Kung Fu Panda 2

Plot synopsis:
Years before the events of the first film, Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), the scion of a peacock clan that rules Gongmen City in ancient China, seeks to weaponize gunpowder, which had recently been invented to create fireworks. After discovering from the court's goat Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) that "a warrior of black-and-white" will defeat him if he does not change his ways, Shen leads an army of wolves to exterminate the panda population to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents are horrified at this atrocity and exile their son, who swears revenge.
About twenty years later, Po (Jack Black) is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five. His teacher Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) tells him, however, that he has yet to achieve inner peace. While defending a village from wolf bandits who have been stealing refined metal for Shen, Po is distracted by a symbol on the wolf leader's (Danny McBride) armor, which causes Po to have a flashback of his mother and allows the wolves to escape. Po asks his goose father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), about his origins. Ping reveals that he found Po as an infant in a radish crate and adopted him, but Po remains unsatisfied, wondering how and why he ended up in the Valley of Peace.
Shifu receives word that Shen has returned to Gongmen City and killed Thundering Rhino, the leader of the kung fu council protecting the City, and is plotting to conquer China with his newly developed weapon, a cannon. Shifu sends Po and the Furious Five to Gongmen City to stop Shen and destroy his weapon. They find the city occupied by Shen's forces, with the two surviving council members Storming Ox and Croc imprisoned. The six heroes ask the council members for help to liberate the city, but the two cite their helplessness against Shen's weapon and refuse. Po and the Five are discovered by the wolf boss and give chase, only to be arrested in front of Shen's tower.
Upon being brought before Shen in his tower, Po and the Five free themselves and destroy Shen's weapon. However, Po is again distracted by a flashback upon seeing the same symbol as before on Shen's plumage, realizing Shen was there the last night Po saw his parents. This allows Shen to escape and destroy the tower with an arsenal of cannons. After Po and the Five escape, Tigress (Angelina Jolie), confronts Po over his distraction, who reluctantly explains that he remembers Shen's presence on the night he was separated from his parents, and wants answers about his past from Shen. Though empathetic, Tigress tells Po to stay behind for his own safety. Despite this, Po breaks into the factory to question Shen, inadvertently foiling the Five's plan to destroy the factory. Shen claims that Po's parents abandoned him, and then blasts Po out of the factory into a river with a cannon, where he is presumed dead.
Po survives and is rescued by the same soothsayer, who takes him to the ruins of the nearby village where Po was born. Guided by the soothsayer to embrace his past, Po remembers that when he was an infant, his parents had sacrificed themselves to save him from Shen's army, his mother hiding him in a radish crate and luring Shen's forces away from him. Po attains inner peace, realizing that he has lived a happy and fulfilling life despite this early tragedy.
Po returns to Gongmen City to save the captive Five and prevent Shen's conquest of China. A battle ensues between Shen's armada, sailing in the heart of Gongmen City, and Po and the Five, joined by Shifu, who has persuaded Ox and Croc to help. Po modifies the movements used during his inner peace training to redirect Shen's cannonballs against his own armada, destroying it. Po then urges Shen to let go of his own past, but Shen attacks Po until Shen slashes the ropes holding up his last cannon, which falls on top of him, crushing him to death. Victorious, Po returns to the Valley of Peace and reunites with Mr. Ping, lovingly declaring the goose to be his father.
At the same time, Po's birth father, Li Shan (Fred Tatasciore), is revealed to have survived Shen's attack and is shown to be living in a far-off, hidden village inhabited by surviving pandas, and senses that his son is still alive.

Tags: insanity, revenge, flashback

Review:
Well, I'm happy to say it's Toy Story 2 kind of animated sequel - a genuine good movie that takes risks and succeeds rather than rehashing the first movie.Po isn't as much of a gastro-kung-fu fighter and fanboi from the first movie but has grown in his personality; he's less the Jack Black as a panda and more of a character that stands on it's own.
Furry, Ferocious and Fun!This Memorial Day weekend I watched Kung Fu Panda 2, the sequel to the action packed comedy starring Po (Jack Black) and the fearsome five.
Clumsiness also plays a role in Po's ability to make us laugh, as what starts out as the stylish moves of a kung fu master quickly turns into a blundering mistake that somehow seems to work for Po. All of these aspects are brought together by Jack Black's voice work as he finds a way to bring a juvenile tone to the comedy, while still sounding wise and honorable during the serious scenes.Perhaps one of the strongest aspects about this movie is the balance of story, action, and detail.
Although the movie is only an hour and half long, some might find the final battle dragged out a little too long and want it to just end, this was not a problem for me however.Overall Kung Fu Panda 2 is a sequel that is a must see, especially for kids and fans of the series.
