Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) review

(9/10)

This sequel is better than the original in just about every aspect of comedy, action, storyline, and animation, but the ending ruined it for me.

PLOT:Po (Jack Black) and the Furious Five are back at it again when an old enemy (Gary Oldman) comes back to retake his rightful place on the throne of all of China using a secret weapon he invented. This should be easy for our panda and clan, but Po is held back when he starts to remember tidbits about his past: his mom, his dad, and the loss of his village. Along with all of this, Po must learn to find his inner peace to defeat the new villain. It's a great plot idea executed epically, for a kid's movie.



VOICES:The voice acting in here was just about the same greatness as in the first. Some roles were better in the last than in here though. Jack Black still dominates his role as Po and ensures his name as the voice of the kung fu panda. The other shiners are Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Gary Oldman as Lord Shen, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Lucy Liu as Viper, and Victor Garber as Master Thundering Rhino with an honorable mention to Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc. I believe not only that Lucy Liu did a better job of voicing in here than in the first, but I also believe that Angelina Jolie had a better and more leading role.

SCORE:I believe the score in here was better than in the last one though still done by the great Hanz ZIMMER (corrected name). It was still epic, haunting at times, and detailed.

ANIMATION:The animation in here I believed to be better than the last one because of more detail and precision, making it come off as beautifully done.



OTHER CONTENT:This seqeul is one of the rare ones that are better than the first by far. This had better comedy, a stronger storyline, and even more thrilling action. As embarrassing as it is to admit it, this was actually sort of a tearjerker to me because of the stronger storyline. That means something. This could alternate as an animated comedy, a thrilling action movie, and a compelling drama. This is definitely a well-crafted film thanks to the new director. This one also had a more threatening and interesting villain than the last one. I enjoyed that. The only flaw I found in this movie was not that the storyline was familiarly arched (I didn't see it), but that they ruined the ending. Not to spoil it, but they left it open for another one. All loose ends were tied up; they should have just ended it here! It kind of ruined the movie for me.

OVERALL,an awesome animated film with a great plot, similarly great voice acting, better ZIMMER score, beautifully done animation, better humor, thrilling action, a stronger storyline, tearjerking moments, and an interesting new villain, but it left it open when it should have tied off all loose ends.