To combat the usual sequel blahs, Kung Fu Panda 2 has taken a common if dangerous route. Like The Empire Strikes Back and Batman Returns before it, Panda 2 has decided to go darker than the original. Instead of the happy-go-lucky fat panda of the first one, here we have a troubled soul searching for the secrets of his past and his tragic birth.
If that sounds to you less like a kid's movie and more like Joseph Campbell, you'd be right. Kung Fu Panda 2 has a wee bit too much genocide to be your usual family fare. It still has Jack Black as the incorrigible Po, a number of fun action sequences, and a moral about inner peace or some such Orientalist malarkey. But it also has the (supposed) death of all Pandas everywhere, and way more guns and explosions than kung fu fighting.
It's a natural progression for the Panda franchise to take, and is certainly larger than the original. But what was so much fun about the first was the sense of wild-eyed excitement at the bodacious awesomeness of heroes, whether they be superheroes or martial artists or just celebrities, and the everyman/everywoman wish that you might have some hidden talent that could make you as bodaciously awesome as them. It was fun because in a sense we were all Po the Panda, awkwardly peeking through a hole in the wall at our heroes, hoping to one day land in the middle of them.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is much different. Its protagonist isn't an everyman but an established Hero, with a back story and a tragic birth and all the accompanying headaches of hero-dom. Which means that, sadly, he's not us anymore. We're no longer right with him, amazed to be in the midst of awesomeness. We're back in the hole in the wall, looking in.
A good contrast is to look at the traditional animation sequences in both films. In the first, cell animation opens the movie, in what is probably the most memorable/awesome bit in the film, a funny dream sequence of fun and humor and adventure. In the second one, we switch to cell animation only in flashback, to watch the tragic events surrounding Po's adoption. It's not fun at all. It's downright heartbreaking.
Kung Fu Panda 2 centers around the evil warlord Shen (Gary Oldman), who comes back from exile toting a secret that may destroy kung fu forever: cannons. While the villain of the first movie was merely scary, Gary Oldman's Shen is less powerful and more flawed, which makes him in a strange way that much more frightening. Oldman is a realistic villain, and his guns are a realistic kung fu killer. In the first one, we know Po just needs to tap into his inner awesome to beat the baddie. But how is Po supposed to use kung fu against something that negates all kung fu?
The question really isn't answered, though there are some powerful scenes of Po trying. The action sequences are top-notch, utilizing more of the Furious Five's various talents than in the previous. The plot takes Po all around the nation as he tries to unlock the secrets of his past while also trying to save the world from Shen's war machines.
The supporting cast is as usual a veritable who's-who list of wasted talent. I don't see the point of getting the likes of Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu and David Cross and Seth Rogen to voice characters when they get about three lines each. Angelina Jolie gets more lines than the rest put together. Also adding to the cast this time around is Michelle Yeoh as a soothsaying goat and Jean-Claude Van Damme as a crocodile named Master Croc.
Still, the Panda has never looked better. The action sequences are fantastic in high def, but even more importantly all the little things that went into character design come out in colorful detail.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Kung Fu Panda 2 is loaded with a dim sum bar of features. The main draw of this new Blu-ray/DVD combo is an entirely new short called "Secrets of the Masters," a whole new twenty-minute story of Po and the Five. There is also a full episode from the Legends of Awesomeness animated series, which has a lower production value than the films for obvious reasons, but is still quite fun.
For the curious, there's a trivia pop-up track to play over the movie, an "animation corner" picture-in-picture commentary, as well as the usual audio commentaries, which means that at any time you can be buffeted by information on animation, character design, fun facts, or plain ol' silliness. There are some games, a primer on learning Chinese, and two invites to the online game Kung Fu Panda World.
Then come the actual featurettes: one with the cast, one with the director ("Animation Inspiration," a look at all the things that inspired the look and feel of the Panda movies), and one on the quest to save the real endangered pandas of the world.
All that, plus a DVD copy and a digital download copy. Skadoosh.
"Kung Fu Panda 2" is on sale December 13, 2011 and is rated PG. Action, Adventure, Animation, Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by Jennifer Getzinger, Jennifer Yuh. Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger. Starring Angelina Jolie, David Cross, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Seth Rogen.
