REVIEW: KUNG FU PANDA 2

great.  I am duty bound to take the oldest to this so it's good to know the Kung Fu is at least as good as in the first one.

 

Didn't see that in the cinema but I remember when we got the DVD turning to my then 4 year old during the rope bridge fight sequence and going 'man, he kicked her ASS' forgetting that I was watching a kung fu movie with my daughter rather than mates.

Ooooh, thanks for this review, Josh.  

 

I love Kung Fu Panda and was already looking forward to the sequel, but wasn't all THAT excited (since I'd rather they have not done a sequel).  This is a nice boost of confidence.  Definitely excited to see it now.

 

Now, completely separated from the quality of the film itself...

 

I find it kinda interesting that the directing duties for this major sequel were given to an Asian-American woman (story artist for the first film) at a point when Pixar's upcoming Brave had their first female director replaced by a male one.  

Well, Pixar is hardcore about quality control. I have to assume that chick just wasn't up to snuff, gender irrelevant. Abstractly it is interesting though, indeed. And KFP2 is definitely the biggest movie ever directed by an Asian woman (that I'm aware of at least). Kinda surprised that isn't getting more press actually. 

 

 

And I'm with you in thinking they shouldn't have made a sequel. I think they should have turned it into a Saturday morning cartoon. But now that the sequels are coming, I'm interested in more.

 

Though I REALLY don't want a sequel to HTTYD. That makes even less sense to me.

 

Abstractly is exactly what I meant.  I love Pixar too much to immediately jump on the idea that it's a total boy's club.

 

Though, Jan Pinkava COULD be mistaken for a woman's name... Hahahahah

 

If I was a kid, I would've loved to see a Saturday morning cartoon for KFP done like the opening 2D sequence of the first film.  But a Saturday morning cartoon just can't maintain that level of quality.  Definitely with you about being suspicious of a HTTYD sequel.  I really wish they wouldn't with that one.
 

 

Wasn't HTTYD based on a book series?  Were the sequels not that good or was HTTYD the movie changed that much?  I can't really see where a sequel would go though that would be particularly great; everyone getting a pet dragon for REALZ would take away from the uniqueness of Hiccup and Toothless' relationship.  HTTYD works wonderfully as a standalone movie.

I think in the books there was no animosity between the Vikings.  I'm only going on the special features from the movie where they talk about there being a difference and that having that initial animosity being a good structural approach.  So I guess the sequels could then pick from the books more.

 

I also liked the 'Legend of the Boneknapper' from the DVD, especially "deploy the yak!"

Yeah, no clue about the books. I always assumed that the film bore little resemblance to the book(s), but I'm not actually basing that on anything other than how shit went down with previous animated adaptations.

Well i am very excited to watch this movie.

There's a real strong emotional core to the first KFP that just isn't usually there in Dreamworks' animated stuff. Both Po's relationship with his father and Shifu's entangled father/son business with Tae Lung really tug at the heartstrings in surprising ways. Glad to know this continues on that path.

I disagree on both--or, at the very least, there's much, much more logic to Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon sequels than there is to eight million Shreks. On a purely conceptual level, there's the history of the Furious Five, Po's "origin" (glad to hear they delve into that, though I admit leaving it as a great, understated gag in part one would have been brilliant), and there's the sheer fact that it's an action movie, so there's always another threat. And I actually did like the idea of expanding the scope into Po and the Five going on a quest, or something. Just as with HTTYD, I can easily see them expanding it into a whole epic fantasy thing.

 

The cool thing about Dreamworks right now is that they're sort of moving out of standard animation narrative territory and into more of a kid-friendly adventure movie structure. Of course they could milk it to death and probably will (six movies is indeed pretty ridiculous) but there's far more room for a genuinely epic narrative there than there is for Shrek, which was obviously a case of having a single cash cow that they desperately tried to keep afloat. It's good to hear that they're laying the groundwork already, too.

 

I think the thing that worked most for me with KFP was the obvious love they had for the genre.  It wasn't a spoof on it, or riffed on it it was a solid Kung Fu movie... just animated.

 

And yeah the relationships were great.  I loved near the end of the first one where Po's Dad says 'it's time I told you a secret..' and Po's eyes widen and then his Dad goes '.. the secret to my secret recipe noodles'.  And rather than going into Po's past he tells him what he needs to know.  Just a great moment.

And at the end, 'that Kung Fu warrior is my son!'

