Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Rating: 4/10 (12 December 2011)

Same disappointing effort as the first. This time Po must face some demons from his past and discover his inner peace. Once again it is the villain that really impresses, with Gary Oldman getting all the best material. His voice is everything an antagonist needs to be. Calm, sinister, with a certain ounce of charm. The flashbacks are represented in what looks like 2D hand drawn animation. These segments have more depth and emotion than anything else in the film. By this point even Dreamworks' capable skills look tired. Why concentrate so much on the hairs on an animals face when you can't even build up some believable camaraderie between the Furious Five. If at any point I'd believed these characters were in danger I may have actually given a damn about the action sequences. A few jokes work, baby Po is cute, but I can't really recommend this.