Po is a lazy, loveable panda who spends all the time when he should be working at his father's noodle shop daydreaming about being a kung fu master and a member of the Furious Five. When vengeful snow leopard Tai Lung escapes from prison, an ancient prophecy identifies Po as the only hope to defeat him. Reluctantly kung fu master Shifu agrees to train him along the Furious Five, but neither he nor they has any real faith in him. But as Tai Lung gets closer and the danger becomes greater, Po finally knuckles down and starts to learn.

However, the overall quality of the animation has improved since Dreamworks' last outing. All the players have subtle facial tics that increase their range of expressions. The background textures such as wood, ceramics, fire and reflections are extremely good. The jade palace especially is beautifully rendered. The use of different "camera angles" is impressive, for instance the swooping vision employed in the first fight or the hand-held effect when the village is evacuated. The directors are canny enough to use the kinds of tricks that turn up in live action kung fu movies. So we get freeze frames of particularly hard blows, and slow-motion reaction shots (such as when Po is taking a pasting during training), training montages and the traditional shot of master and pupil doing katas at sunset. They use sepia tones for flashbacks and blues and greys for evil, giving a little more visual depth to the film. The way they shoot the final confrontation is also very effective, setting up an unnerving storm as a backdrop and employing eerie lighting techniques to add a frisson of excitement to events. The kung fu itself is very well realised, with the characters doing many real moves, adapted to their various body shapes. So it looks flashy and fun.

The screenplay by "King of the Hill" scribes pilfers aspects from virtually all generic kung fu movies. A poor boy with big dreams gets the chance to train with the best and prove himself against that bad guy to save his village. Of course it's written with a comic sensibility so the hero is a fat, uncoordinated panda that has to fight his own physical limitation as well as the prejudices of the Furious Five and his unwilling mentor before he even gets to the villain. There are no prizes for guessing the outcome. The film comes with a built-in "be true to yourself" message in addition to a sub-moral about the importance of letting go of pride.

The filmmakers once more go for a big name voice cast without giving most of them enough to do. Jack Black gives a very animated performance (if you'll pardon the pun) as the voice of Po. You can feel the energy radiating from behind the microphone as the character bumbles his way through slapstick situations. Black brings his usual brand of slacker surf-dude to the part that suits the role's dreamy outlook. Dustin Hoffman seems to be having fun as the voice of red panda Shifu, giving his latest apprentice a hard time and throwing out fortune cookie wisdom as though he means it. Ian McShane growls his way through the part of Tai Lung as any good villain would. But Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and David Cross struggle to come up with a personality between them as the Furious Five because they have so little screen-time. Jolie in particular sounds bored by the whole affair. It's the lesser known actors that shine, such as Randall Duk Kim as the voice of Oogway and James Hong as Po's father. They bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to their roles that makes the characters stand out when they are on screen.

"Kung Fu Panda" is a fun family film that will appeal to kids that are into programmes like "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" with its blend of martial arts and slapstick. But adults will enjoy it for its kung fu references and it's unlikely you'll drop off watching it. However, the animation still can't compete with the likes of Pixar and the comedy is impeded by stodgy timing. So it isn't one of those films that will make you go "Wow!" or stay with you for very long after you've watched it. But if you're looking for something to keep the kids occupied for an hour-and-a-bit, you could do worse.