Finally, a worthy sequel

Rating: 6/10 (31 May 2011)

A day after viewing the debacle that was "The Hangover, Part II," I was able to see an example of how a sequel should really be made. Now, I know enough not to compare live action films to animated ones, but the fact remains that movie fell flat while "Kung Fu Panda 2" was a surprisingly pleasant experience.
Following its 2008 predecessor, which became one of the year's sleeper hits, this version keeps the same vocal talent in tact and even adds Gary Oldman ("JFK," "Dark Knight") as the voice of a violent, despotic peacock (yep, that's right).
Leading the cast is the irrepressible Jack Black as Po, the moronic, clumsy, gluttonous panda bear who overcomes all to become the animal kingdom's most unlikely kung fu master. Also joining in on the fun is the Furious Five, Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Seth Rogen (Mantis), David Cross (Crane), Jackie Chan (Monkey) and Lucy Liu (Viper), as well as Dustin Hoffman (as the spiritual leader, the Yoda-like Shifu).
This group of martial arts junior justice league all-stars is called together again after part one to save the entire country of Cathay (China for the uninitiated) against Lord Shen (Oldman), who leads a vicious pack of wolves and has invented artillery.
Plus, Shen is guilty of a horrible act of genocide, turning this into "Kung Fu Panda" meets "The Lord of War" meets "The 10 Commandments." We also learn a bit about Po's origins, while there are some genuinely touching and funny moments with Po's adopted father, Mr. Ping the noodle-cooking goose (James Wong).
The conflict begins when Shen and his minions crank up the war machine, building cannons and ships to take over a country that is still apparently peaceful and bucolic. Only the Furious Five can stop this evil plan, but the odds are stacked against them.
Meanwhile, Shifu attempts to teach Po the meaning of inner peace with a classic scene in which Hoffman intones, "When you became a Dragon Master, it was the worst day of my life. No, I mean it was the absolute worst day." Black's mournful, "Okay, I get it," is the perfect retort.
Putting aside some major disbelief of a peacock ruling over wolves (whom in "real" life would have just eaten the bird and got it over with), as well as the chemistry between Po and his super hero friends being almost non-existent, I still have to give a big thumbs up to this effort.
The children will no doubt love the colorful animals - especially the cuddly panda sequences, while the adults will relish the many one-liners, many coming from the Po-Mr. Ping relationship.
My mistrust of sequels was only exacerbated with the release of the second "Hangover;" thank goodness my faith was - somewhat - restored just one day later.