What the first film should have been, a great animated movie

Rating: 9/10 (10 January 2012)

A couple of years ago during the summer time Kung Fu Panda came out, it was a cute film with a very predictable story. I liked it over all, but I couldn't get into the voices as much and also the story had been done to death. The overweight goofy outcast wants to be with the cool group, he finds out he can but doubts himself but gets with the group when he discovers who he is. The sequel I was thinking I could just wait for the rental which I did and I have to say that I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't see it in the theater. Kung Fu Panda 2 is very original and has some amazing characters as well as some very beautiful animation.
Lord Shen, heir of the peacock clan that ruled Gongmen City in ancient China, sought to harness the power of fireworks as a weapon with which to rule the entire country. When he learned from the court's goat soothsayer that "a warrior of black-and-white" would one day defeat him, Shen assumed she was referring to a panda and exterminated much of the panda population to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents were horrified at this atrocity and exiled Shen, who swore revenge. Thirty years later, Po is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five, but is told by Master Shifu that he has yet to achieve inner peace. While fighting off a pack of wolf bandits who have been stealing refined metal for Lord Shen, Po is distracted by a symbol on the head wolf's armor, which causes Po to have a flashback of his mother and allows the wolves to escape. The group realizes they must stop Shen from taking over China, but there's more to the story of Po and his parents that Shen knows about and it becomes very personal.
One of the things I loved about this movie was the villain, Shen. He wasn't just a typical bad guy who really had no motive to be bad, but his parents had banned him from his home when they realized that he was bad. You can see the pain I his eyes when they are mentioned around him and could really understand his pain. Plus the animation on him was just beautiful, being a peacock he has some really great weapons with the knives as feathers. Po, despite Jack Black's voice still being a distraction, was really wonderful in the film as well and gives some great laughs. Although there were some moments where I wished they toned down the slap stick a little bit. There were some moments where silence would have worked better to make this a perfect film.
While the film has little flaws here and there, this was still a terrific film just on the story alone. The characters are all likable and the message of the film is very beautiful. To find an inner peace with yourself is very hard, but to let kids know that it's alright to let go of anger was a wonderful message. I loved the way the characters were animated and the fight scenes were just exciting and kept you on the edge of your seat. I would recommend Kung Fu Panda 2, it definitely was what the first film was missing and was what it should have been the first time around. This was a big step up and if they make a third film going in this direction, I'll be the first in line buying a ticket.
9/10