Kung Fu Panda | *** 1/2 RATING
When “Kung Fu Panda,” starring the voice of Jack Black as Po, isn’t delighting us with CGI visions and lush 2D animation, it’s treating characters with tender affection. Po’s tale of unlikely heroism is at once familiar and fresh. Po is a martial arts geek, a kung-fu fan-da who knows all the lore and skills of “the furious five” fighters who occupy the temple atop the nearby mountain and train under Dustin Hoffman’s martial arts master Shifu and sage tortoise Oogway (Randall Duk Kim). Angelina Jolie voices Tigress, the most gifted of Shifu students, who along with characters played by Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, David Cross and Seth Rogen, hope to fulfill the prophecy of the dragon warrior and save the valley from the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). Instead, an accident of timing in a movie in which “there are no accidents” turns Po into the foretold hero. With loads of laugh lines, “Kung Fu Panda” plays with the yin-yang tension of sincerity and irreverence. But it never shirks a popcorn tenet: Kernels of wisdom must be tasty. PG. 1 hour, 34 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
Hellboy II: The Golden Army | ** 1/2 RATING
What a great character Hellboy is. Comic-book writer Mike Mignola created him. Gifted director Guillermo del Toro brought him to the screen in the winning 2004 original and now this sequel. Best of all, though the “Golden Army” script isn’t as perfectly honed, Ron Perl- man continues to make the big demon hero (rescued as a kid by a kindly scientist working for the U.S. military) a great guy to spend time with. “The Golden Army” is a sturdy comic-book-inspired outing with a few very amusing asides, including a visit to a troll market. This time, HB, girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) face the possibility of an all-out elf-human war when a truce is broken by Prince Nuada. He’s the one with the Edgar Winter hair and the chip on his shoulder toward humans. If successfully summoned from the depths, the titular army will tilt the balance apocalyptically. Princess Nuala is the kinder, gentler soul and the fabulous Abe honestly falls for her. In the midst of action is some domestic tension, a sweet crush and, this being del Toro (who wrote the screenplay), a great many fantastical faeries and creatures for our freak heroes to take on. “The Golden Army” is fun. And it’s unafraid to embrace the schmaltzy. PG-13. 1 hour, 40 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
Star Wars: The Clone Wars | *** RATING
This “Clone Wars” big-screen preview of the new fall TV series is actually better than expected. Jabba the Hutt’s slimy little larva (his son) has been larva-napped. And since he is the “all wise and powerful Jabba” who controls the trade routes to the outer rim of the galaxy “far far away,” both the Jedi and the Sith want to be the ones to rescue the kid. This well-financed rebellion is able to mount major space battles, enlist (or enslave) new star systems and stage planet- by-planet invasions, which the Republic and its Jedi generals fend off one by one. The combat animation here is vivid, and the animation in general is almost lifelike at times. PG. 1 hour, 38 minutes. Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel
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