Kung Fu fightin’ with Jack Black

In theaters Friday: Get Smart, The Love Guru
New on DVD: Be Kind Rewind, Fool’s Gold

It takes a keen wit and indescribable intellectual discipline to be able to distill all of one’s talents, comedic and otherwise, into a single, unintelligible and completely made-up “word.” But that’s what Jack Black does in Kung Fu Panda, as evidenced by my wife and I waiting 80 minutes into the film for one utterance of the trailer’s hilarious sound effect quip: “Skadoosh!” Kung Fu Panda is simply the best-animated comedy I have seen in the past few years. Though some characters are underutilized, I realize I’m even thinking that because I liked them all so much and wanted to see more of each. In an era of too many Shreks, I would actually welcome a sequel to this one with open arms.

So who’s in it and what’s it about? Well, Black stars as a Po, a panda raised by Mr. Ping, a noodle shop-owning papa bird played by James Hong. Seinfeld fans will recognize him from the “Chinese Restaurant” episode and expect to hear “Seinfeld, four!” any minute. But instead of spending his entire life making noodles, Po dreams of being a kung fu master, dreams rendered hilarious in the righteously over-the-top tone only Black can do. Just replace Black’s know-it-all music geekery in Tenacious D and School of Rock for kung fu here, and you get the picture.

But destiny calls Po out of his mundane existence when he is chosen to join an elite group of martial artists to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Among the kung fu masters are Angelina Jolie’s Tigress, Jackie Chan’s Monkey, David Cross’ Crane, Lucy Liu’s Viper, and playing little Mantis is Seth Rogen, who gets in the funniest line of the movie: “I wish my mouth was bigger.” I won’t spoil you with the context of that joke, but I thought it was hilarious and well timed. Of course, Po is an out-of-shape panda who can’t kick, punch, jump or run to save his life, so his road to becoming a karate kid is a pretty rocky one. But that’s what makes the film work as a comedy and a life-lesson for kids, driving home the themes of sacrifice, perseverance and self-confidence.

The digital animation, particularly the deadly Tai Lung’s escape from prison, was immersive, detailed and stylized with enough realism to keep you in the moment (more realism than 300 anyway), but enough fantasy to make it more interesting than a couple clicks through Second Life. Kung Fu Panda took in $60 million its first weekend, and should be a hit with kids and their parents. But if you’re in your 20s and 30s there is absolutely no shame in seeing this comedy. It’s got Black, Rogen and Cross, and it is better for what it is than any of that trio’s latest work — until Tropic Thunder , that is.