Kung Fu Panda 2

After watching Kung Fu Panda in 2008, I was very sure that its sequel is on the cards. Though before going for the first edition I was pretty cynic... read more

After watching Kung Fu Panda in 2008, I was very sure that its sequel is on the cards. Though before going for the first edition I was pretty cynical about it as I was not sure that how can the film-makers do something so brilliant that an animated Panda will stand out. In one and a half hour all my answers were answered and I came out with a huge smile on my face. When the advertisements of Kung Fu Panda 2 were released, I told to myself that this has to be extraordinarily brilliant to surpass its own records and this is it, Mr. Po and Furious Five did it!

All credit goes to its makers, they not only added fresh humor and cracking dialogues but the second edition has been showcased after working thoroughly on it. Film makers have taken care of every little thing in order to give something totally new to their audience and honestly their hard-work has done wonders. Speaking of its 3rd Dimension, have to say it has enhanced the effect of KFP2 even more.

Action sequences and the final battle for survival have been showcased with an edge to make it look huge and amazing. I enjoyed every second of it my hour an a half and came out asking for more. I will recommend people of any age to go and catch this flick with their family, friends, kids or even alone, yes alone; because the movie will keep u engaged for entire 90 minutes.

Footer: Its a new twist to a told tale and is a treat to the eyes! DON'T MISS IT
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'Kung Fu Panda' proved in 2008 how by even taking a cliched plot and injecting enough humour and sincerity in the proceedings a movie could be made... read more

'Kung Fu Panda' proved in 2008 how by even taking a cliched plot and injecting enough humour and sincerity in the proceedings a movie could be made for all ages. The sequel takes everything that made the original so successful and just reinforces with more character development & dazzle to give a movie which feels like something you have watched before but are enthralled by it no less.

Po (Voice of Jack Black) has barely settled into his role as the famed 'Dragon Warrior' when he learns of a threat that could destroy Kung Fu. "But I just got Kung Fu" he exclaims and sets off with the Furious Five to fight Shen (voice of Gary Oldman), a murderous peacock hell-bent on conquering China. But things arent as simple as they seem; Po might share a past with Shen that leads him down a path of self-discovery and also makes Po question his place in the world and his relationship with his father, Mr.Ping (Voice of James Hong).

If the first 'Kung Fu Panda' was about (self) belief then the second one is about belonging. Po's journey to find the truth about his childhood and the need to define him by belonging to a parent or a cause like Kung Fu allow for some moments which explore a few darker themes that the first movie only hinted at in passing. The theme about identity also defines Shen's character and provides a nice mirror to that of Po's dilemma.

The scenes between Po & Mr. Ping hold such emotional gravitas that its difficult to not feel something and when we do finally learn of the fate of a young Po and how he came to be with Mr. Ping, its truly heartbreaking even if not wholly original.

The humour quotient rides firmly on the back of Jack Black yet again with some brilliant one-liners and zany slapstick sequences, particularly a high-octane race through the city streets early on between Po & a Wolf henchman. Po IS Jack & Jack IS Po, if you know what i mean.

The animation beats the work on the first one hollow and the differences can be picked up by a keen eye during a flashback sequence which features images from the first movie. Some of the animation work is so astounding that the scenery actually feels like something straight out of a dream with the bright lush colours resembles a painting and the darker ones providing that earthly balance.

'Kung Fu Panda 2' improves upon everything the original did and with an array of zany one-liners, dazzling visuals and deeper and darker storyline provides the sequel all Po fans clamoured for. Who says Kung Fu is dead? Its very much kicking butt at your nearest multiplex. view less

Heeeeee-Hawwww...YaaaHooPo0O is back. Kung Fu Panda is that brand of cartoon movies which typifies the art of associating absurd characters with th... read more

Heeeeee-Hawwww...YaaaHoo
Po0O is back. Kung Fu Panda is that brand of cartoon movies which typifies the art of associating absurd characters with their allotted roles. Imagine a fatso Panda doing Kung-Pu (and not simple pawing)? Imagine a goose as father of a giant Panda? Kung-Fu Panda made us believe that and illustrated the power of animation movies by becoming a big hit. The first edition was also an Oscar nominee.