 

gold

Just came back from a showing of this.  Such fun.  I loved it with a few reservations.  I definitely agree with Josh that the first one has the advantage of being the standard hero story/origin.  I think the film struggles with being a sequel during the middle third or so.  It wants to be so big in scope and sequences that it felt like it was meandering (the despairing two masters of the city) and losing touch with the characters.  But thankfully, it all comes together in the end with some gorgeous sequences that explore Po's past and fantastic action sequences.  I have to be honest... I was on the verge of shedding some tears.  The movie retains the heart of the first movie in some pretty manipulative ways, but it really worked for me.  

 

And despite the fact that it lifts the climax of Shaolin Soccer almost wholesale, I loved Po's last stand.

 

I'm a little sad that Dustin Hoffman's Sifu character was mostly uninvolved with the story, since I loved the character.  But I'm also impressed with the writers for not trying to shoehorn him into a story that didn't need him.  As the character with the the subtly important arc in the first film, his journey was complete.  To try to involve him anymore in the sequel would've been a sequel-mistake.  Even the Furious Five, despite the fact that they're present throughout the movie, feel very out-of-focus.  Having the film focus instead on the friendship between Po and Tigress was a nice touch.  The duality between Po and Shen was a great opportunity to show the yin and the yang at every opportunity!  Hehehe  But what really connected for me was the relationship between Po and his dad.  James Hong gets more to do in this film (despite the limited screentime) and it's such a wonderfully lovable performance.

 

Also... see this in 2D.  I saw it in 3D and it was cool, but the risk of dimming the colors is too great.  This is a sumptuous looking film where the colors should pop.

 

After seeing this, I'm much more confident with the prospect of a How to Train Your Dragon sequel as well as another KFP sequel.  Though, I'm not sure where they're trying to take it considering the reveal they pull at the end.

 

My favorite new character?  The wolf that couldn't stop obsessing over Po's cuddly furriness.

They did a pretty bang up job with hooking me in for a third film with that last scene.

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

I LITrully have no idea what they're going to do with that.  That actually makes the potential for a third movie very interesting.  I mean...

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Watching the first film again.  Seeing it again now, I appreciate the simplicity of it even more, which makes the sloppiness of the sequel stand out even more.  There's also a grounded stillness to the first film (as still as you can get with Jack Black as the lead) in the characters of Oogway and Sifu that I dig which is lacking in the new movie.  People (including me) tended to express favorable opinions of the film in spite of the tired story.  But as I've mentioned in the thread for the first movie previously, I think the simplicity actually features a subtle amount of depth in the storytelling.

 

Plus, the movie is just damned cool.  

 

Forgot to mention... I was disappointed that Zimmer/Powell's score for the sequel felt mostly like a retread of the first film's best cues.  Supposedly this is a criticism of Zimmer's Pirates 4 score as well.  Maybe the guys were just too busy.

 

EDIT:  Saw it again with some friends at a different theater.  In 3D again, but this time the projection was nice and bright.  The colors remained vibrant.  A much more enjoyable experience.  Still a very enjoyable film.  

Edited by mcnooj82 - 5/29/11 at 12:10am

Just saw it with family in a packed theater and in 2D.

Everyone liked it but I felt somewhat let down -- to echo mcnooj82 above, I didn't feel the sequel found its balance like the original.

I certainly had less sympathy for Shen than Tai Lung and didn't feel the same level of menace.

The story was way too compressed -- the whole running time could've been to the fall of the tower and spent a lot more time with the characters. As much as Po was a catalyst for Sifu in the first, Po needed someone with a parallel arc in this one as well.

Worth seeing for sure, but I'm not certain I'll pick this up on Blu-ray.

Just found out that my friend did all of the FX work on the "I LOOOOOOVE YOOOOOU GUUUUUUYZ!!!!" moment.  Hehehe.  Cool.

Very cute. The first one had nearly flawless comic timing and was almost entirely free of "Dreamworks-isms"; this one felt like it was starting to slip back into that manic style a bit. But only a bit. It was also a bit too sappy in spots. The character animation was superb, though.

 

I'm a little confused about why they made such a huge deal out of the revelation that the peacock killed (or "killed") his family; we already knew what happened, and it should have been bloody obvious to Po as well. That smacks a bit of the belabored misunderstanding that powered the plot of Shrek.

 

I'm also not sure where they plan to go from here, plot-wise--he had the revelation about being the Dragon Warrior, now he's found inner peace...they're really going to have to stretch to have him come up with more mystic revelations for future installments, or things that are actually threatening, now that he's borderline omnipotent.

 

Enough bitching. I really liked the Five in this--Monkey in particular got a much better personality. There's one shot where he's pointing and laughing at Po like a goofus that really cracked me up. The jail cell battle was well done. I loved the integration of different styles of animation. The big twist at the end is interesting. Not as great at the original, but a solid sequel.

