-writers of eleven episodes of the dad-fixated “King of the Hill”) are in sync with a Father’s Day opening. Co-directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson deliver likeable characters, with Jack Black especially in character reprising with the act that pays off time and again. With the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Seth Rogen. 88m. (Bill Stamets)