Skadoosh! Po Returns in KFP2
In 2008, an entire generation was reminded of kung fu’s awesomeness thanks to a roly-poly panda by the name of Po. Kung Fu Panda, about a dumpling-loving panda who revered kung fu and its legends, earned over $215 million at the box office, becoming one of the year’s top-grossing films.
A sequel was inevitable (especially when sequel-happy DreamWorks is involved). Kung Fu Panda 2 has arrived and is the best sequel DreamWorks has released to date.
A peacock, who turns an invention of joy and celebration into a symbol of death, is told a creature of black and white will bring about his demise. In response, the peacock does what any fearful tyrant would do and tries to destroy all pandas in the region. Years later, with an arsenal of his own design and an army of wolves by his side, the peacock aims to rule all of China. It’s up to Po, now the legendary Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five to stop him. But will Po need to come to peace with his past first?
Kung Fu Panda 2 is directed by Jennifer Yuh, whose only previous directing credit was HBO’s late-nineties animated series Spawn. The two projects couldn’t be more tonally different. But Yuh handles the action and drama well here, at times better than the humor. When the jokes land, they land well. Most successful jokes come from undercutting a character’s previous statement or actions, such as when Shen the peacock (voiced well by Gary Oldman) prepares himself for finally meeting the panda who is reputed to bring his end. Shen has built the moment up in his mind down to the last word. When it finally comes, Po (again voiced by Jack Black) interrupts Shen with a lackluster “Oh, hey,” thereby stealing the dramatic moment out from under him. But other times the film goes for the easy laugh, inspiring a mild snicker.
While the humor may not be as sharp as in its predecessor, the drama packs a punch and the action is quite awesome. The screenwriting team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (who previously worked together on MADtv, King of the Hill, and the first Kung Fu Panda film) excellently weave a new story within the fabric of the original by marrying the new villain with Po’s family history, which brings our hero’s struggle within in a very credible way. This helps the film feel like the least superfluous sequel of the DreamWorks oeuvre.
Kung Fu Panda 2 also maintains the original’s love of kung fu movies. The film treats kung fu with reverence. It nudges us and frequently points out how awesome kung fu is, while also keeping a finger on the philosophy behind kung fu, reminding us there is more to it than beating up bad guys. The film also seems to tap into many of the genre’s tropes: the secret link between a hero’s past and a present villain, the pre-fight posturing, the old man plucking strings in the background of a fight, etc. I’m sure audiences more literate in the martial arts film genre will even spot visual references to other films.
As to be expected, the Furious Five play a much larger role in the sequel, particularly where dialogue is concerned – especially Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie). If you watch the original carefully, you’ll notice the cast of the Furious Five aren’t given much dialogue beyond a key scene or two. Not so in Kung Fu Panda 2. While Tigress is positioned as Po’s closest teammate and thereby given the most dialogue, Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), and Viper (Lucy Liu) are distributed an equal amount of lines. They may not have their own subplots (although Tigress hints at a history we’ve yet to learn), but they are an indispensable part of the action.
It’s worth noting the sequel features not one, but six new voice talents! As previously mentioned, Gary Oldman plays the villainous peacock Shen, legendary martial arts actress Michelle Yeoh voices Shen’s soothsayer goat, Danny McBride plays Shen’s right-hand wolf, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Haysbert, and Victor Garber play three kung fu masters who are the first to face Shen’s secret weapon. All of them blend right in instead of causing with name-that-actor distractions.
Kung Fu Panda was released in 3D. This is not a popular feature these days (bad news for the eight other 3D releases coming this summer). I actually witnessed a man delay his plans to see the film because he learned the next screening was in 3D. I would probably have done the same thing – if this were a live action film. However, more often than not, animated films outperform live action films in quality 3D (last year’s Toy Story 3 is the lone exception in my experience). Kung Fu Panda 2 is further proof of this. The first film, though released only in 2D, already featured some incredible sequences that would’ve easily been heightened by stereoscopic 3D. The sequel not only improves upon that film’s animation in detail and sharpness, but is truly enhanced by the extra dimension. While the character designs may not be photo-real and are closer in style to maquette, they occasionally seem to practically exist outside of the screen with 3D. Is the 3D essential to Kung Fu Panda 2? Will a 2D Blu-ray rental seem to have the annoying element of occasionally trying to pop out of your screen, such as in Legend of the Guardians or Piranha? I don’t think so. But, if you give the 3D a chance, you certainly won’t be wasting your money.
Kung Fu Panda 2 surpasses the sequels of Shrek, Ice Age, and their ilk to become one of the best in recent years. In fact, in terms of character development, dramatic storytelling, and plotting, it’s just shy of Pixar-quality – certainly the best animated family film so far this year. It accomplishes what any sequel should do: deliver more of what worked in the original and further the story and our understanding of its characters. It is… awesome.
8/10
Should you see it? Buy tickets (in 3D)
Kung Fu Panda 2 is in theaters in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D screens.