I take back everything I said earlier because, man oh man, I have to admit that Kung Fu Panda 2 was one of the best animated films I have ever seen.In in this installment, we find Po and the Furious Five defending the Valley of Peace from evil when a new threat rises.
Who would have expected Kung Fu Panda to become a surprising, heartwarming summer hit back in 2008, where I thought it had captured the very essence of a typical martial arts film, and distilled it into an animated piece appealing both to kids and adults alike.
Kung Fu Panda 2 succeeded.Although it certainly did seem that passing the reins over to rookie director Jennifer Yuh was bewildering, but Yuh turned out to be perfect in guiding the sequel and the beloved characters in yet another adventure, with bigger set action pieces, touching dramatic moments, and retaining plenty of humour from the get go.
Credit of course must go to writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger in coming up with a natural progression of the story of Po (Jack Black), and filling it with a lot more elements from classic martial arts film formulas such as a jail break involving skilled pugilists in captivity, a pagoda, getting beat down, recovery and recuperation, and the learning of a new, ultimate skill.
To think that the worries came from the scribes being responsible for the snooze-fest Monsters Vs Aliens, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.Kung Fu Panda 2 brings back the A-list voices of Black as Po the Panda, now very much comfortable in his celebrity role of the prophesied Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five consisting of Angelina Jolie as the no-nonsense, hard hitting Tigress, Seth Rogen as the wisecracking Mantis, David Cross as Crane, Lucy Liu as Viper and the underused Jackie Chan as Monkey, recognizable animals used in distinctive martial arts boxing styles.
Also returning are Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu and James Hong as Mr Ping, while joining the fray are Gary Oldman as the chief villain Lord Shen the vain peacock, Michelle Yeoh as The Soothsayer, Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc, Dennis Haysbert as Master Oxen and Victor garber as Master Thundering Rhino, the latter three forming some formidable masters of kung fu whose city they're protecting falls under siege.The story continues to loosely adopt from historical developments in China, with the premise being set during the time when gunpowder was discovered and fireworks created, but with the more sinister use of the material also for the creation of weapons such as the cannon, threatening the extinction of martial arts with its formidable firepower.
Lord Shen becomes fanatical in plundering metal from the land with the ambition to rule all of China, but for his Soothsayer to predict his downfall to come from something black and white, hence his dogged massacre of pandas with his wolf pack goons, before setting his sights on and signaling his diabolical intent on some legendary martial arts masters.It's pretty amazing how this under 90 minute film also managed to squeeze in plenty of pathos in the form of Po having to unlock his repressed memory of being necessarily abandoned by his parents following a pattern ala Moses with the pandas being threatened with forced extinction, which provides tons of baby panda to milk some scheming, crafty moments to tug at your heartstrings, and you can hear that audible gasps of "oh so cute"s from female members of the audiences.
Narratively it's pretty predictable following the generic essence of typical kung fu film classics, what with the learning of inner peace and new skills involved that resembled very much like Taichi-quan, but what mattered of course is the delivery that hit expectations, and not buckle under that same weight brought over from a successful first film.Then of course there's the spectacular fight sequences, especially when Po and the Fearsome Five combine to protect the innocent masses against hordes of enemies that come with the requisite comedy, from slapstick to lyrical, like poetry in motion when they showcase their respective, distinctive moves.
Big action set pieces are well designed, and I give my thumbs up to how the villain is modelled after the peacock, which in itself brings about the theme of vanity that almost all villains possess, but in the context of kung fu, it's extremely smart to design Lord Shen to move and utilize his own innate weaponry, that of sneaky darts and fans - a weapon that in Chinese martial arts film, is the weapon of choice of the "wei jun zi" - the "fake gentleman" (sorry if my interpretation sucks, but you get my drift).No qualms about this installment, I would put it in my highly recommended list as a sequel that didn't forget about the spirit of the original, and if the filmmakers can continue to capture exactly what makes martial arts movies tick and distill it like it did for the first two films, I dare say we're in for a mighty strong franchise that will appeal to kids, and every kung fu film fan out there who will probably go nuts at how well this animated series managed to get the formula right..
Otherwise, this movie was really entertaining, both as an action movie and a (admittedly aimed towards kids) comedy, with a strong heart in the center.If Cars 2 doesn't completely blow everyone away, Kung Fu Panda 2 definitely has a rightful chance at winning Best Animated Feature (which my brother jokingly called "The Pixar Award") this year.
This installment of Kung Fu Panda exceeded my expectations in all respects.Animation is superb, characters greatly orchestrated, voice-acting is top-notch, fights are well choreographed and there is enough humor to make you feel that you have regained your childhood back!!!
Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Mantis (Rogen), Crane (Cross) & Viper (Liu), heavy hitting star power for a children's animated movie.We also have Shifu (Hoffman) returning as a "Yoda" like mentor and Mr Ping (Hong) as Po's adopted father, who provides comic relief and some touching scenes in equal measure.
