From a comically 3D to an emotionally three-dimensional character...

Rating: 9/10 (26 August 2016)

In every good sequel, there's a little bit of prequel and "Kung Fu Panda 2" is another proof that DreamWorks knows how to handle sequels, especially the second ones. If you look at "Shrek 2" or "Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa" you'll notice the same pattern, they exploit the back-stories of the main characters for their individual development and for the plot. The premises of Shrek meeting Fiona's parents or Alex the Lion discovering his roots in the savanna inspired entertaining and emotional stories. And if I was more entertained by "Madagascar 2", I was certainly more emotionally involved by "Kung Fu Panda 2".
The film opens with an expected narration, the tale of the peacock lord of the city of Gongmen who had troubles with his son, Shen, a soothsayer predicted that if he went to rule the city, he'd bring chaos and desolation by turning fireworks into a weapon, but he'd ultimately be defeated by a creature in black and white. Shen hears the prediction and pulls an Oedipus by destroying the peaceful panda. Actually, it was Jocasta, Oedipus' father who sealed his fate by abandoning his son but never mind, we know the film will finally give an answer to the biological difference between Po, the panda and his father, the goose. What was a funny sight gag inspires a very poignant story.
Indeed, the sequel gives an unexpected dimension to a character who was supposed to be droll and funny, and with the voice of Jack Black, it's hard to take him seriously, but as the plot advances, and we have more glimpses on Po's past, we start to take the film more seriously than the first, 'Disney' serious. The comparison is not fortuitous, when I saw the flashback sequences drawn in quite a beautiful 2D animation; I thought it would have fitted the film as well as 3D. I understand the animators took for granted that 3D would be the best vehicle for action sequences and spectacularly acrobatic move but the highest spots of "Kung Fu Panda 2" owed nothing to 3D.
There's no denial that action is integral to the franchise's appeal, but the origins of Po were enough to turn him into a fully three-dimensional character (in the nobler meaning of the word), the scene where he finally confronts his adoptive father carries some powerful emotionality. And besides the hero, the film had the worthy villain: Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, a self-centered peacock whose childhood trauma nourished hatred, anger and a constant obsession for power and mass destruction. With the help of an army of wolves, he decimated Po's village, had his mother killed and created such a powerful weapon it could make Kung Fu as useless as a peashooter.
Lord Shen is a very hard to beat villain, literally, and the film surprisingly features many confrontations between him and the Five-now-Six Warriors, it's almost one hour and half long, but there's not a moment wasted, except some action sequences that are a little overblown. The length also allows to explore the personalities of the other warriors but again it's Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie) who takes the 'lion' share of interactions, and there's a word that is used so many times it becomes some sort of running-gag. She's called 'hardcore' because she's so cold and bad-ass in the same time, her capability to hide her feelings almost equals her fighting skills, but whenever Po's life is at stakes, she reveals a sweet and maybe fragile side of her, is there more than friendship and respect?
There's no time to figure because Po's vulnerability was the main point and he had more urgent things to do, and when he gets to the final confrontation with Shen, the dark flashback that reveals Po's past seals the coming-to-maturity of Disney's rival, as even the buffoonish panda can make your heart melt. But DreamWorks animators have a talent of their own; they know how to 'copy Disney without copying it'. Let me explain: in "Shrek", the Beauty becomes the Beast after the kiss of true love, in "Madagascar 2", Alex doesn't follow Simba's example and "remembers who he is", but sticks to what he is inside without any blood predestination. In "Kung Fu Panda 2", when Po learns the truth, he doesn't jump to kill Shen, but finds the inner peace so he can dodge his secret weapon and uses the fireballs like drops of water (good call on the continuity).
Still, there was more than a MacGuffin in that 'inner peace' thing, it showed that Po stayed true to himself; he defeated Shen but didn't want to kill him for what he did to his parents. But we all know that a villain of such cruelty can't be forgiven by the laws of animation, so Shen pulls a desperate fight and is defeated for once and all. The team triumphed and Kung Fu will prosper, but more than that, Po declares his love to his friend and to his Dad, and the ending almost had me in tears and I wish it could have closed that way. The last ten seconds were in my opinion the only useless thing about the film, granted they wanted a cliffhanger or gives us a foretaste of the third opus but why showing Po's dad alive?
All the animosity we built toward Shen is because he was an evil dude who killed a whole village and decided to take over China, that evilness was quite understated by the last shot. I wouldn't have cared about this detail if the film was average, but it was so awesome, I wish it didn't end like that.