Kung Fu Panda 2 - Review

Well folks, I realize I've been away from the blog-o-sphere for a little while...but only actually, not really. Confused? You should be.

The majority of you who read my blog (aside, I'm assuming from my apparent fans in Hungary, Mexico and Germany) also follow me on Twitter/Facebook so you're already well aware of where I spend much of my writing time, www.8daysageek.com where I mostly do reviews of comics and occasionally review movies as well, like Thor and upcoming I will review Green Lantern, Harry Potter and Captain America.

But some things don't really apply to the site, like what I'm going to be writing about here. Kung Fu Panda, though geeky isn't necessarily within the sphere of interest to that demographic, but I digress.

So, Kung Fu Panda 2. The villain is a peacock, that should tell you something about what Dreamworks was going for there. The first movie, as you'll remember, takes the viewer on an adventure right along with the main character Po the Panda as he discovers his destiny as he becomes The Dragon Warrior.

In the second installment of the series Po is feeling pretty good about his role as Dragon Warrior and is more than up the challenge when Master Shifu sends Po and the Five out on a new mission. Unbeknownst to either of them Po was about to encounter a familiar (but not) symbol on the armor of the villains. Seeing the symbol triggers a series of vivid memories in Po; this happens throughout the movie as he continues to see the symbol at random intervals.

Several things are discovered throughout the movie: Po's mysterious past, how he came to be the son of a goose and what happened to his family and why there aren't any other Pandas.

Shen, the Peacock villain, is an albino...so right from the start he's got issues. I mean...seriously, the dude has an inferiority complex the size of the Pacific Ocean. It's this inferiority complex that causes him to create the first cannon, presumably the first in the world. His goal is to use this technology to take over all of China and within that action to destroy Kung Fu. And as a movie for children certain holes in the plot are simply overlooked, thus I will not exploit them here...it's not Citizen Kane, people.

Overall, Kung Fu Panda 2 is a very enjoyable movie with several really touching moments. The pacing is excellent, with a run time of exactly 90 minutes it never feels rushed. The connection between the main characters continues to grow, despite the fact that the members of the Furious Five, aside from Tigress, play a much smaller role in the movie. But in every fight scene Po is constantly using tactics and fighting styles that incorporate each of the members, showing the value of the team as a whole.

It's a fun movie for child and adult a like. I definitely recommend checking it out!

For now, I shall leave you with this last notion: go check out my stuff on 8daysageek.com, you'll enjoy it, I promise!

TB (JQ)