KUNG FU PANDA 2
Starring (the voices of)
Jack Black,
Angelina Jolie,
Dustin Hoffman,
Gary Oldman,
Jackie Chan,
Seth Rogen,
Lucy Liu,
David Cross,
James Hong
Directed by Jennifer Yuh
Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Robert Koo
Running time 90 mins.
Rated PG
Fantastic animation and gut-busting yucks make this fine family fare a smashing hit.
Upshot: Po (Black), having D’Artagnan-like fulfilled his initiation into the ranks of the Musketeer-ish kung fu elite in the first movie, now must find inner peace and learn the truth of his origin whilst saving everyone from an evil peacock (Oldman), who has much skill, and this weird new stuff called artillery. Which leads Po to wonder, “How can kung fu stop something that stops kung fu?”
Indeed.
This aspect of mere artillery versus individual skill, of the machine over the human, seems to pull from Kurasawa’s Japanese classic “Seven Samurai.” No, kids won’t care about that any more than they will the Bruce Lee reference when Po yells, “Feet of fury!” Qualify that: They’ll like it because it’s funny the way Black says it, not because it’s clever. Apparently it’s a nod from the filmmakers for us parents to feel included.
As with the first one, the highly stylized animation of the introductory material contrasts effectively with the “real world” of the CG panda who finally learns from his noodle-hawking dad (Hong), who is a goose, that actually Po was adopted.
The quality of the animation, the affability of the perpetually hungry and hugely sincere Po, perfectly voiced by Black, and the lightning-fast exotic locale action, all mix together well, and ensure that kids will get a kick out of it.
Two animated features I was not able to review, but which I have since seen and think merit special attention, are “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Coraline.” Both of these movies are edgier and more memorable than “Kung Fu Panda 2,” enjoyable as is the latter. Both movies also come from great books of great writers. Both are stop-motion animated, not computer-generated. And neither produces a sequel.
What we get with “Kung Fu Panda” is a vehicle for the Jack Black product. Like Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, and countless others stretching back to the beginning of film and beyond, Jack Black has one unique style of comedy and sticks with it. It’s not like Matt Damon even had a chance here.
So while it may not be any great shakes in the history of animated film, per se, and while it may actually, when compared with some standout stop-motion stuff, come across almost like a bag of artificially colored and flavored bright orange cheez puffs, still, if you look at it right, even a cheez puff is pretty incredible.
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