Review: Kung Fu Panda - II

The much awaited sequel to Kung Fu Panda is here. And its in 3-D! If you haven't watched the first part yet, watch now. You wouldn't understand this movie (or this blogpost for that matter) as much as you would like otherwise. You wont regret it.

 

The Plot: Po, 'The Big Fat Panda' is back, fully trained, fully fed (but of course!), with only one more goal to accomplish in Kung-Fu - to attain inner peace. Master Shifu tells Po, to his utter horror and disbelief, that people go without eating for months to attain inner peace. Before he can think about this inconceivable task, he is faced with a new foe. 

Not a dinosaur, not a lion, not even a giant rat, but a peacock, named Shen. Several years ago, a fore teller had told Shen, that 'A warrior of black and white' would defeat him (Guess who? :P ) Shen, outraged, had slaughtered all the pandas of China. Po, with all his awesomeness, had miraculously, unknown to Shen, had survived.The peacocks, who were shocked by Shen's actions had banished him from their city. Shen, returns with a powerful weapon and takes control of the city. It is the job of Po and the Furious Five to travel to Gongmen City and stop Shen before he destroys Kung Fu from China. On the way, he discovers new things about his past, and story takes an uncharacteristically serious turn. 


The Animation: A new land, Gongmen City, is introduced in this sequel. As before, the expressions on the  faces of characters, co-ordinated with stunning dialogue delivery, especially the Panda's make the film. Jack Black has yet again done a brilliant job of voicing the Panda. A small letdown is that some of the scenes were created just for the 3-D effects. While the 3-D did look amazing, some of the fight scenes weren't as much fun. (They let too many chunks of wood fly towards you :P)

The Characters:

Po: The black and white dragon warrior is the same as ever, except maybe that he can now do new combination Kung-Fu moves with his old weapon, his belly.
He finally gains some respect from his master and his fellow warriors, but also occasionally gets pounded. He still likes getting beat up though. His out-the-blue humour, hillarious expressions and bizzare fighting techniques make this movie a must watch.

Tigress: She continues to remain the only character who doesn't make us laugh. Her suddenly developed respect towards Po is hard to get adjusted to as she used to treat him like scum. She goes and hugs Po once or twice which is "Eww" and also gets very serious and emotional.

The Other Four: Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper have lesser roles and just help in fighting, making weird but effective kung-fu combos with Po. They come up with witty lines every now and then so it isn't just the panda you have to look at.


Shen, The Peacock: This guy is nowhere near Tai-Lung of KFP 1 being the super villian of the movie. He is supposingly much more evil and heartless than Tai Lung. The movie intended to put his character across as 'cunning' and 'ruthless', but manages only, 'a joker' and 'someone with no idea at how to fight and relies on servants and weapons'.

Shifu: This guy is a species of Red Panda (You didn't know that right? :D ) Google 'Red Panda'. Shifu plays a cameo and takes over the role of Master Oogway, (He's awesome! :P ) though, he doesn't say all Oogway-ishly saintlike dialogues, nor does he have the God-like personality Oogway had. He's got a new cool new tunic on now!!


Ping: He's Po's dad. And he's a goose.(Wth?!) And a noodle restaurant owner. You're going to hate every scene he is in. Thankfully, his role is very less. All he does is take part in emotional conversations with his 'son' and make noodles :P

Fun? : There are ups and downs in this movie. The ups being the Panda. Period. Go figure. Also, the villian tends to crack you up a little every now and then. Downs being, the large number emotional, sad and serious scenes which are soo not Kung Fu Panda-ish. Unlike the first part, most fights are in groups and in a rush, so you don't get to see the in detail bizarre fighting techniques of the Panda (Belly Bouncer and Bum Crushers for the win!)

The climax also ends on a serious note which is lousy. Oh well, its not really as bad as it sounds.

Worth watching in a theatre? Definitely. A one time must watch movie. Kung Fu Panda 1 was better, but I still liked this one.

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Random Scene
Panda and the furious five are captured, chained up, and are being brought to the HUGE castle where Shen resides to be murdered.
Panda (Looking up with a sudden serious expression): Ah. We meet again, oh ancient enemy.
Furious Five (Puzzled and turn around to face him): What?! Who?!
Panda: Stairs