Kung Fu Panda 2 Review - UnEdited

[Ult_Sm86]

Kung Fu Panda 2
Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Starring: Jack Black, Gary Oldman, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, & David Cross
Rated: PG
Dreamworks Animation/Paramount Pictures
(**** Stars)

If someone proposed the plot of a tubby panda who dreams of learning Kung-Fu and one magical day earned his dream when fate chose him to the protector of the valley, you would say "That sounds like it will be a great movie". Kung Fu Panda was, indeed, a great movie. A crowing achievement in animation and for Dreamworks back in 2007 when it was released. If someone were to approach you soon after and ask you if they can make a sequel you would suspect no. There is not enough story or character development to continue Panda Po's journey.


If you said this, you were wrong. Kung Fu Panda 2 was without a doubt one of the few family sequels to be released in the last 10 years (with the exception of the Toy Story trilogy) that actually stands on its own two feet, apart from the first film. It is a completely different story with a lot of new characters and each of the characters from the previous film (specifically the Furious Five) are fleshed out very well in this new installment.


Jack Black is not just the voice but the very soul of an overweight panda who yearns for more action but we see in the sequel that action and kung fu are no longer enough to sedate him. Po has some serious problems finding his inner peace. He is at great distress when old memories, long ago forgotten, begin to flood his mind (and at the most inopportune times). These memories are key to unlocking his past and his origins.


Meanwhile, the banished and besmirched peacock prince Shen has designed a weapon that would ultimately wipe out Kung Fu. The necessity for learning it would be lost and Shen will rule his kingdom as he was meant to before his banishment. Unfortunately this means that Shen's new weapon will soon be aimed to Po, his 5 friends and masters of martial arts, and their valley.


Together they set off to battle it out with Shen but a long the way a journey of self-doubt. Po's intense hatred is in need of being tamed by an inner peace which he feels he is incapable of achieving.


Po's simple story has been written into an enchanting tale that will entertain people of all ages. Once again the camerawork during the fight sequences is tight and close to the action. Thanks to Dreamworks' beautiful animation the camera can give us perspectives otherwise unseen in real life kung fu movies. The animation is unique and stylized to resemble Japanese art (not anime). These reasons alone are all valid enough to pay the money to see this in theaters but if you're having your doubts definitely check out the soundtrack. Like the predecessor, it has a positively enticing score that serves the movie very well.


The big pit falls are with the 3D. This fad either needs to find its place or end quickly because it is slowly ruining each movie that is released and waving the 3D banner. Kung Fu Panda 2 had so many great scenes but there are some parts in the middle that really lag and stretch that could have easily been shortened. However, they are there simply to promote and/or utilize the 3-D effects. The abuse of the 3-D is not anywhere near as bad as Cameron's Avatar or even Disney's Bolt, but it is a bit of a screw-up on their behalf. It is wholly unnecessary and may cause some confusion to younger audiences during some of the fight scenes.


The villain in this film is far more developed than the villain in the previous film (a snow leopard named Tai Lung, played by Ian McShane who is recently seen in Pirates 4). Shen has far more going for him as a character with much more at stake but unfortunately they chose to recycle a lot of the same themes with Tai Lung such as "I am unaccepted for who I am" and "I deserve what I was promised".


The story balances this out though with Po's ever-constant positive outlook, even when facing down Shen who is -- by far -- the most brutal opponent Dreamworks has ever cooked up.


Kung Fu Panda 2 is a great flick and a definite summer movie. If those muggy Rhode Island days are bogging you down, haul the family into the car, head down to the air conditioned movie theater, and throw down the cash for this film. Everyone will laugh, everyone will throw up their hands and cheer, and you may even shed a tear or two. It is another accomplishment and another notch on the belt around Dreamworks Animation that they are capable of competing with Pixar.

[steyn]

Small note, I didn't watch it in 3D, I watched it in the normal no glasses experience, and I loved every bit of the visuals.
And now a small fact for those who will be watching the movie and wondering why there's a little bit more 2d animation in this one. The first Kung Fu Panda movie's 2d animated sequence at the start was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the woman who took the directing helm for Kung Fu Panda 2.