THE fat panda

Just got back from Kung Fu Panda. I was blown away. You know how a bad audience experience can ruin a good movie? Well I got in early and got the best seats, so of course everyone else plopped down all around me. And it wasn't because of my magnetic personality. So with the masses cackling about, kicking seats, spilling junk food in a surround-sound symphony of movie-spoiling mayhem, I was pleasantly surprised that once the film began it transcended all these unpleasantries and drew me in where it was warm and fuzzy (we're talking about a panda after all) and where no distractions could touch me. Zen... appropriately enough.


Kung Fu Panda is Dreamworks firing on all cylinders, perhaps for the first time. Everything was top-notch. There was a maturity to this film that I hope marks the beginning of a new era for all animated features. I kept wincing in expectation of a sudden break into song and dance or mindless frolicking around that usually crops up to fill time when the story is rice-paper thin. No, this thing is well-crafted from the get-go and the story is rich enough to sustain the entire timeslot.

Kudos to you, Dreamworks. Give me a call sometime why don'tcha?