Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

23 American Carol, An
26 Babylon A.D.
24 Bangkok Dangerous
42 Beverly Hills Chihuahua
45 Blindness
58 Body of Lies
62 Burn After Reading
xx City of Ember
15 College
82 Dark Knight, The
43 Death Race
15 Disaster Movie
43 Eagle Eye
xx Express, The
49 Family That Preys, The
57 Flash of Genius
36 Fly Me to the Moon
54 Get Smart
72 Ghost Town
49 Hancock
34 Happening, The
78 Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71 Horton Hears a Who!
55 House Bunny, The
36 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
61 Incredible Hulk, The
65 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
79 Iron Man
57 Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73 Kung Fu Panda
46 Lakeview Terrace
52 Longshots, The
24 Love Guru, The
53 Lucky Ones, The
51 Mamma Mia!
43 Meet Dave
37 Miracle at St. Anna
35 Mirrors
31 Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
34 My Best Friend's Girl
64 Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
39 Nights in Rodanthe
64 Pineapple Express
xx Quarantine
36 Righteous Kill
53 Rocker, The
xx RocknRolla
53 Sex and the City: The Movie
63 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36 Space Chimps
35 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
51 Step Brothers
47 Swing Vote
60 Traitor
71 Tropic Thunder
70 Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93 WALL-E
64 Wanted
27 Women, The
47 X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54 You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

85 Alexandra
xx All of Us
53 Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
57 Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
40 America the Beautiful
66 American Teen
74 Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
63 Appaloosa
xx Ashes of Time Redux
65 August Evening
xx Bachna Ae Haseeno
62 Baghead
81 Ballast
55 Battle in Seattle
59 Beautiful Losers
xx Beer for My Horses
47 Before the Rains
80 Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
xx Billy: The Early Years
63 Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56 Bottle Shock
75 Boy A
55 Bra Boys
xx Breakfast with Scot
61 Brick Lane
64 Brideshead Revisited
61 Bustin' Down the Door
xx Call and Response
49 Children of Huang Shi, The
47 Choke
xx Choose Connor
xx Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
54 CSNY: Déjà Vu
41 Cthulhu
64 Duchess, The
85 Edge of Heaven, The
66 Elegy
33 Elite Squad
52 Elsa & Fred
80 Encounters at the End of the World
26 Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64 Fall, The
28 Fireproof
86 Flight of the Red Balloon, The
65 Flow: For Love of Water
37 Forever Strong
39 Forgiveness
82 Frozen River
73 Girl Cut in Two, A
62 Girls Rock!
xx Goal II: Living the Dream
73 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
57 Good Dick
54 Hamlet 2
xx Happy-Go-Lucky
25 Hell Ride
44 Henry Poole is Here
31 Hounddog
53 Humboldt County
72 I Served the King of England
71 I.O.U.S. A
40 Igor
64 In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46 Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67 Jellyfish
xx Just Buried
62 Kabluey
63 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78 Last Mistress, The
52 Last Stop for Paul
70 Love Songs
xx Lower Learning
63 Man Named Pearl, A
89 Man on Wire
62 Mister Foe
86 Momma's Man
74 Mongol
80 Moving Midway
46 My Mexican Shivah
xx Nights and Weekends
73 Obscene
80 Order of Myths, The
67 Patti Smith: Dream of Life
xx Phoebe in Wonderland
55 Ping Pong Playa
77 Pool, The
72 Priceless
82 Rachel Getting Married
61 Red
55 Religulous
71 Roman de gare
78 Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51 Savage Grace
58 Save Me
72 Secret, A
45 Shoot on Sight
57 Sixty Six
55 Sukiyaki Western Django
16 Surfer, Dude
82 Tell No One
56 Then She Found Me
63 Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
71 To the Limit
57 Towelhead
72 Transsiberian
83 Trouble the Water
83 U2 3D
84 Up the Yangtze
52 Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
79 Visitor, The
61 Wackness, The
xx Whaledreamers
54 What We Do Is Secret
66 When Did You Last See Your Father?
67 XXY
55 Year of the Fish
39 Young People F**king
75 Young@Heart

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Kung Fu Panda
DreamWorks Animation


8.0

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 62 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

MPAA RATING: PG for sequences of martial arts action

Starring Jack Black, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, and Jackie Chan

Enthusiastic, big and a little clumsy, Po is the biggest fan of Kung Fu around…which doesn’t exactly come in handy while working every day in his family’s noodle shop. Unexpectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Po’s dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols—the legendary fighters Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey—under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu. But before they know it, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way, and it’s up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat. Can he turn his dreams of becoming a Kung Fu master into reality? Po puts his heart-and his girth-into the task, and the unlikely hero ultimately finds that his greatest weaknesses turn out to be his greatest strengths. (Dreamworks)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Animation \| Comedy \| Family/Kids
WRITTEN BY:	Cyrus Voris (story) Ethan Reiff (story) Glenn Berger Jonathan Aibel
DIRECTED BY:	Mark Osborne John Stevenson
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: June 6, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	88 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Light and goofy, yet the fight scenes, which are the heart of the film, are lickety-split mad fun.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Yet another celebrity-voiced animal adventure, but it stands out from the crowd of similar films with its lightning wit and whirlwind brio.

Washington Post John Anderson

Infectious and inspiring, despite one's best efforts to resist its charms.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

At once fuzzy-wuzzy and industrial strength, the tacky-sounding Kung Fu Panda is high concept with a heart.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The stroke of genius is, of course, the film's hero -- the big, lovable bear that is the Chinese panda.

