Directed by:
Jennifer YuhCast:
Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, James Hong, David Cross, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber, Gary Oldman (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
In "Kung Fu Panda 2", Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po's new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (5)
Even pandas have to deal with identity crises. As sequels like to do, this one also goes more in depth. Po deals with who he really is throughout the film. He seeks inner balance through dialogue with his father, his master and other warriors, as well as through flashbacks to his childhood, without the pace slowing significantly. In a similar way, Greengrass skilfully combined continuous forward motion with an exploration of the protagonist’s soul in The Bourne Ultimatum (for which John Powell also composed the music). That may be a bit of a strange comparison, but Kung Fu Panda 2 is primarily a whirlwind of action scenes of epic-film proportions and less of an animated family comedy, though it contains constant joking, even where being serious would be appropriate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Po put bigger smiles on the faces of kung fu movie lovers than on the faces of younger viewers and their parents. Nevertheless, universal comprehensibility is ensured by cultural syncretism, when Chinese symbols and reality coexist with allusions to western consumerism and Japanese anime (which Po’s flashbacks recall with their style of animation). Kung Fu Panda 2 offers top-quality animation and a modest runtime, but it lacks the emotional complexity of Pixar movies. Compared to its predecessor, it’s neither worse nor better, but has a bonus in the form of the hopeful assurance that kung fu isn’t dead; it’s just been slightly panda-ised. Appendix: I’m rating the 3D (often used in POV shots, but in no way innovatively) and dubbed version. Given the names in the credits (Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc!), it’s not out of the question that I would add a few percentage points for the original-language version. 75%
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It's a pure action film. But animated. And with animals. I had as much fun as I did with the first Kung Fu Panda, but unlike that film, I didn't have any clichéd story to spoil my fun this time (there is almost no story in Kung Fu Panda 2, just one very simple storyline). The animation is perfect, especially the movements of the peacock villain amazed me, while the action scenes have plenty of inventiveness and humor... And there's even a third part in the works, which I admit I'd like to see.
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Hmm... It's quite different from the great first one. There aren't so many good lines and the crazy action, with the kicks and the kung-fu moves is barely good enough. The story also isn't that good, it’s rather a bundle clichés, but Po is still the same likable guy and the impression is raised quite well by the very nice Czech dubbing (Procházka). Certainly not a waste of time. 75%
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Of all the Kung Fu Panda episodes (so far), the second one is the weakest, but it is still not a below average animated film. I liked the look of the main villain in the form of a white peacock, which really had something to it. Most of the funny scenes were mainly taken care of by Po's clumsiness, obesity and greed. All in all, a nice respite that, while not as funny as either first or the third one, still doesn't offend.
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"Kung Fu Panda" - I mean the first part - is a movie that captivated children because there were plenty of cute characters, but it also captivated adults because they found plenty of humor here, but also a great variation on classic kung fu. The problem with the second part is that those characters are already known and cannot surprise us in any way. Panda Po needed to be made a bit clumsy again, so he is definitely not just the amazing warrior as he presented himself at the end of the first movie, but he still has a lot to learn. He is still properly silly, which simply belongs to Jack Black's voice. This is literally a role for him, even though it is animated. "Kung Fu Panda 2" doesn't have much to offer, it only tries to deepen the connection with the kung fu genre and legends of warriors, which is great for fans of martial arts, but the story is not exceptional, nothing new is brought here. "Kung Fu Panda 2" builds on the success of the first movie and that's where it ends. Favorite characters will return and supposedly that should be enough. It's not quite it, although children probably won't get bored. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/05/kung-fu-dewey-cox-zkrocena-hora-12-opic.html
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