Ladies, and gentlemen, today, we continue with the Kung Fu Panda franchise. In this case, it is the second film that was just released three years after the first film, in 2011. So now, let’s discuss the sequel, the one, and only Kung Fu Panda 2.
Plot: Now that Po (Jack Black) is established as the Dragon Warrior, and fighting alongside the Furious Five, as well as continuing to learn more arts of kung fu under his master, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), a new threat arises in the form of Lord Shen (Gary Oldman). Shen was a peacock who, years before, was once a Prince of a place called Gongmen City, but was banished after committing a horrible crime that affected others really badly. Now, along with a huge wolf army, Shen creates a powerful weapon with fireworks, and gunpowder, that could potentially destroy kung fu for good. After hearing of this threat from Master Shifu, can Po, along with Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), Master Crane (David Cross), Master Mantis (Seth Rogen), and Master Viper (Lucy Liu) stop Shen from destroying kung fu, and taking over China?
Now, I’ve heard a lot of people say that Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of the rare to few sequels to be just as good, if not better than, the original film. Is that in fact the case? Well, surprisingly, it is. In fact, if the first Kung Fu Panda hadn’t been quite as good as it had been in the end, Kung Fu Panda 2 would have for sure been better than it. First of all, though the characters were very well developed in the first film, their development goes above, and beyond in this sequel. That is especially for characters like Po, and Tigress. It is interesting to especially to get a more in depth backstory of where the former came from. Usually, we get something like this in a first movie of any franchise. So, it’s definitely surprising to find that we wait until a sequel for that in this case. Po also gets really well developed overall as well. This is especially the case with how he has to learn to navigate through certain situations, newer issues that come up in his life, and more. And wow, Lord Shen, he is most definitely one of the best villains of the Kung Fu Panda franchise, along with Tai Lung, from the first movie. Honestly, though Lord Shen is a slightly cooler villain than Tai Lung, the both of them could have potentially been a villain duo, as both had similar goals, most notably both wanting to return for revenge, albeit for different reasons, but still. Would Lord Shen, and his wolf army have taken Tai Lung if Shen, and Tai Lung were to have met? You got me! Just a potential theory to consider, I suppose. Anyway, another thing to mention about Lord Shen is, how could you not like him having an army, even an army of wolves, with a peacock as their leader? Very creative choice, I will say! Also, seeing Shen doo cool things like having creative cannons that spit cannons that are most likely combined with fireworks, as well as having the ability to shoot knives out of his wings, also really tight, wouldn’t you say? Oh, and how could I not mention the fact that Gary Oldman most definitely improved in his acting skills from the time that he voiced Ruber in the 1998 Warner Bros. film, Quest For Camelot, and then would go on to voice Lord Shen thirteen years later, in 2011? I mean for those of us who have seen Quest For Camelot, I’m sure many of us can agree that Oldman could have done a somewhat better job when playing him. But here, in Kung Fu Panda 2, when voicing Lord Shen, he does so much better at bringing that menacing touch to his character. Now that I’ve ranted about the character development for a little too long, especially with the villain, Lord Shen, let’s talk about the animation. Man, was the animation beautiful. This was especially the case with how the firework cannons shot out, the yellow smoke, and fire, the backgrounds overall, and the character designs. Also, the animation that occurred during the prologue at the beginning, in flashbacks of some of Po’s life, and during the end credits, that was also really good as well, especially since it seemed to be hand-drawn animation style similar to the very beginning of the first Kung Fu Panda film. Additionally, definitely be prepared to have either a box, or a package of tissues with you. The reason being is that there is a very heartbreaking scene that occurs around 2/3 of the way through the film. Hard to believe!?! Well, let’s just say that if you found yourself crying, or coming close to doing so at certain scenes like in A Walk To Remember, The Lion King, The Fox & The Hound, Dragon Heart, or movies like those, I can guarantee that you’ll find yourself doing the same at one point for this film as well. That’s one thing that I should mention. Some people might take issue with Kung Fu Panda 2 being a little darker, and a little more violent than the first film. Oh, don’t get me wrong! Kung Fu Panda 2 is still family friendly. It’s just that it has a slightly darker, and more mature tone to it than the first film did. Could that be why it didn’t make quite as much money as the first film did at the box office? Well, I guess that’s up in the air for discussion. I just also mention that Hans Zimmer, and John Powell return once again to score for this film. Man, did they go all out this time around. The score was phenomenal, and really captures the events that occur throughout this film. For the second to last benefit of this film, I should take a moment to talk about the climax of this film. No, I won’t give away what happens during this portion of the film. However, I will say this, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the animation, and visuals during this point in the film, and how well it is executed. Part of what makes this sequel great, and most likely even superior to the first film is because of this point of the film, and how creative it is that the results occur by the end. Finally, there’s the newer topics, and subjects that this film covers, most notably those about learning to find peace in the midst of dramatic events, not letting your past mistakes, or past negative events define you, learning to let go of hurts from the past, and learning to embrace the present, and future. Again, like with the lessons from the first film, these can also allow for Kung Fu Panda 2 to also be part of the “How To Find God In The Movies” series. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if say a church small group were to do a project where they watch movies like Jesus Revolution, or Facing The Giants, for example, and then maybe added either Kung Fu Panda 1, and/or 2 in the mix, and come up with discussion questions for either film. But hey, again, also up for discussion.
And that’s my review for Kung Fu Panda 2. Truthfully, it is very surprising how this sequel is just as great, maybe even better than Kung Fu Panda 1. It has great characters, excellent animation, really good action, an excellent score by Hans Zimmer, and John Powell, and more than one could ask for. Truthfully, though there was a great amount of heart, and care put into the first film, more of that seemed to be doubled down on for this sequel. And as for Rango winning the Oscar winning the award for Best Animated Feature instead of Kung Fu Panda 2, or any of the other animated films that were nominated from 2011, well, at least Rango won, and Cars 2 didn’t even get nominated. For a year that was interesting in a good way, it was good to see Kung Fu Panda 2 at least get nominated, despite not winning. Should it have won? Perhaps! Still, from what I remembered of Rango, that one was good too. So, whatever! Either way, if you haven’t seen Kung Fu Panda 2, I would most definitely recommend it. I can guarantee that you’ll love it just as much, maybe even more than Kung Fu Panda 1. And once you do, you’ll most definitely be surprised by how enjoyable it is. Now, will Kung Fu Panda 3, and 4 continue the streak of being really good like with the first two films? We shall see once I review those ones as well.
Final Grade: A+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 