Time Richard Corliss

The new picture provides a master coursed in cunning visual art and ultra-satisfying entertainment.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The voice cast includes Angelina Jolie as a tigress, omnipresent Seth Rogen as an acupuncturist who's a praying mantis, David Cross as a nasal crane and Lucy Liu as a cheerful viper.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Everything about Kung Fu Panda is a little better, a little sharper, a little funnier than the animated run of the mill.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's not an instant classic, but it's imaginatively drawn, full of charming characters, alive with action sequences and blissfully free of the snickering scatology and endless pop-culture references.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The animation is consistently sporty and there are some choice comic riffs on martial arts movies.

Empire Chris Hewitt

Rudimentary plot and merely decent gags aside, this is the finest DreamWorks Animation effort since the first Shrek, chiefly because of its astonishing visuals and kinetic kung fu sequences.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Po speaks loudly and carries big shtick. Let the rest of the world cringe at our hyperconfidence, our charisma, our pure awesomeness.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The result is a genuinely pleasing kung fu movie that kids and grown-ups can enjoy.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It's the overriding spirit of the movie that forms its greatest appeal: Here's a movie that isn't intent on conquering the world but simply entertaining you for a breezy 90 minutes.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

This movie leaves 'em laughing - and gasping.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Thanks to a witty script and the recognizably goofy but absolutely earnest delivery of Black, Kung Fu Panda has a human soul, too.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is probably the best movie so far this year about a kung-fu fighting panda.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Beautifully animated, the celebrity voice performances are terrific, and the action sequences negotiate the fine line between being physically convincing and becoming too intense for the young children.

Premiere Jenni Miller

It was definitely a great idea to give Kung Fu Panda the IMAX treatment. The fight scenes, quivering whiskers and moist noses, foggy mountaintops, and fluttering peach blossoms are equally impressive on the huge, curved screen.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not one of the great recent animated films. The story is way too predictable, and truth to tell, Po himself didn't overwhelm me with his charisma. But it's elegantly drawn, the action sequences are packed with energy, and it's short enough that older viewers will be forgiving.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

This is a solid family film material, although one suspects the children will get a little more out of it than their parents.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Perfectly pleasant, very good-looking, modestly funny, dispiritingly unoriginal variant on the nerd-with-a-dream recipe that's been clobbered to death in animated films for at least a decade now.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

The action, heavily influenced by Hong Kong martial arts films, is beautifully choreographed.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The essence of the film is slapsticky, chopsocky action, rendered with great verve and accompanied by bromides having to do with the need to believe.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Tongue-in-cheek dialogue, inventive slapstick and fight sequences, and luminous production design make this a treat.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Po (Black) may be an animated panda bear, but make no mistake: Deep down he's really just a nerd with a pop-culture obsession.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

The film lacks the comic ingenuity of the best in CGI critter movies. It's not fun-for-the-whole-family, like "Shrek." Still, it's a howl and amazement for anyone under 12.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Kung Fu Panda goes nowhere surprising even as its images unscroll handsomely before our eyes. The sound could go out in the theater, and you wouldn't ask for your money back.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

This is an unashamedly old-fashioned children's movie, and a predictable message is part of the mission. But that's okay; what the movie lacks in surprises, it makes up for in whimsical fun.

NPR Bob Mondello

Though the film's simple story is squarely aimed at tots, DreamWorks' digitizers have referenced Eastern visual styles -- everything from delicate Chinese screens to flashy Japanese anime -- to enliven the look of the film.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A nice looking but heavily formulaic DreamWorks animation entry.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Though occasionally visually inventive, Kung Fu Panda is a disappointment when it comes to matters of simple black and white: the script.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

It's impressive enough to look at, and the voice talent – especially Black and Hoffman - doesn't disappoint, but all the CGI wankery and high-end talent only barely allows Kung Fu Panda to rise above cliché.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 62 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Rishi I gave it an8:
Very enjoyable movie for both kids and adults. A simply movie formula done extremely well. The fight scenes were surprisingly good as well, Wo Ping would be proud. The animation is excellent and brings the story of a likable Panda to life.

Daz L gave it an8:
Such an enjoyable film to watch with a great cast backing it up. Perfect film to watch with the family or if your just in the mood for a laugh.

Jason D. gave it a10:
I thought this would be good fun but quite frankly I was awestruck to the point of tears at some of the staggeringly beautiful backdrops and scenes. Admittedly I am a sucker for visuals but I was not the only one in the theatre gasping and breathless with astonishment at times. For me then, the best computer animated film to date, even with the standard so high overall

CJ A. gave it a9:
This movie was action packed and hilarious! The humor in the movies was great and kept laughing until the very end. A great movie for all ages!

Brian W. gave it a7:
This was a good story for both adults and kids. I took my wife and 5 year old son to see this movie. We all enjoyed it. The movie started a little slow, but picked up pace once the Panda starting his training.

Dave F gave it an8:
Adorable, delightful action-comedy with panache. Why didn't anyone think to do martial arts with Warner Bros.-style cartoons before? Jack Black is amusing enough, but the real treat is the artistry and animation. I did not expect to love this movie.

Jacque V gave it an8:
This was a really good movie to watch. It's really funny, so obviously lots of people would like. I'm one of those people. The story was quite interesting, and if you haven't seen it, it's good to watch with friends/family.

Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks Animation

Kung Fu Panda
DreamWorks Animation