The first Kung Fu Panda felt like it dragged a bit. Most of the story was about Po getting his life together and finding a true purpose. It spent an exorbitant amount of time developing Jack Black’s star character. Thankfully, the ending of the film makes the long journey worthwhile, but still it dragged a bit.
This time around Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn’t need to spend time developing characters. It simply gets straight to the action. One of the best things about sequels is that the filmmakers can focus almost solely on putting together a great film; Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn’t disappoint. It sends our favorite hero into ‘the next great fight’ and leaves plenty of time for proper story development.
One of the main focuses of the film revolves around our main antagonist, Shen (played by Gary Oldman), who has developed a ‘gun/cannon’ to take over the country. Oldman’s talent of quick witted evilness is strong within Shen, and he comes off as a very powerful character, despite his appearance. In some ways, he’s a lot more frightening than the first movie’s antagonist, Tai Lung (played by Ian McShane). Lung was a character that used his brute force to take over his enemies. Shen is a character that is borderline crazy and will manipulate and crush his enemies mentally before using brute force. He’s far more smarter and cunning than Lung was in the first film, which makes Shen far more interesting (and more dangerous). There will be times where Oldman’s Shen will have you on the edge of your seat. Shen makes the film deeper and makes it more sinister.
The other focus on the film, and one that certainly will bring a few tears to the audience, is the side quest for Po to find his true parents. Obviously, and humorously, Mr. Ping (the goose, played by the ever talented James Hong) isn’t the father of the giant panda. Director Jennifer Yuh and writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger’s decision to explain where Po comes from is something that pays off. It’s a strong portion of the story, though not a huge focus, that adds a bit more dimension and emotion to Jack Black’s Po. You understand that this sweet panda was abandoned, and that a very grateful goose raised him, but once you find out why he was abandoned you get to know Po a bit more, and you want to know even more about his heritage (you’re going to love the ending). Again, it adds dimension and depth to an otherwise one-dimensional, slapstick character.
So is there any issues with the film? Well, not really. While some critics will argue that you’re getting more of the same with this sequel, you must understand that it’s a lot deeper than the original. There is more story in place for our Kung Fu fighters and there’s a lot more room for depth. The first, like I stated above, felt restricted and tight, as characters had to be built from scratch. This time around there is just a lot more room for a bigger story, which is put together beautifully. If I had any regrets about this film it’s that we didn’t get to see enough of Dennis Haysbert’s Master Ox and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Master Croc. While their place in the story is understandable (not giving it away), I would have loved for them to be a little bit more involved. They’re too interesting of characters not to have more time onscreen.
Eh, maybe next time.
Anyway, I think Kung Fu Panda 2 rates up there with The Toy Story 2/3’s of the world; it’s a strong sequel that has a great story and less wasted moments on character development. If you liked the first film then you’re going to love the second.
Now, for the Blu-ray portion of the film, it looks great. The animation has been dramatically improved since 2008, as you can see it handles lighting and shadows a helluva lot better. These details come out a bit more defined on the Blu-ray format. You also get very colorful, very detailed textures on the characters and environments. When the gang is fighting in the dragon costume you will see a lot The mixture of computer animation with hand-drawn animation was creative and pretty. The transfer to HD makes it all come together and work. There wasn’t any grain or artifacts in the picture, as everything really came out clean and crisp. There was also a clear absence of color banding. I will say that animated features tend to look better on Blu-ray than live-action films, but it’s still impressive nonetheless that Kung Fu Panda 2 turned out flawless on the Blu-ray format.
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(excellent hand-drawn animation)
In terms of audio, you get great 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, which lends well to this film because good audio is the key to making a great action films on Blu-ray. I’m happy the the industry is really starting to adopt the 7.1 format now for films. It might be a bit more work, but it sounds damn good.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (HD)
• Animation Inspiration—Follow Po and the Furious Five on their journey throughout China! See footage of real locations that served as inspiration for the film and learn fun, kid-friendly facts about China.
• The Animators’ Corner—Features interviews with creators, animators, cast and crew, along with storyboards, music and commentary.
• Trivia Track—Pop up trivia, Po style.
• “Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness”
• Kickin’ It with the Cast
• Deleted Scenes
• Panda Stories
• Kung Fu Shuffle
• Ni Hao
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• World of DreamWorks Animation
• Previews
• Sneak Peek
Granted, most of what you see here is for kids. They will find a lot of fun with the inclusion of the extra adventure (Kung Fu Panda: Secret of the Masters) and a lot of fun with the ‘how we did it’ animator’s feature. The rest is good fun, but the main portion of the features is the extra adventure and animator’s corner. Most of the features are in HD, which is how they should rightfully be, and they’re definitely worth your time. Dreamworks animation treated this release with respect and it shows.