Kung Fu Panda 2

"Okay, Step One: Free the Five."
  "What's Step Two?"
"Honestly, I didn't think I was gonna make it this far!"

Po (Black) is living his dream: he's the dragon warrior and protects the valley alongside his friends, the Furious Five: Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Mantis (Rogen), Viper (Liu), and Crane (Cross).  Po is still training with Master Shifu (Hoffman), trying to find inner peace.  But training is put on hold, when the city and kung fu are in danger.

The city was attacked by Lord Shen (Oldman), the heir to the peacock throne.  Years ago, Shen was creating a weapon to rule the country.  Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh), predicts Shen's defeat by a warrior of black and white, so Shen destroys all the pandas in the country... and he is banished from the city.  Shen vowed revenge, and has returned to the city with an army of wolves and a new weapon.  Can Po and the Five defeat the weapon and Shen, or will they (and kung fu) become extinct?


Animated sequels are tricky... sequels in general are a challenge, but it seems to be especially difficult with animated films, probably since more animated films get sequels.  For every success (like the Toy Story films) there are the misguided attempts (like the straight-to-DVD Disney versions).  Somehow, new director Jennifer Yuh and writers Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger, were able to preserve the feel of the original, while progressing the stories and characters in a natural and interesting way. Some of the questions from the original were answered, such as how can a panda have a goose for a father? 

The original cast returned, once again breathing life into the characters.  Black is the standout, which is good since he is the focus of the film.  The Five are under utilized: if you are going to get this many talented actors together, why not play to their strengths or at least give them each a memorable moment in the film?  Seth Rogen's Mantis gets a few funny quips, but the rest don't have enough to do.  James Hong is great as Mr. Ping, bringing new depth to the character.  And Gary Oldman manages to make a peacock sinister (who knew that was possible?).

The animation is good... giving each character a unique fighting style and paying homage to classic kung fu movies.  A good sequel and animated feature.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) 91 minutes
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Starring: Jack Black as Po
Angelina Jolie as Tigress
Dustin Hoffman as Shifu
Gary Oldman as Shen
Jackie Chan as Monkey
Seth Rogen as Mantis
Lucy Liu as Viper
David Cross as Crane