Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Lacks in story, but should satisfy family audiences
The majority of the story in Kung Fu Panda 2 is told in the short sequence before the titles in which it's revealed the dastardly peacock Lord Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman) plans to takeover China and destroy kung fu. Cue Po (voiced by Jack Black), the titular Kung Fu Panda, and it isn't long before he and the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan) — are seen rushing off to "save China" and "save kung fu." And… that just about does it.
The voice cast includes Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Victor Garber. For more information on this film including pictures, trailers and a detailed synopsis choose from the following menu.
Review
"Kung Fu Panda 2" is a DreamWorks Animation release, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and is rated PG for sequences of martial arts action and mild violence. The running time is 1 hour 31 minutes.
Scripted by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger — the same guys that brought us the first film — the character development here is all dependent on what we already know. Where the characters have grown or changed in some regard the story either forgets about these changes, such as Tigress' strange behavior, or has a hard time presenting them, such as Po's ancestry, which actually plays a large role in the film.
You'll hear many people cooing at how cute baby Po is as we get glimpses into how he came to be raised by a goose rather than his biological parents, but the way it is presented is disjointed and clunky. The story is stripped bare to a point any additional information seems out of place. And then there's the plot that ties all of this to Lord Shen, which is where I started to lose a lot of interest.
You see, Lord Shen is this evil peacock and his plan for conquering China involves the creation of this massive weapon, giving him the power to do whatever he wants as part of a grudge he's holding for past insults that I won't get into here. However, along with the conquering of China, it is decided this weapon will also destroy kung fu, the implication being you can't kick or punch a canon of this size. Yeah, because that would destroy kung fu. What?
Now I know I'm supposed to let this slide. It's a cartoon, what did you expect?! Stop taking things so seriously! Not everything can be an Oscar winner! I've heard all the lazy excuses before, so instead of pointing out any logic problems I may have with this idea, I'll simply say that had the story been more engaging I probably wouldn't have keyed in on the fact it didn't make much sense in the first place. In addition to that, outside of Shen, which is actually a rather cool character with the perfectly matched voice of Gary Oldman, there wasn't much that felt all that new with this film.
Besides Shen and Michelle Yeoh's voicing of The Soothsayer, there aren't any new characters added to the mix that provide any kind of punch. The highly anticipated voice work of Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc is a complete flop as he and Dennis Haysbert as Master Oxen are wedged into the story for only the briefest of moments. I honestly don't think Van Damme had more than five lines, which puts him about right on par with Jackie Chan's voicing of Monkey.
Directed by Jennifer Yuh in her first feature film gig after working in the animation department on the previous Panda pic and DreamWorks' Madagascar, the ebb and flow of the picture felt like the work of a newcomer. Of course, she wasn't aided by the script, which didn't do much more than move from one chase to the next, with a few flashbacks inserted to try and break up the monotony.
I don't say most of this with any real passionate dislike as much as I'm just disappointed. Kung Fu Panda 2 is a fine movie, but it's certainly nothing special. It feels like one of those films that was made purely because the first film was such a big hit and this film should be just as equally successful considering it is relatively harmless and never really tries to achieve much at all. In short, it's a safe film for the widest appeal. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, though I would have liked to see a little more effort.
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I just saw it and I pretty much agree completely. It was amusing, Lord Shen was a fantastic villain, and the animation in the opening scene was as great as one in the original. But I'll be damned if they spent more than a couple of hours writing the screenplay – aside from Po's backstory it's practically non-existent. They've made a fun little ride for kids, and who can blame them, but they obviously didn't care about the story and characters.
Well I haven't seen the film yet but I'm kind of wondering how it was rushed though since the first film came out in 2008. Just saying.
Although, I suppose it would be kind of sad in a way if they had 3 years and couldn't come up with a good story
Wasn't there some rumor that Charlie Kaufman did a rewrite for this like a year ago?
It was an actual story, but his name didn't make the final credits. The original story is gone from The Hollywood Reporter, but you can read more about it here.
Damn, I was hoping for more Jean-Clause van Damme. :P
If this didn't have a story, what else should we expect for the next 6 sequels Dreamworks announced?
I'm taking my 5 year old daughter tomorrow. Can't wait.