Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Movie: Kung Fu Panda 2


Some friends and I recently during the summer, saw Kung Fu Panda 2.  For anyone that saw the first one and enjoyed it, this sequel more than serves its purpose, expanding upon the original and beyond.
Kung Fu Panda was about Po, a Panda with Jack Black's voice wishing he could be a kung fu master, but a combination of his own gluttony and social economic status held him back.  His confidence did not waver though and through a series of training montages and battles, by the end of the first movie he achieved his goal.
While the original may have had a more inspired enemy, the sequel generally exceeds the first movie in most aspects.  From the beginning, a lot of very cool fighting scenes take place with Po and his partners in a team like fashion.  Since it has already become established that Po knows how to fight, there wasn't any slow to start regarding his talent.  Strangely throughout the movie he exhibits spikes and drops in his fighting ability, which I think is an inconsistency that is supposed to convey his lack of concentration and 'inner peace,' as well as just to be a joke.
Like the first one, Kung Fu Panda 2 has a really star studded cast.  So much so that many of the stars seem to only have a few sentences of dialogue each.  Often times the characters seem to speak solely to get one of the supporting actors lines out, rather than actual progression of the story.  Jackie Chan is Po's monkey friend, yet no one would really notice that without looking at the credits beforehand.  Some characters like Angelina Jolie's Tiger and Seth Rogan's Praying Mantis have a little more limelight.  Regardless of the unecessarily full to the brim list of names in the movie, it doesn't have a negative affect.

Overall, if you want to see something comedic, fun, and enjoyable to look at, with a semi engaging story and beautiful art direction, give Kung Fu Panda 2 a viewing when it comes to dvd.  As most open minded people are aware these days, you don't have to be a kid in all cases, to enjoy something animated.

4 comments:

  1. His name is Po, by the way. And you are so right about the ability to enjoy animated media without being a child.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IT's sad to hear that Seth Rogen didn't get many lines. Anyway Kung Fu Pandas sound like a nice rental but nothing more than that. Great presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It was fairly good actually, I was pleasantly surprised.

    Much better than the first.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jack Black is always awesome. I haven't watched this yet, just the first movie. I'll try it out when I find it.

    ReplyDelete