Kung Fu Panda 2 is a gorgeous looking movie. Between this franchise and How to Train Your Dragon, Dreamworks Animation has really come into its own over the last few years in terms of unique, compelling design. I would kill for a Kung Fu Panda 2 BluRay release that included a music-only audio track, so I could just sit and immerse myself in these aesthetically refined yet convincingly naturalistic landscapes.
The original Kung Fu Panda was a total surprise. Up until that point Dreamworks Animation had been riding the big wave of mediocrity with the Shrek franchise, but Kung Fu Panda managed to be reverent and enjoyable for old Hong Kong kung fu movie buffs while also appealing to mom and dad who just want to take the kiddos out for some popcorn fun on a Friday night. Though the characters were broad and the story predictable, the result was more archetypal than middling.
For the sequel, Jack Black leads a large returning cast of voice actors along with some notable new voices (Danny McBride, Michelle Yeoh, Gary Oldman, and Jean-Claude Van Damme). I am no voice acting expert, but it feels like Black and the gang are more comfortable this time around and therefore disappear into their roles a little more easily. Lucy Liu is still Lucy Liu and David Cross is still David Cross, but everyone else does an admirable job of briefly transcending their iconic voices. Black, director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and consultant/producer Guillermo Del Toro had a tricky task figuring out what to do with the character of Po. Much of the fun of the first movie was watching Po bumble his way through Kung Fu school. Wacky hijinks abounded. At the end of that movie, however, Po was a certified kung fu master. In order to make another movie work, the creators would have to balance Po the kung fu master with Po the bumbling fat guy. It’s awkward, and they’re only partially successful.
It helps that Kung Fu Panda 2’s themes are so solid. The movie brings a new villan to the fore, an evil peacock who has some nefarious relation to Po’s past. Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) is a great foil for Po, graceful and imposing where the latter is uncoordinated and casual. Both are dealing with issues of parental loss and abandonment, and how to translate one’s past into one’s legacy. Pretty heavy stuff for a kid’s movie, and it’s when Kung Fu Panda 2 goes to these dark places that it succeeds the most. The movie’s sets, settings, and character design have a monumental feel matched by the movie’s plot, which deals with nothing less than the political fate of all China.
The first movie thrilled with larger than life fight scenes featuring the Furious Five, Po’s kung fu heroes. He joined the posse by that movie’s ending, but we never got to see the combined group in action. The makers of Kung Fu Panda 2 tackle that challenge with gusto. The group fights in this movie are astounding. Different styles and strategies are easily differentiated. The Po-helmed Furious Five feel like a great basketball team, utilizing everyone’s skills in tandem to “run plays” while Po takes point-guard, calling out the shots. There are a million little details that make these action scenes really enjoyable. For instance, the Five always seem to be jumping off of something very tall, and since Po is too heavy to stick the landing, Crane lifts him by the scruff right before he hits the ground to soften the fall. It all happens in milliseconds, and it’s the kind of visual gag that reveals the effort put into every frame of these action scenes.
It’s unfortunately, then, that many of the movie’s jokes and dialogue fall flat. I’ve never been more conscious of difference between story and script. Kung Fu Panda 2’s story is rock solid, compelling and dark in a way that has lifted many of the best sequels to greatness. The script, however, the small moments, the details, these feel rushed. Whereas Po’s search for the truth about his past is emotionally charged, his secondary search for some kung fu mystical version of “inner peace” is ill-defined from the start, and unconvincingly resolved at the end. The humor isn’t balanced as well as in the original. Many of the jokes simply undercut the gravity of the events at hand.
But regardless of what I think of the specific beats of the story, Kung Fu Panda 2’s animators should really be proud of their accomplishment. The is one of the most handsome digitally animated productions we’ve seen yet. It’s worth the price of the ticket for the visuals alone, even if some of the jokes fall flat.
-Ben
p.s. The endless texting, talking, and baby crying at the screening I went to could have very well lead to my inability to engage with Kung Fu Panda 2's plot. I look forward to revisiting the movie when I can watch it in my childless, teenager-less living room. Humbug.