The reason the original “Kung Fu Panda” worked — the reason an animated movie about talking animals sailing through the air to attack each other actually worked — was because through all the slapstick, all the action and all the computer-generated pyrotechnics, there was an incredibly sweet journey of self-discovery.
With “Kung Fu Panda 2,” returning writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger didn’t forget that simple formula, and as a result, have created a beautiful sequel worthy of its predecessor.
Po (Jack Black), the lovable, attention-deficit-disordered panda, returns to the silver screen as the legendary Dragon Warrior. Now leader of the Furious Five, a lethal team of kung fu masters, Po and his team are called into action to stop the greatest threat in kung fu history — a villainous peacock named Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) and his arsenal of explosive weapons.
But there’s more to Shen than just his obsession with world domination. As Po digs deeper into the peacock’s past, he learns that Shen may be the only living creature who knows where Po comes from and why his real parents abandoned him as a baby.
The story is fairly predictable, much more so than the original, but in this case that’s not a hinderance to the experience. Here, the movie is much more about the growth of the characters than any “Sixth Sense” shock twist at the end.
In fact, “Kung Fu Panda 2” could be submitted as a textbook example of how to write a compelling sequel. One chapter could be called “Leave Conflicts That Were Resolved in the Original Story Still Resolved in the Sequel.” It’s pretty insulting to audience members when a character learns something in movie one only to completely forget about said something in movie two.
“Panda 2” not only avoids this common pitfall, but demonstrates the beauty of moving on.
Po is now actually a kung fu master. Sure he still hates stairs, but he’s moved past the buffoonery of part one. The Furious Five now treat him with respect, and the jealousy demonstrated in the original movie has transformed into deep friendships for part two. The progression works and is much more interesting than say, had Tigress (Angelina Jolie) still been yarning on about how she should be the Dragon Warrior.
Another chapter might read, “Recognize the Promises of the Original.” Instead of saying, “Yes, this worked in the first one so audiences will want it again,” "Panda 2" asked the question, “What didn’t we give audiences last time but would have if the story had been 90 minutes longer?”
As a result, you now see Po living the dream that started the “Panda” series. In fact, short of enemies going blind from pure awesomeness, Po and the Five fight as the team you were left hoping to see at the end of the first film.
But this isn’t just “what happened next” material. This is an honest second act that has a reason for existing, and it has a message it wants to get off its chest. And like everything else in this movie, the message naturally follows from the original film.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” is easily the best sequel I’ve seen in years and possibly my favorite film of 2011. It’s a film that, under the guise of being a great mom or dad, parents can take their kids to while catching a great film themselves.
4 out of 4 stars from me, and it’s rated PG for sequences of martial arts action and mild violence.