SPOILERS throughout review.
Plot (2/5):
"Forget everything about the past. Because you will discover things that will make you question your sanity." - Scream 3. Looks like the Kungfu Panda franchise did not follow the cliche rule. This is the second installment and
Theme (2/5):
Inner peace...already touched on that. It doesn't work. It's too abrupt and just like the first movie Po never really discovers anything through character development but comes through a sudden realization. Lazy writing, lazy writing. The father-adopted son relationship is explored here and emits a cozy feeling but doesn't touch the heart.
Overall (2.5/5):
Not as good as the original and just flat out unentertaining. There's a lot happening but everything goes by so quickly and the themes aren't explored well enough. Kungfu Panda 2 is a summer disappointment.
we get some answers about Po's origins. And so does it work? Sort of. Not really. Po's origin story goes like this: Lord Shen, a peacock goes around killing every panda because the soothsayer said that a black and white warrior would kill him. So Po's birth parents sacrifice themselves to save Po and place him in care of the Mr. Ping.
First of all, how many times have we seen this type of origin story? Harry Potter, Prince of Egypt to name a few. Not only that, introducing this storyline was badly done. We go into the second act and The Furious Five and Po already defeat Lord Shen (which makes the main antagonist not that threatening) and Po suddenly is "disturbed" by the symbol Shen is wearing. This causes him to have a flashback...but he gets cut off. Throughout the movie he keeps getting these flashbacks but it's really hard to feel sympathy for him at all. It's extremely unrealistic that he would recognize any of this and recall his memories of him being a baby. Not to mention how random the solution is to this disturbance. Po eventually uses "inner peace" which we're told takes decades to master. Po just learns it out of nowhere and conveniently sees more of his past. *sighs* And in the ending we find out that Po's father is still alive.
More minor problems: we have two new characters, Kungfu masters who are unwilling to help. Where were these "masters" when Tai Lung escaped from prison? And how does a cannon get rid of Kungfu? It doesn't. It DEFEATS Kungfu in terms of strength but that doesn't mean it'll wipe out Kungfu. Kungfu was never a weapon in the first place, it was a mental training and a guideline for life.
Kungfu Panda 2 has a lousy script.
Characters (3/5):
Lord Shen is not even a bit threatening. He is practically already defeated in the second act. The up side for this section is Kungfu Panda himself. He's still adorable...but let's hope Kungfu Panda 3 is on hold. I cannot possibly laugh at more fat jokes anymore. Kungfu Panda is getting old now.
Performances (4/5):
Very hard to judge the performance of voice acting but I'd say all the voices match well with the characters...especially Po. Kungfu Panda is still Kungfu Panda. Funny, cute and lazy as we want him to be. Still, not a big fan of the grumpy voice work of bulgy characters.
Specifics (3/5):
The kid friendly action scenes are pretty entertaining to watch. It's creative how the Furious Five and Po work as a team to fight their enemies. The comedy is still good, not as funny as the first but scenes that reference old Kungfu movies are where the comedy is top notch. When Po is fighting alongside his friends he says all of their names just like how Kungfu masters call out animal names that are named after their moves. Funny!
Lord Shen is not even a bit threatening. He is practically already defeated in the second act. The up side for this section is Kungfu Panda himself. He's still adorable...but let's hope Kungfu Panda 3 is on hold. I cannot possibly laugh at more fat jokes anymore. Kungfu Panda is getting old now.
Performances (4/5):
Very hard to judge the performance of voice acting but I'd say all the voices match well with the characters...especially Po. Kungfu Panda is still Kungfu Panda. Funny, cute and lazy as we want him to be. Still, not a big fan of the grumpy voice work of bulgy characters.
Specifics (3/5):
The kid friendly action scenes are pretty entertaining to watch. It's creative how the Furious Five and Po work as a team to fight their enemies. The comedy is still good, not as funny as the first but scenes that reference old Kungfu movies are where the comedy is top notch. When Po is fighting alongside his friends he says all of their names just like how Kungfu masters call out animal names that are named after their moves. Funny!
Kudos to good 3D, epic action scenes such as the tower collapsing.
Theme (2/5):
Inner peace...already touched on that. It doesn't work. It's too abrupt and just like the first movie Po never really discovers anything through character development but comes through a sudden realization. Lazy writing, lazy writing. The father-adopted son relationship is explored here and emits a cozy feeling but doesn't touch the heart.
Overall (2.5/5):
Not as good as the original and just flat out unentertaining. There's a lot happening but everything goes by so quickly and the themes aren't explored well enough. Kungfu Panda 2 is a summer disappointment.
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