Kung Fu Panda

[Hamsterball_Z]

Saw it today with my kids.  Pretty good story and better than average animation design than most Dreamworks movies.  Plenty of good kung-fu action with with some wire-fu and anime style moves thrown in for good measure.  It's definitely a kids movie but adults should enjoy it too.  The audience actually clapped at the end of the movie, something I haven't seen in a while.  Ratatouille was probably the last one I saw where that happened.  Might have just been because it was opening weekend.

[DarkEL]

Took my daughter to see it last night on the Imax. We thought it was good - better than most Dreamworks stuff that's been shoved out the last few years.  Animation was good and it had some pretty funny moments. However like most dreamworks movies - the story felt a bit rushed and we had quite a number of characters who really never got any personal development. Oh well - not everybody can be Pixar

However I will give it this compliment. I'd have no problem watching it again.

As for clapping - I notice thats a fairly common occurrence during opening weekend for most bigger movies (i.e. Iron Man, Indy 4, etc) - and i think the audience I sat with clapped at the end of Kung Fu Panda as well.

[Turtle]

Dreamworks seems to be maturing as a studio, but they're still more here and now oriented than the ultra refinement of Pixar.

I'm more interested in Monsters Vs. Aliens, their next project which has B movie monsters fighting off an alien invasion.

[Purge]

I loved Kung Fu Panda. I loved that there was no relationship overtones, and that it was about a Panda on a path to self-discovery.

I almost peed at a few parts (if you've seen it you know the parts). It reminded me very much of Kung Fu Hustle (animated, for kids, and a lot more charm). I was impressed with the fact that they managed to pull off that movie and not make it feel violent even though it was filled with fighting.

[Xmann]

taking my boy to see it later this morning....good to hear i'll enjoy it too

[Austin]

Going to a 4:30 today I think.

[PaulBot]

Will catch it on DVD because there are too many movies I want to see and going to a movie is no longer affordable. Just saw Indy, and want to see Wall-E on the big screen, so that'll be it for my trips to the theater this summer.

[Jimmy the Fish]

I'm looking for a movie I can take my 4 year old daughter. It would be her FIRST time in a movie theater. For those who have seen it already would Kung Fu Panda be okay for her?

[Hamsterball_Z]

It wouldn't be a bad first movie.  Chances are she'd be like my daughter at that age and fall asleep ten minutes in.

[PaulBot]

It wouldn't be a bad first movie.  Chances are she'd be like my daughter at that age and fall asleep ten minutes in.

And you pay how much to get the kid in? Terrible....

[DarkEL]

I'm looking for a movie I can take my 4 year old daughter. It would be her FIRST time in a movie theater. For those who have seen it already would Kung Fu Panda be okay for her?

I found that with Kids about that age - it's really all about getting them in the right state of mind before they arrive at the theater.  You gotta both get them excited about the experience of the movies (not necessarily the movie) while stressing the etiquette of how to act in the theater as well. i.e. they need to understand that they're expected to sit quietly and only whisper to talk if it's really important. I spent a lot of time hyping the fun of going to the movies - so that my kids got really excited when the lights dimmed and even more excited when the movie actually started. We also spent plenty of time before hand "practicing" whispering during TV shows as preparation for the movie.

Once there - Letting them get a bit hungry before the movie and then buying an extra large bag of popcorn is also a great idea as it gives them something to do if they start to get bored with the movie. And a small candy bar to give them about 3/4 of the way through the movie  also helps keep the attention and attitude going the right direction. Obviously eating that much salty stuff - they need to have something to drink but I wanted to avoid the whole having to pee 1/2 way through the movie so for the first several movies - I bought a drink for us to share that I controlled access to.

Of course - kids are different so what's worked for me might not work for you. But that's just what I did and it seemed to work pretty well.

[Austin]

My 2 year old daughter was giggling throughout.  My son liked it but was kinda sleepy.  He didn't fall alseep or anything and when I'd tap him on the arm he'd shoot me a big grin but he wasn't as animated as he tends to be; seemed a bit bored but I think he was just tired.  Still it was fun to have my two year old (on my lap) look back and me and just giggle away at the fight scenes.  Definitely a good little animation although I'm looking forward to the DVD to watch it without a potty break and any other distractions.

[Simon]

Just got back from seeing it with our six-year old who really enjoyed it. Great kids movie and pretty entertaining for adults too.

[Debris]

I saw it this weekend with my 6 year old grandson.  It was a nice movie with some really good fight scenes.  The one thing I was worried about was it having "too much Jack Black", but thankfully, that was not the case. 

It had good pacing and one thing my wife and I both commented on was that there weren't any slow scenes.  You know those scenes that really drag, don't add a lot to the movie and tend to make kids (and me) lose interest.  Maybe that's why it was only an 1 hour and 30 minutes.

I heard my wife and grandson giggling several times during the movie, so it definatley entertained several generations. It's not a great movie, but it was a good movie.  It's targeted for kids and seems to have hit its mark.

I go to about 3 movies a year, but this one entertained me enough where I would go to watch it again.

[Shinjin]

The previews I've seen make the movie come across as a 90 minute fat joke.  Is there more to the movie than that?

[whiteboyskim]

Oh God yes. We saw it last night and I was howling with laughter during the "dumpling fight" scene. The way the fights are constructed is the exact correct way to do it - start slow and build until all manner of frenetic balletic fury is on screen. The villain is awesome (brilliantly voiced by Ian McShane of "Deadwood" infamy) and Jack Black is hilarious as Po without once being overbearing. His enthusiasm at watching the great kung-fu masters is infectious if you grew up like I did watching all the old Shaw Brothers, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan films. It is about discovering yourself and while the message part does get a little overbearing (zing!) it redeems itself usually by following up with a brilliant kung fu battle. The "dumpling fight" and the final battle left my mouth on the floor in how fast, furious, and hilarious they were. I walked out of it wanting to turn around and go right back in to watch it again. Great, great fun.

[Purge]

It's a peach of a movie.

You may wish it to be an apple, but you will still get a peach.

[D.A.Lewis]

Saw it last night - and enjoyed it a lot. And there were a few laugh on the floor moments which surprised me.

BTW, stay for the credits - not only is the credit crawl design pretty good but they also do a follow up on at least one of the story plot lines. Additionally, the tag at the end is quite touching.

[Jag]

Was supposed to see it with the family. My boys have been looking forward to it, so i was excited to go with them.

Just before we were set to go, my buddy got free tickets to see Steely Dan at the Hard Rock, 4th row. So Steely > Panda. 

[leo8877]

Saw this tonight and thought it was incredible.  Fun movie, amazing animation.  It looked out of this world on Bluray. 

[Turtle]

Dreamworks Animation has really matured as a studio.  Before I used to think they were only capable of topical gag comedy, but starting with Over the Hedge and forward they seem to have shifted some parts of the studio into more timeless comedy.

I just love the 2D segments at the beginning and credits.

[CeeKay]

Saw this tonight and thought it was incredible.  Fun movie, amazing animation.  It looked out of this world on Bluray. 

+1.  I wasn't expecting much but I loved it.

[leo8877]

I enjoyed this movie so much, I added it to my bluray collection!!

[Arnir]

Hadn't seen it before but got it for my mom as a gift. Watched it together and both thought it was quite good.

[Zinfan]

I've got DirectTV recording the HD version off of PPV right now, probably will watch with the wife this weekend.  The other tuner is picking up Tropical Thunder so plenty of choices to watch.