It seems like they were starting to hint at Tigress' sad past a couple times during the movie.  I suppose they could start giving the Five some material to work with in future sequels, but some of their stories were covered in the DTV Secrets of the Furious Five.  Of course, I wouldn't care if they ditched that stuff completely.  It was pretty forgettable and disappointing for something I was really looking forward to.

 

Also, bought the score on iTunes and have turned around on it.  It's a really fun score.  Separated from the manic energy of the movie, it's grand.  Mostly derivative of the first film's best cues, but still grand.

 

EDIT:  I also wonder if this series is going to deal with any interspecies romance.  Po is clearly into Tigress.  Heheh

Edited by mcnooj82 - 5/31/11 at 10:46pm

I got the impression that it wasn't meant to be a revelation to the audience.  It was more about Po accepting that it happened instead of repressing it.  From the way he reacted to Shen's symbol, he clearly had memories of it that took inner peace to access.  But I agree that it was a little frustrating to see Po spend so much time held back because of his desire to know.

 

The issue of where to go with the plot from here was what concerned me when I first heard that they were doing a sequel.  They found a pretty good entrance point for the sequel's story, but yeah... where else can they go when they beat something that could kill kung fu?  It's just a problem for all sequels to such stories.  The fact that there was no planned sequel was probably integral to making the original such a solid piece of work. 

 

Jail cell battle?  Are you talking about Po trying to get the two masters out of prison?  I actually found that sequence to be not as funny or clever as it was obviously supposed to be.  It was also a sequence (along with two useless characters) that could've been excised completely without harming the story in any real way.  That was time that could've spent giving the rest of the Five more to do.

 

But then we would have missed out on Jean Claude Van Damme's only noteworthy performance of the last decade!

 

I saw this last night, and I loved it way more than any grown man should - and almost as much as the two high-as-hell goons in the row ahead of me. These two flicks have made up for Dreamworks unleashing that "I like to move it, move it" bullshit on the world with Madagascar.

Yeah, it was alright but it does not hold up to the first film at all.

I think most of the issues are due to the shoddy dialogue/humor as well as the pacing. Like many have stated before, they could have expanded the character roles of the five a bit here. Honestly, I thought the character development scenes were the strongest in this film, while the action was lacking compared to the stunning choreography in the first. Gotta add, the 2D flastback Po has was absolutely gorgeous and touching.

 

Still better than any other animated flick this summer(**ahem Cars 2 UGH).

Something that's indicative of my problems with the film in general...

 

There's an awesome montage of Po and the Fast Five trekking to face Shen.  The score is fantastic, the environments are gorgeous, the transitions are epic, etc etc... There is absolutely nothing wrong with it except for the fact that it felt like it came waaaay too early in the movie.  Usually a montage of that magnitude feels more appropriate to a build-up to the final fight.  The montage visually establishes the duality between Po and Shen, but it just feels like the movie shoots its wad a little too soon on that point.  This is problematic since, as Prankster pointed out, Po is unaware of this connection for a while.  

 

It's a pacing issue, as people have said.  It also felt very odd to have the heroes fail during such a huge sequence (the toppling of Shen's tower palace) only to be followed by another elaborate sequence where they fail yet again (Shen's weapon factory).  I actually thought the film was going to end by that point.  So if the filmmakers intended for me to be shocked by Po getting blown away to the river, I guess they succeeded.  But it just felt 'wrong'.

Its a solid sequel but it pales in regards to the original film. I enjoyed it and had a good time but I didn't think much of the ending and setup for part 3.

 

It didn't seem as satisfying as watching Po battle Lung in the first one. Still I liked it.

 

Yeah, but this one had the Puppet of Death.

 

Po fighting Pei Mei?

Seriously, though -- it seems like the next logical step would follow from the sequence:

• Tai Lung: a threat internal to his home
• Lord Shen: a threat from within China
• ???: an external threat to China [probably Western, e.g., Disney?]

The last point being emphasized by the isolation of the Pandas as a metaphor for the country itself?

Then, of course, Po and the Five go on a world tour performing Kung Fu exhibitions and signing autographs.

All to the music of the Proclaimers.

If they manage to make these 5 or 6 additional sequels, I guess the threat would have to gradually come from our space, alternate timelines, parallel dimensions, and then God?

 

Basically, this series is going to become Dragonball?  No more fist fights.  Just lots of energy balls...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1545214/

 

They're one step ahead of you, Josh.  Looks like Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness will air on Nickelodeon sometime this fall or early next year.  Two 26 episode seasons have already been ordered.

Went to watch kung fu panda 2 with my family 2 dayz back. they put up a great show(Dream works animation).i havent seen so real animation before(i guess better then Avatar).all voice overs did a great job!! Black jack as "PO" was superb so was angelina jolie as tigress!! the movie is great in every respect .IMDB also gives it 8.2 on 10

Pretty logical move, I think.