Dear Movie viewers,
I am glad to inform you that Kung-Fu Panda 2 sets the same standards and enjoyment level like its predecessor. Therefore, it has been rated at 4.5/5

Story
The giant Panda Po0O is now The Dragon Warrior in the Valley of Peace and along with the Fantastic Furious Five, he has to now deal a new enemy. The Peacock that is (super surprise) Lord Shen. The evil Peacock (yes I used the adjective evil for a Peacock) wants to end Kung-Fu with the help of a canon-gun and our Super Strong Six (Po0O + the Furious Five) now have to stop him. Along with this, Po0O also has to find solace with his inner mystery about his origin.

Voice-Cast
The life in a cartoon character in an animated movie is given by its voice. The Incredibles, The Toy Story series are prime example. No wonder why characters like Woody in Toy Story cannot be identified without Tom Hanks voice.
Po0O, the Giant Great Panda cannot have an effective presence without the voice support of Jack Black. The voice is as tangy as the Pandas Kung-Fu movements. Expressive, funny and effective (most importantly). Be ready to hear Jack Black as voice artist for Po0O in the next edition (as you tend to identify characters by their voices, example Tom Hanks as voice artist for Woody, the cowboy and Tim Allen for Buzz LightYear for all Toy Story parts).
Tigress is voiced by Angelina Jolie and this time around, both the dialogues and the voice seem more effective. Lord Shen voiced by Gary Oldman makes him hear villainous. Rest of lot is all good.

Kung-Fu Panda 2 has great visuals (not a surprise as coming from DreamWorks Animation). The movie has some great scenes (even fight scenes) with great comic timing. The dialogues and one-lines are top class supported amazing well by all voice artists. The story by Glenn Berger and Jonathan Aibel serves all. Apart from Kung-Fu fight scenes, there are great set pieces where we see introspection and self-questioning. Kung-Fu Panda 2 is fulfilling both to eyes and soul.

What works: cartoons & characters & everything about them
What not: nothing negative just that movie should have been longer (greed of a viewer)

Verdict: "YaaBaa DaaBaa do0O" for Kung-Fu King Po0O.
Kung-Fu the summer heat with this. MUST WATCH.

ps: I seriously pray that Kung Fu Panda 2 will not inspire a movie like Chandni Chowk To China to be remade. view less

Kung Fu Panda came at a time in my life when life itself was, in the true form of the movie, about finding oneself. The search for Po, the fat Pan... read more

