Kung Fu Panda 2 Review
If I were to ask you what is your all time favorite animated movie, you would probably say Walt Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ or Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’. Most of you would also agree Pixar Animation is the best known production company with many famous titles to their name, such as Monster’s Inc,Finding Nemo,The Incredible’s,Car’s,Wall.E,Up to name a few.
There are other production companies such as Twentieth Century Fox Animation who were behind the successful trilogy of Ice Age and the recent hit movie ‘Rio’. But no one had ever challenged Pixar which is now part of Disney in their domain as much as Dream Works Animation had.
Dream Works first movie was the highly rated Shrek released back in 2001, was a huge hit both in terms of ratings and box office revenues. Shrek went on to become Dream Works most successful franchise till Kung Fu Panda hit the screens in 2008. In between 2001 and 2008 Dream Works did not find much success with Madagascar,Bee Movie,Monsters vs Aliens and a lot of other lesser known titles.
With the success of Kung Fu Panda Dream Works finally managed to surpass Pixar with its heavily detailed and achingly beautiful animation.
3 years later its sequel picked up from where its predecessor left us in a small tiny village in the Republic of China no wait, China wasn’t republic then, it was still under the Imperial rule right? Never mind history, Part 2 begins with the Villain Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) embarking upon a mission to take over China, as the story progresses Lord Shen’s and our Hero Po (Jack Black) paths intertwine as prophesized by his soothsayer (a goat). Po discovers his past while in pursuit to stop Lord Shen from destroying Kung Fu and taking over all of China.
I particularly found Lord Shen a bit tame than Tai Lung from the first part. Lord Shen when compared to Tai Lung cannot do awesome Kung Fu or gives you the same evil look as Tai Lung does. Though Tai Lung had a lot less of dialog than Lord Shen I enjoyed watching Tai Lung over Lord Shen as Villain for his super powers and imposing character.
The heart of the story remains the same with Po overcoming odds to see out any challenge to the peace and tranquility of his village. Underneath the silly gags and Laugh Out Loud moments there is an underlying message in this movie. “Your Past doesn’t matter, it is what you choose to become” Po chose to become the Dragon Warrior and he finally finds “Inner peace” and come to terms with his past in the movie. Audiences often ignore the message a movie tries to convey to its viewers, all they want from a motion picture is to be entertained the whole 2 hours. Even the first Kung Fu Panda had a beautiful message, which urges one to go out and achieve their dreams despite the many obstacles that confront them. Po was a lazy, irreverent slacker panda whose heart is set on Kung Fu but his father (a Goose) stops him from fulfilling his destiny by making him work every day in his family’s noodle shop. As you know the rest of the story is about how Po over comes his weakness and defends the Valley of Peace from Tai Lung.
Now moving on, Kung Fu Panda 2 has a lot more “Kung Fu” in it. Its fast paced action and equally fast editing leaves you bedazzled with you wanting more of it. I personally feel the animation got a lot better than the previous Dream Works productions, it had the same detail and shades of their hit animation picture ‘How to train your Dragon’. However I felt the sequel was less comical than the prequel. Part one was a laugh riot with every passing scene, though part part two had its moments but not in the same volume as part one.
I have heard complaints in the past that the other characters being the Furious Five were underused with little dialog and more action. IMHO Po and master Shifu are the central characters around whom the story revolves. Po provides the gags and Shifu the wisdom. Other characters support these two main characters accordingly. If I might add Po has become more popular than Jack Black himself, not only in China but in other countries as well. Its strange that the man who gave voice and soul to Po’s character is left feeling a bit short changed. Such is the magnitude of Po’s character, so naturally other character’s are forced to live in his shadow.
Another comparison between the two movies was the movies climax. Part one wins hands down with an epic fight sequence laced with humor over part twos slow ending with a hint of a possible 3rd movie in the making (I learnt today that Kung Fu Panda is a 6 part franchise,can you imagine the fun that awaits us?).
Pixar has found competition in the form of Dream Works that could compete with it for the no.of screen’s and a share in the B.O worldwide. Also for the Oscars with Cars 2 releasing this year.
If I might add that Kung Fu panda 2 is a great movie to watch if any comparisons with it’s predecessor were set aside and viewed as a solo movie. This could be the best movie of the summer so far( i was bored of POTC 4 and Source Code).A definite must watch for all ages alike.
Rating : 8/10
P.S I was disappointed that the working title “The Kaboom of Doom” was not retained
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