In theaters

KUNG-FU PANDA, directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, 95 minutes, rated PG.

DreamWorks’ new computer-animated movie, “Kung-Fu Panda,” does a few things right, not the least of which is hitting theaters three weeks before Pixar’s eagerly anticipated “Wall-E,” which would have crushed it had it opened opposite it.

Since “Panda” deserved to find its niche – which the box office certainly suggests it did – it’s good that that wasn’t the case. The movie is filled with clever, colorful animation, likable characters and one villain sure to ignite plenty of PG-rated fear in younger viewers.

The film follows Po (voice of Jack Black), a cute, bumbling panda with a gut the size of the moon whose hum-drum life is spent with his adoptive father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), making noodles for the Chinese locals. Saddled with low self-esteem and a job he hates, Po is nothing if not a panda armed with a rich imagination. As unlikely as it seems given his size, he nevertheless has dreams of being as great at the art of kung-fu as his heroes, the Furious Five.

That group is a clutch of fiercely competitive animals – Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross) and Viper (Lucy Liu). For much of their lives, all have been trained by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to become the next Dragon Warrior and thus battle the fearsome Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a tiger who turned to the dark side after also being trained by Shifu.

When the turtle, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), mistakenly makes Po the next Dragon Warrior, let’s just say that Shifu has his work cut out for him to turn this panda into the warrior he presumably can become if only he has the courage to believe in himself. And he’d better do just that, since there’s an ancient scroll involved that will allow its recipient supreme powers to use for good or evil.

While all of these messages have been recounted before in other movies, how they’re packaged here still is sweet.

What the film manages to do that so many computer animated movies don’t do well is that it achieves a balance of getting the high-tech incidentals right – the texture of a panda’s fur, for instance, or the realistic way that Po’s belly bounces when he moves – without sacrificing what really matters, the characters and the story. After its buoyant start, the film does drag a bit during its less-involving second act, but it pulls itself together (not unlike Po himself) to deliver a terrific final act.

Bolstering all of this is the feisty, often beautifully realized animation, which is consistently inventive and strong, particularly in the clipped, frenetic fight sequences, which bring to mind the wit of Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones. That his influence continues to be felt is no surprise – there’s a wealth still to be learned there – and it’s one of the underlying reasons “Kung-Fu Panda” works as well as it does.

Grade: B

On DVD and Blu-ray disc

THE BUCKET LIST, directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, 97 minutes, rated PG-13.

Rob Reiner’s fairy tale about living and dying with terminal cancer stars two of our finest living actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, each of whom improve upon the manufactured material by the sheer strength of their talent and chemistry.

This unlikely, mostly feel-good movie allows its two main characters to live out their life’s fantasies by compiling a bucket list of all the things they want to do before they officially kick the bucket. Since their wishes are steeped in financial extremes – no average person struggling with, say, the cost of health care could afford such extravagances – the movie eschews reality for the balm of going out with a bang.

In the film, Freeman is Carter Chambers, a genius mechanic who is no stranger to cancer. When it returns, he finds himself back in the hospital, where he undergoes his last possible hope for a full recovery with the help of an experimental drug.

Nicholson is Edward Cole, the difficult, superwealthy owner of the hospital in which Carter is convalescing. When Edward coughs blood into a handkerchief one afternoon, it’s off to his own hospital for him. There, after brain surgery, he himself learns that his own time on Earth is limited to six months, maybe a year. Same as Carter.

Though Cole is a cruel, egomaniacal billionaire, he nevertheless agrees to share a room with Carter because his snappy assistant, Thomas (Sean Hayes), has a mind for PR and doesn’t believe that Edward should face the media ramifications of breaking his golden rule – two beds to one room, always.

Whether you buy into that or not, this contrivance nevertheless allows the two men to grow close and become friends. In the film’s early scenes, it also allows for some genuine moments of kindness, reflection and manly bonding before – shazam! – the men are heroically well enough to jump out of airplanes, journey to the South of France for dinner, visit the Taj Majal and the Pyramids, and even climb the Himalayas, among other things, in spite of still sporting catheters.

While there is a kind of fizzy, dreamlike joy to be had in watching these men live out their final days in spite of the unlikely energy they have found to do so, anyone on intimate terms with cancer might be left lifting an eyebrow or two at the ease with which the director and writer overlook the realities of the disease.

Grade: C+

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, video podcasts, iTunes portal and archive of hundreds of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.