Affectionate and frequently funny follow-up

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2011)

And so the battle between Pixar and Dreamworks rages on. Dreamworks have been somewhat in the shadow of it's rival in the recent years, only managing average output such as Shark Tale, Over The Hedge and Madagascar, while Pixar have been formidable with the likes of The Incredibles, the Toy Story trilogy, and WALL-E, all of which could easily be called masterpieces. But Dreamworks had something up it's own sleeve back in 2008 with the extremely funny and enjoyable Kung Fu Panda, which was a huge success for the studio. And three years on, the more-than-welcome sequel arrives, and it's really rather good.
After establishing himself as the Dragon Warrior in the first film, Po (Jack Black) heads the Furious Five, consisting of Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). All is well, as the powerful group easily dispose of any potential threat to the realm, under the watchful eye of Shifu (Dustin Hoffman). Po is seeking out answers to his birth, when he realises that his father Mr. Ping (James Hong) couldn't possibly be his biological parent, what with being a goose and all. But there is a new threat in town, and he is in the form of peacock Shen (Gary Oldman), who is stealing all the scrap metal he can to aid his new powerful weapon, which could see the end of Po and kung-fu.
The thing that appealed most about the first film was it's genuine affection for kung-fu and China. It used Chinese-style animation in one sequence, and some traditional drawing in the end credits. Plus the action scenes were better than the majority of real-life action films, combining thrilling action with slapstick comedy to good effect. Here, they've changed into second gear, and the action is twice as ambitious, and twice as impressive. The epic climax sees many kung-fu warriors, including our heroes battle Shen's army, and I've not been as excited while watching an action scene since the hotel corridor scene in Inception. And in showing Po's childhood, they've created another beautifully drawn sequence that uses China's traditional paintings as its influence.
Thankfully, the sequel is not a mere re-tread of the original. The fat jokes are kept to a minimum, the scope is expanded, and they've developed Po's story in revealing his childhood. One of the main things that concerned me was that it may miss Ian McShane, who for me stole the first film as the menacing Tai Lung. But in Gary Oldman, they've created a different sort of villain. Just as menacing as Tai Lung, he is not half the warrior, but he possesses something that Po and the Furious Five may be helpless against - a big gun.
Not quite as good as the original - it lacks the freshness and under- uses Dustin Hoffman's kung-fu master - but a more than worthy follow-up. It even manages to make Jack Black likable, who after years of playing the same character in s**t films (not including The School of Rock), wears me down. And the sheer number of talented actors that have been brought in (apart from the already mentioned, there's also Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Haysbert, Danny McBride and Michelle Yeoh) shows that the film is puffing it's chest out at Pixar. I'll be looking forward to the inevitable third instalment, and hoping it can carry on impressing.
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