Wonderful, fun, action-packed and even touching.

Rating: 8/10 (24 June 2011)

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of the first Kung Fu Panda. The villain was cool, the acting was good, and the animation and music was awesome (Dreamworks always seems to manage that). But it was just a plain stupid movie. It really was.
Now, as for the sequel... where do I begin? It was breathtaking.
Lord Shen's story wasn't quite original, but it still was great and it really just made you feel bad for the character, filled with anger and a lust for revenge. But besides his unoriginal story, he was actually a way better villain than Tai Lung. I mean, I like Ian McShane and all, but you can't beat Gary Oldman. The man's a legend. Lord Shen had a creepy, yet almost soothing voice, which matched perfectly with the personality of the white and red peacock. Like all peacocks, he struts and walks gracefully, but can change into a swift, skilled fighter that could quite easily kill you if he wanted. Lord Shen was elegant, insane, pained, hungry for revenge and is a damn good fighter. He's just awesome.
And as for Po's story, it was surprisingly interesting. I'm not going to lie: I came very close to crying when his whole story was revealed. What I had once thought was just a stupid main character for a stupid movie had turned into an actually very well developed character. And I love it when Jack Black does this: Jack Black is pretty much known for playing fat, idiotic heroes. But it's never funny. He tries to be funny, but he just can't pull it off. But this is the Jack Black I love. He actually tries to be serious when he needs to be. And when he does a movie where he actually is serious, even if just for one scene, his comedy is funnier. Po's actions in this movie was, this time, at least chuckle-worthy. Thank you so much, Mr. Black, for not making me want to yank my hair out this time.
And I love how the Furious Five actually got more than two lines each this time. Finally! We got to know the characters' personalities a little bit more!... but just a little bit.
The action... oh my gosh. There was much more action in this one, and it was awesome! Dreamworks, you amaze me with your animation and visuals. It was just... awesome. I don't know how to explain it. The fighting scenes, all of them, were just awesome. I'm usually not a fan of movies with a bunch of fight scenes as they are usually boring and pretty unnecessary, but I loved every moment of the fighting scenes this time.
And as for the visuals of Kung Fu Panda 2...
All I can say is that I think Pixar has some competition.
They were absolutely gorgeous. Breathtaking. Amazing. Stuff like that. It does, on average, take about 2 years to make an animated. This took about 3. But to be honest, it looks like it took longer than that. Everything was very detailed, it was smooth, and even though I don't like the first movie, I've always adored the style of the art. It's not an Asian style, but it's beautiful nonetheless. I really could not believe my eyes. And I simply love the traditional animations that they had every now and again in the film. Those were pretty cool, I must admit.
And this movie (as I believe I said earlier) was FUNNY! There were some parts where I could barely control myself from bursting with laughter. Whenever I see an uneeded sequel, if it wants to be funny, it tries really hard, but it just can't do it. It's pathetic, really. But the humor here was a whole lot better than the first.
Main complaints: Dustin Hoffman, for one thing. Yes, I know he only had a few lines in the movie, and yes, I know he's a good actor, but I just can't stand his voice-over work. In live-action films, he's always great. But whenever he does cartoons, he has no emotion and always seems really uninterested in the project. And the ending was pretty bad. I mean, Po going to see his "dad" in the shop, and the two going into the kitchen to make noodles? Okay. Cute ending. I like it. But then suddenly, we see that far over the mountains, there's someone. I was pretty confused, but then the mysterious character turned around.
BAM! Po's real father. And a thriving village of pandas.
And then, the credits. That's it.
What the hell kind of ending is that? Did they really feel the need to put that in there? And do they really need (as it was obvious what they were trying to say) another Kung Fu Panda movie? Are they really going all "Shrek" on this thing? But, still, this was an absolutely incredible movie. A rare thing has happened: A sequel is better than the original. I was shocked! Despite it's flaws, it was still great. And now, because it makes me feel special: 8 out of 10 stars.
Well done, Dreamworks. Well done.