I actually have the original Kung Fu Panda on DVD somewhere. I liked it when I saw it. Fun movie, Jack Black gives it his all–though it occurs to me that he always does–the cartoon slapstick really works, and the story was nice. But I never really went beyond that first one for some reason. However, there is a fourth one coming out this week, so why not look into the two I missed? One is on Peacock, and I have that for the time being. The other, apparently, is on Netflix. They’re kinda short, so I can tune in and watch ’em on any given weeknight without staying up too late.
Anyway, I finished off the first sequel.
Here’s a question that the first movie never really answered: how is Po (Black), a panda, the son of Mr. Ping (James Hong), a goose? While the first movie just played around with the obvious dichotomy, the second one quickly points out the obvious: Po is adopted, but he’ll need to sort out his feelings on this subject later. For now, there’s news from another part of China: a legendary Kung Fu Master died at the hands of a mysterious weapon, one under the control of the vicious peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman). As Shen’s wolves are stealing metal from all over China to build more, Po and the Furious Five–returning characters Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), and Crane (David Cross)–head off to see what’s going on.
What they find is unexpected: Shen has a connection to Po’s past, and is essentially the entire reason Po was orphaned and left to be adopted by Mr. Ping. Shen has a grudge the size of China as it is, and a Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) claims that Po is the one destined to bring Shen down, but Po just ain’t feelin’ it. Shen has managed to weaponize fireworks, and he has a lot of canons. Can Po find the inner peace needed to save the day?
As sequels go, this one wasn’t bad. The original cast managed to come back for another go-around, and this time, it was nice seeing Po as part of the team with the Furious Five. Master Shifu may still be a little annoyed at how easily things seem to come to Po, but he’s more in the spirit of his fanboy student than he was before, and there’s something really nice about seeing the Five as Po’s allies instead of a bunch of stuck-up jerks who don’t like the way this clown is messing with their regular way of doing things, with even the stand-offish Tigress being more a friend than a antagonistic presence in Po’s life. Add in Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Haysbert as some more Kung Fu masters for Po to idolize, some more good slapstick, and even some neat touches with 2-D animation in some flashback sequences, and while I wouldn’t put this one on the same level as the original, it sure does come close.
It helps that Oldman may be giving a great vocal performance the equal of Black’s. Oldman has, in his time, played more than a few over-the-top villains, and Shen is easily one of them, but then there’s a scene or two where he actually seems to be playing it pretty straight for dramatic purposes that really works. I was surprisingly pleased with this movie. Maybe #3 will be just as good. I’ll have to find that out tomorrow night.
Grade: B+
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