Still too much Jack Black in so-so film

Rating: 5/10 (4 June 2011)

A few things can definitely be recommended about "Kung Fu Panda 2" in 3D and none of them have anything to do with Jack Black. Overall, the film gets mixed grades.
The artwork, the visuals and computer graphics are simply stunning. The production team gets a tip o' the Dodgers cap. Seriously, it's the only reason to see the movie.
Having just raved about the visuals, it's got be be said that at least 10 minutes of the bombastic kung fu fight scenes could easily have been cut.
Why? Because it was nothing but ridiculous overkill, i.e., filler to flesh out a weak and mostly empty script so that the studio could deliver a 90-minute film & justify charging $10-15.
I read that star Jack Black is taking credit for re-writing much of his part. Ten-year-olds loved the results. I'm not sure that many over-10-ers did. Face it, the real Jack Black seems to be nothing more than a big overgrown 10-year-old, so it figures.
Not being a fan of his, a little Jack Black goes a very long way for me. I pretty much think that the guy is minimally talented & basically one of the luckiest, most fortunate people in Hollywood. I do not get his mega-fame.
BTW, John Powell & Hans Zimmer's score stands out in several places.
As for the rest of the big-name cast, octogenarian James Hong as Yoda and Gary Oldman as the chief Blue Meanie are darned good.
However, the rest just don't stand out at all. You could tell me that Jean-Claude Killy voiced Master Croc, not Jean-Claude Van Damme, and I wouldn't have known the difference.
The story & script: Since this is so obviously a kids flick, why did writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger get so deep into the philosophy of finding peace that was what the whole movie was about? This plot went nowhere with the kids I went with & talked to. It was way over their heads.
No, overall, "Kung Fu Panda 2" was a hodgepodge of good & bad. Good visuals, stunning even - and bad everything else.