 

Edited by Joshua Miller - 6/3/11 at 10:58am

I remember plans for an animated series a while back, not too long after the first movie hit.  I thought it would've come out sooner.

 

I think the third would be a threat specific to Po.  Po being forced to choose between his people (the pandas) and his family (the Furious Five, Sifu, his dad).  Expect heavy racism metaphors.

Po having to choose between his people and his family in a third movie would feel a lot like what happened between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.  By the end of the 2nd, the characters have come to terms with something they were conflicted about.  Then the 3rd movie just has them deal with it again on a grander scale.

So completely there.

 

The first is far, far superior, but I still had a fun time during this one. Can't add to what's been said (like of five and Hoffman, the overplayed history, etc), but I will say: baby Po is about the most adorable thing I've ever seen on screen in the last few years. Gah! I want one.

I was struggling to enjoy this for the first half. The action scenes were clever, but just a little bit too manic. And as mentioned by others, the way they actually kick off the quest seems a little poorly paced with montage appearing.

 

However, from the moment Po took the cannon-ball to the chest and healed in his home village I enjoyed it till the end. The duality between him and Shen worked better from that point. The moral regarding choosing to live life despite our scars was a good and mature one.

 

I really didn't think any sequel to the first would work. And while it's not as good, they at least convinced me this film was justified in existing. 

Took the girl to see this yesterday.  Both loved it.

 

The 'team fighting' of the furious five (plus one) was astounding.

 

Ripped that the Palmy cinema has hog booked T3 as I think this would have been immense in 3D

And harking back to THAT movie it speaks volumes that, of the two scenes involving escaping from a collapsing building, that the Kung Fu Panda 2 scene was more believable, had more realistic physics and more emotional punch.

Finally got around to watching this, and I'd say it's *as* good as the original. They both have different strengths and weaknesses, but they also feel of a piece. Laundry list!:

 

-Goddamn, it's cool to have Gary Oldman playing a psycho villain again. Interestingly, he HAS done an animated villain before: the forgettable Ruber in the equally forgettable Quest for Camelot. Unfortunately, he was given pretty much nothing to work with there, so he was reduced to just hamming it up. Entertaining, sure, but not truly great villainy. Here, Lord Shen is a much more interesting character to put up against Po, and Oldman milks every villainous line, chuckle and psychotic shriek to its fullest.

 

-And he is a VERY different type of villain than Tai Lung. To me, Tai Lung didn't seem much interested in conquest (his path of destruction through the Valley pre-movie strikes me more as a kung-fu temper tantrum), just acknowledgment that he was the best. Shen is way more of a conqueror, although I liked the "Did my parents love me?" parallel he had with Po, and his relationship with the Soothsayer (very well played by Michelle Yeoh). His elegant, smooth fighting-with-knives style is also a change from Tai Lung's fast, yet devastatingly powerful strikes.

 

-Jack Black and James Hong are even better here than in the first film, and I thought Angelina Jolie improved a lot as well. True, she gets more to work with from an emotional standpoint, but she also seemed more engaged and in the moment than in number one. As for the rest, well, David Cross and Seth Rogen get some funny bits in, Dennis Haysbert and Victor Garber have a few good small moments, and Dustin Hoffman steals his more limited screentime away as before.

 

-I think the action sequences are as equally creative, but again in a different way than the first film. Here, it's a lot of giant group battles and chases as opposed to the one-on-one or one-against-many stuff from before, so there's a different dynamic in the teamwork between Po and the Five, as well as when the Masters get to show off.

 

-The falling tower setpiece beats the hell out of the one in Dark of the Moon (I watched it recently, skipping over the endless stupid dialogue for the occasional mildly cool action bit). Why? Because I actually give a shit about what's going on beyond "Hey, that's kind of neat."

 

-Hans Zimmer and John Powell contribute another excellent score. All sorts of fun Asian influence and instruments.

 

-Baby Po is so adorable it almost pisses me off. Almost. The scene with Mr. Ping discovering him in the basket was just... gah, I couldn't take it.

 

-Po saying his dramatic speech from too far away was easily the best joke in the whole film. Second place: the Pac-Man overhead shot of Po and the Five kicking ass inside the dragon outfit.

 

-I wasn't too fond of the twist at the end at first, but then I realized, "Yeah, it's probably only a *few* pandas left, not the whole group", which is what I thought the scene was implying.

 

Easily the best DreamWorks sequel ever (which I know isn't saying a WHOLE lot, but work with me here).

Edited by Chris Spider - 1/14/12 at 1:09pm