Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2

I've had a couple of weeks off from the blog.  Real life and bad internet connections intervened but I'm back and ready to blog again.  So, let's get to it.

First off, I was prepared for the Awesomeness (with a capital A) of this movie and as a sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2 really delivers.  If wasn't for abysmal 3D in the theater that I saw it at, things were so bad that at plenty a time, it was better to watch the film without the 3D glasses.  I'll have to see this again just to appreciate all the action and animation which occurs so fast.  I finally understood what Roger Ebert has been bemoaning in his columns.  If the theater is not equipped to show 3D properly, your movie going experience is going to be disaster.  

But let's put that aside and get to the actual film.  This time around, Po the Panda joins the Furious Five, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper as the Dragon Warrior and fight against injustice.  Despite his awkwardness, he is beginning to fit into their dynamic.  However, a new danger looms ahead for them as Lord Shen is out to destroy kung fu with a new and dangerous weapon.  Master Shifu warns them and advises them to find inner peace as they go off to find this new enemy.  

However, Po also has some other pressing matters at hand.  Most importantly, the mystery of who his real parents were.  This is one of the more intriguing parts of the movie.  Po finally has a heart to heart with his father, Mr. Ping, who admits to him that he found him one day amidst the grocery deliveries out back.  The whole flashback was executed really well and quite touching too.  I mean, who doesn't love baby pandas?  

The fight to save kung fu also becomes Po's quest to find out what happened to his real parents.  But Po manages to save the day in the end, quite obviously, and it's on to more adventures as the Kung Fu Panda franchise moves forward to another sequel and SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT, it involves his dad.  I wished we could have spent more time with the pandas, that whole storyline seemed a bit too rushed and incomplete and now I see why.  The next movie will more panda-centric and to that I say, more pandas, please!  I left the theater wanting to know more of Po's story despite the really bad 3D.  Do not miss this film!!  

PS- Kudos for to the duo of Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Melissa Cobb as director and producer of this animated feature.  Women in film!!! We need to see more of this.  

Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson; Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger; Music by Hans Zimmer and John Powell

Rating:  (the film)

Rating:  (the 3D)