Features > Movie Reviews > Kung Fu Panda…

As he lends his voice to the big-hearted, always hungry panda, Po, in this sequel to the 2008 hit.

It’s worth remembering animators rated the first film higher than WALL-E – it won the Annie for best animated feature and best direction, among half a dozen other awards. Why? I think because it came up with such rich and varied visual textures. The filmmakers seemed genuinely inspired by the Chinese setting, and took joy in riffing on their favourite martial arts flicks.

The challenge this time was to come up with a strong story now that Po has proven himself a kung fu master. And that’s the only aspect where KFP 2 fallss a little short.

There’s a sharp new villain: a peacock, Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, who has discovered that fireworks can turn into powerful weapons. So powerful, he means to vanquish kung fu and take over China.  Only Po and the Furious Five can stop him.

At the same time, Po is coming to terms with the shocking revelation that he was adopted. Apparently this possibility has never crossed his mind before. It’s so upsetting it’s enough to put him off his noodles… Well, almost.

Unfortunately this theme doesn’t really go anywhere (except possibly Kung Fu Panda 3). In fact character development takes a back seat – way, way back – to the action scenes, which turn up with the regularity of the fabled number 19 bus, every five or six minutes.

Not that I’m complaining. The fights are executed with bags of invention and energy, and this is that rare beast, a 3D movie that is embellished and enhanced by the stereoscopic process. The filmmakers have obviously thought through the movie in 3D terms, it’s organic to the action and occasionally quite breathtaking. But the visual across the board are dazzling. As in the previous film, the animators have used cut-out lithographs, the kind of shadow puppetry perfected in Ancient China, for flashback sequences, but first time director Jennifer Yuh Nelson invests them with more emotional weight than you might think possible by virtue of the contrast with 3D.

The original voice cast are all back, still a bit under-employed, though Angelina Jolie’s Tigress seems to be developing a thing for Po. (Well, the Chinese word for Panda means “Cat-bear”, so maybe it’s not as unnatural as all that.)

Of the peace and serenity that Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) preaches, there is little sign. But even with its slightly sketchy story, Kung Fu Panda 2 is big fun – it should give Pixar a run for its money come Oscar time.