( CNN ) -- Ever since Robin Williams ' turn as the Genie in `` Aladdin , '' voice artists who specialize in character work for animated movies have been sidelined by celebrities , no doubt tickled to do something they can show to their children . Jack Black tackles the voice of an energetic panda in the animated feature `` Kung Fu Panda . '' DreamWorks Animation especially has invested in star power -- though the studio 's rationale must be to flatter an older , media-savvy audience . ( After all , it 's the place that teamed Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in `` Shark Tale '' and loaded the `` Shrek '' franchise with the dulcet tones of Mike Myers , Eddie Murphy , Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas . ) Too often though , DreamWorks movies coast on lazy pop cultural references in place of the deeper story and character development found in Pixar productions . `` Kung Fu Panda '' goes a step further . It 's essentially an old-fashioned star vehicle , a virtual Jack Black movie that saves us the dubious pleasure of watching the real Jack Black doing the splits . ( If you doubt that he could , check out the gravity-defying stunts an effects-enhanced Adam Sandler is capable of in `` You Do n't Mess With the Zohan . '' Or , on second thought , just take my word for it . ) Black is Po , a tubby panda who dreams of kung fu `` awesomeness '' but whose career prospects boil down to inheriting his father 's noodle stand . That is , until doddery turtle Master Oogway ( Randall Duk Kim ) baffles everyone by anointing Po the `` Dragon Warrior , '' a champion who will defend the valley from the wrath of mighty snow leopard Tai Lung ( Ian McShane ) . This inexplicable appointment not only threatens the safety of the entire community , it infuriates Oogway 's small ratlike lieutenant , Shifu ( a petulant Dustin Hoffman ) , who has dedicated himself to grooming a group called the Furious Five for just this task : Tigress ( Angelina Jolie ) , Monkey ( Jackie Chan ) , Mantis ( Seth Rogen ) , Viper ( Lucy Liu ) and Crane ( David Cross ) . iReport.com : Share your review of `` Kung Fu Panda '' How can a chubby novice such as Po compete with these fierce warriors , let alone his former protégé , Tai Lung ? Shifu puts Po through the wringer in the hope that he 'll see sense and quit , but along with his prodigious appetite for chop suey , it turns out the panda is also quite the glutton for punishment . In other words , this is a fortune cookie variation that heroic slacker Black has played many times before : Po may look out of shape , but what he lacks in strength , discipline and intelligence , he more than makes up for in gut ( s ) . You do n't mess with the Po , man . The action tends to blur into a whirlwind of slapstick chaos . Choreography of kung fu between a snake or a mantis and a leopard may be too anatomically mindboggling to animate in greater detail . Bruce Lee was fast , but at least he had hands . The highlight is Po 's breakthrough training bout with Shifu , a brilliantly inventive comic tour de force built around a solitary dumpling . Directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson , the film is brisk and businesslike , with an appropriately ersatz Chinatown look , but it does n't betray any personality beyond Black 's . Not that he is n't engaging , but it seems a waste of resources that Chan , Rogen , Liu and Jolie share about a dozen lines between them . `` Kung Fu Panda '' is fun as far as it goes , but unless you 're 12 , you 'll be hankering for something a bit more substantial half an hour after it 's over . `` Kung Fu Panda '' is rated PG and runs 95 minutes . For Entertainment Weekly 's much more laudatory take , click here .
` ` Kung Fu Master '' is a virtual Jack Black movie , says reviewer Tom Charity . Animated film is about panda picked as the one to defend valley . He has plenty to do , but rest of the movie is , he says .