In the Valley of Peace, a land set in Ancient China with anthropomorphic animals, a naïve panda named Po has a dream about being strong at kung fu. He is feared and respected by others.

However, he has to wake up to get ready for work. His job is to help his adoptive goose father, Mr. Ping, at a restaurant. The two cook and serve food.

Mr. Ping asks Po what he dreamt. Po, however, is hesitant to tell him his actual dream. So, he says that he had a dream about noodles. Mr. Ping is pleased since he thinks it’ll help him with his business.

At some point, there is a tournament happening on the mountain nearby. Po wants to attend. Mr. Ping has him take the noodle cart with him. This causes him to struggle to move up the steps to the event. So, he leaves it behind.

Unfortunately, once Po gets to the tournament, it is too late for him to be admitted. So, he decides to find other ways to watch it. Sadly, each method fails.

But Po does succeed in seeing the tournament after adding rockets to the chair on his back. However, it sends him flying into the arena.

There are a few competitors fighting for the chance to be the dragon warrior. They are known as the Furious Five. They include Viper, Monkey, Mantis, Tigress, and Crane.

Po gets chosen as the dragon warrior after accidentally landing amongst the Furious Five. Oogway, an old and wise tortoise, has elected this.

But Master Shifu, an irritable red panda, disagrees. This is because Po landed there by accident. He denies Po as the champion.

Yet Po wants to master his kung fu fighting skills. Master Shifu does offer him challenges. But they are all too difficult. So, he and the Furious Five consider Po, being the dragon warrior, a joke. They all believe that he doesn’t belong with them.

Meanwhile, a bird called Zeng gets sent to strengthen security at the prison where Tai Lung, a dangerous snow leopard, is being kept.

Po continues to train with the Furious Five and Master Shifu. Not long after, though, he wants to quit. But Master Shifu won’t let him resign at that point, because it is too late. So, Po returns to the area where the Furious Five are staying. He improves his kung fu abilities and learns to get along with the others.

However, not long after, Tai Lung escapes from prison. Po and the Furious Five have to train even harder to defeat him.

Unfortunately, the entire kingdom is now in danger. Can Po and the Furious Five overthrow Tai Lung?

There are so many aspects I enjoyed about this film. One of them is how realism is incorporated into a cartoon. Many animated movies and shows defy realistic laws of physics, although I understand why. But this one did not.

Every time Po tried to use something to move himself, it would backfire, and he’d often get hurt. For example, when he tried to view the tournament after getting locked out, he climbed a tree and attempted to launch himself. But he fell and hurt himself.

I admire Po as a character. Although he was naïve, he was determined and committed to learning kung fu. I also love his relationship with his father. It was very sweet. His dad did not put him down once.

Po’s relationship with Master Shifu wasn’t perfect. However, it did get better.

All the characters were well-developed. From Po to the Furious Five and even to the malicious Tai Lung, they each had unique traits.

The plot was also easy to follow. And the pacing was pretty fast.

That being said, some parts were a little bit rushed, I was hoping for some more time spent in certain scenes.

But that flaw did not detract from the film’s strengths. Like with any good movie, this one had lots of twists and turns.

One of them was how Po was voiced by Jack Black but didn’t sound a lot like him. Yet that’s normal in voice acting for cartoons.

Overall, I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda. It is a great movie that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.