Kung Fu Panda came at a time in my life when life itself was, in the true form of the movie, about finding oneself. The search for Po, the fat Panda, did result in him miraculously finding his true calling. No such miraculous result in my case.
Following the age old tradition of Hollywood, a financially successful film has to be turned into a money making franchise. For DreamWorks, who have mastered the same with Shrek & Madagascar series, (How To Train Your Dragon2 follows suit in 2014) it was about time Po & The Furious Five would join the bandwagon.
Po, (Jack Black, Enemy of the State, School of Rock, King Kong) is now living the role as the peace keeper of the Valley along with his band of 5, Tigress (Angelina Jolie, Who doesnt know her?), Monkey (Jackie Chan, GOD of KUNG FU), Mantis (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet), Crane (David Cross, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Year One, Megamind) & Viper (Lucy Liu, Kill Bill, Charlies Angels, Chicago). Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman, Little Fockers ,Last Chance Harvey, The Graduate) is still ruing the day Po was made the Dragon Warrior and in process of finding inner peace, is still guiding the Masters.
Lord Shen (Gary Oldman, The Dark Knight, Sirius Black of Harry Potter Series), the albino son of the ruling peacock Emperors of China, has been banished by his parents, for his shift to the Dark Side, in an attempt to gain power through wrong means. Shen, with the Wolf Boss (Danny Mcbride, Land of the Lost, Up in the Air, Due Date) and his gang of wolves, returns to stake claim the his kingdom, which is now being run by Master Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber, The Town, Milk), Master Storming Ox (Dennis Haysbert, 24, Absolute Power) & Master Croc (Jean Claude Van Damme, Bloodsport), as part of the Kung Fu Council.
Shen, with his new, indestructible weapon, takes over the city and plans to take over China, spelling the end of the world, Kung Fu as we know it.
Directed by debutante, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who was the head of story for Kung Fu Panda, Nelsons intent comes across quite clear in the film. She combines her inherent love for martial arts and the training during the time spent in the animation teams, beautifully. The 3D is not restricted to meatballs being spat at you, but is more in the league of Avatar. The depths in the landscapes of China, the marketplace or even the House of Shens, actually live up to the embedded 3D animation in the film. But having said that, the glasses tend to make the otherwise colourful palette on screen, darker, which is not a good thing, besides leaving a mark on your nose! Am actually tired of 3D now.
The story by Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger, has its own demons to fight. The reason why Panda 1 was such a huge success, was because of the mix of Pos buffoonery, Shifus training and the bonding between the 2, eventually leading to the realization by Po, about his true goal. None of these aspects are covered in Panda 2. Although there are around 8 10 protagonists, Po does not seem to actually relate to anyone, in his quest to find who am I? and inner peace. There is a remote hint of a bond developing between him and Tigress, but that could be more of an ancient maternal type, since The 5, are always looking after Po. There is less of the hilarious humour, which kept your funny bone tickled throughout Part 1. Guess the arrival of Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) as creative consultant has to do with that. And his menacing touch, shows in the way Lord Shens character has been portrayed.
Black is his normal self, carrying on his lunatic, bumbling manner from Panda 1, effortlessly. Jolie has more to do in this and she does justice to the increase in character development. Jackie Chan has hardly any dialogues besides a whimper here and a grunt there. Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen & David Cross all get their 2 piece dialogues each, which gel well with the films huge scale. Michelle Yeoh, as the Soothsayer Goat, is fantastic! She literally steals the scenes and hence does have the maximum screen time post Po & Shen. Hoffman is his normal enigmatic self, superfluous! Gary Oldman, redefines villainy with his interpretation of Shen. Deadly!
The visual effects are fantastic, like the water droplet sequences, the battle in the grand finale, bringing down the house, literally with an eye for detail, simply fantastic. The shot wherein all the 9 guys, leap to kick some wolf ass, is awesome. Animation styles range from Grimm to Anim and our daily newspaper cartoons. Maybe technology has grown since Panda 1, but where they score for Panda 2 is in the eyes! Where Polar Express and other animation flicks of past have failed, showing emotions through the eyes of the characters, Panda 2 clicks.
Likewise the movie is not devoid of it funny moments, the pick of the lot being the conversation between Shen & Po! Another such amusing incident is when Po, in full Dragon Warrior Avatar, challenges Shens army atop a towering roof, meanwhile, Shen cannot hear a single word!
The music by maestros Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Dark Knight, Inception, Megamind) & John Williams (Face/Off, Shrek, Happy Feet) is peppy and orchestratic at the same time. It just goes to show that the masters are having fun even with the music.

Do not go with high expectations and you will come back very happy. But yes, it is a good movie and do get ready for KF Panda 3..Awesomeness never ends.
Does it have The Y Factor:Yes
Rating:7/10
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Kung Fu Panda is one of my favorite animated movies hands down. Not many have come close to even giving it a fight. So when a sequel was coming out... read more

Kung Fu Panda is one of my favorite animated movies hands down. Not many have come close to even giving it a fight. So when a sequel was coming out I just could not have missed it. I had a feeling that it would let me down as most sequels generally do and due to the fact that I was high on expectations. But pleasantly the movie did not let me down one bit. The legacy continues.

Po is now an ardent kung fu master. He and the five are sent by master shifu to stop Shen, who is an heir to the peacock emperors of yesteryear but is an evil soul. Master shifu demonstrates Po the power of inner peace. As usual Po doesn't get it immediately but during his quest to defeat Shen, Po discovers about his real parents and finds inner peace.

The movie is filled with abundance of rib tickling humor. I found myself letting out loud guffaws in the theater to the annoyance of the people sitting next to me. Even the fight scenes have splashes of humor in them. Never does the movie get preachy or boring. The makers stay true to the theme, the story and the screenplay and do full justice to the sequel.

Jack Black steals the show once again with his amazingly funny comic timing. Some of the scenes are etched in my brain just because of the way Jack Black delivers the dialog. Angelina Jolie has the second most meatier voice over in the movie and she portrays the fierce tigress well. The others get very little scope but Jackie Chan is funny whenever he got an opportunity. Gary Oldman as Shen, does an awesome voice over as a demented evil villain.

Kudos to the writers for writing an amazing screenplay and amazingly funny dialogs. My funniest moment of the film is when Po thinks the soothsayer (A Ram) is a male because the beard confuses him. The director, Jennifer Yuh, makes sure that the flow is perfect and that the viewer never leaves the edge of the seat except of course for laughing.

Reasons to watch:
1) Jack Black
2) If you the first one.
3) A high class animated film
4) Hilarious of the highest order

Reasons to skip:
1) None come to mind.

Repeat value: Surely, a high number of times. view less