The Year of the Peacock Begins Now!!!

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 2011)

Po has settled into his role as the Dragon Warrior (although, lets face it - Tigress could destroy this guy in her sleep), and things are peaceful. Until a villainous peacock named Shen (Gary Oldman) pops up with a machine that can destroy kung-fu and plans to conquer all of China with it.
I loved the first film and this is a worthy sequel. It was always going to be hard (impossible?) to recapture the constant wonder of the first film, when we all had no idea how the hell tubby fanboy Po would ever defeat Tai Lung and fulfill his destiny. But kudos to the filmmakers for not restingon their laurels and coming up with a moving story, where Po has to confront buried childhood demons.
The good news is that the film is funny, entertaining, and moving. A scene or two really tug at the heartstrings. There are some cool new characters voiced impeccably by Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh and others. And the old favourites do well too. And, like the first, the film is respectful of Asian culture and martial arts.
The downsides are pretty minor. Shen's WMD (actually many of them) is a bit goofy, but provides a nice set piece at the end. The action scenes are more generic and don't match the first films ones (the bridge, the training, Tai Lung's great escape, Po vs Tai Lung). But overall fans of the original will be very satisfied with this. Bring on the third!!!