For every child friendly chase sequence there is a tender scene which manages to appeal to adults without detracting from the on screen colourful antics.Will Po manage to vanquish evil again, find balance and reconcile his past, well the deviations from the norm can only be stretched so far but the journey is the thing and there is much to enjoy along the way.Could well be the the best animated film of the year, Pixar have definite competition in this genre and perhaps mirroring the arc from Toy Story 1 to 2.
And I also admired the fire and particles effects.The voice cast from this movie includes various famous actors (Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Michelle Yeoh, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Jean Claude Van-Damme), but their work lacks of any personality or passion.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is a bit darker than the first – as most sequels are – but there's nothing here that will damage your kids.Kung Fu Panda 2, little moments that undermine traditional action-movie tropes to hilarious effect.The film is funny, but never outrageously so, reducing the laughs to find poignancy with Po's parental quest.
True, animation gives you a lot more breathing room when it comes to imaginary battles, but there were fights and clashes in this movie that were just stunning.Hans Zimmer's score is an energetic.characterization Gary Oldman as the film's primary antagonist Lord Shen who is an albino Indian Peafowl and Victor Garber as Master Thundering Rhino, a Javan Rhinocerosia are awesome.The focus on character is so surprisingly sharp that the conflict seamlessly fuses with the rest of the material, becoming accessible toeveryone in the audience.
This film isn't nearly as good as the 2008 original, but for a sequel it works really well; it probably won't win an Oscar (Rango seems to have it pretty much locked up this year, although I didn't like it), but it is still very entertaining and the entire family will have a good time with this movie.
They seriously need to follow such artistic works with richer and more powerful content if they want to make things work again or else they can try to continue with their older better productions like Chicken Run(2000).Above said, there is however one very nice and emotional scene in Kung Fu Panda 2 which I like the most, and it is when Po remembers his childhood and the way he lost his parents.
Well, Dreamworks's "Kung Fu Panda 2" gets it and it handles it with less irony and a little wit.In this sequel to the 2008 computer animated hit, Po the panda and his gang of heroes try to save China from his parents's old nemesis,an evil peacock named Shen.Jack Black returns as the voice of Po, and he gives the film its touch of laughter.
Kung Fu Panda 2Being on the endangered species list is a good indicator of how successful your species is at martial arts.That is why the giant panda in this animated movie must be some sort of anomaly.When Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), a malevolent peacock, learns from a mystic (Michelle Yeoh) that a panda will overthrow him, he orders the race's annihilation.Years later, Shen's shocked to discover a panda, Po (Jack Black), survived the genocide to become a Kung Fu Dragon Master.Welding a cannon, Shen sets out to conquer China and destroy Po and his Furious Five (Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Lucy Liu).An ominous origin tale, Kung Fu Panda 2 delivers equivalent slapstick action to the first, but with a new level of story complexity.Besides, why waste your time decimating the panda population, when their lack of sex-drive will do the job for you?
The plot is actually pretty thin and derivative, and is actually where Kung Fu Panda comes perilously close to Kung Phooey.This time around Po is instructed by Master Shifu to find inner peace in order to save China from Shen (Gary Oldman), a naughty peacock banished from China as a chick I guess – who dreams of taking over the country with his army of wolves and other nasty looking creatures through the introduction of weapons, with which he plans to kill kung-fu!
This is rightfully so because this is a film about animals showing off their kung fu fighting skills creating an action movie for kids.
In the end the story is not the selling point of the movie and acts as a setup for the third installment of the series leaving the audience with an open ending.Entertaining blockbuster animation at its best placing Jack Black back into his comfort zone as a voice actor within a spectacle of action and color.
Po (Jack Black) returns in another kung fu animation adventure which sees our ever hungry panda face up to a new and devastating threat in the form of angry albino peacock (Gary Oldman) Lord Shen.
The combination of action with the impressive visuals drags you right into the fight alongside the characters.Po can get a bit annoying/repetitive at some points as the Jack Black from within is released and a torrent of 'awesome' and similar such catchphrases are rattled off one after the other but this did seem to be toned down slightly from his usual self so I began to think of Po as Po rather than Black in a panda costume.I think this is a case of the sequel running the original very close and I would be hard pushed to say which one I preferred.
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.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is undoubtedly the best installment from Dream Works Animation.The movie is rich with excellence in all forms,from artful visuals to depthful story to eye-catchy 3D effects.Newcomer Jennifer Yuh has done an appreciable job by making the sequel look better in all aspects,compared to the first.A good round of applause must be given for the writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger for creating a back-story about Po's identity and to make it workout so well in the screen that we will love Po More and more as the story progress.Voices::Jack Black does a fine job to bring-out the emotions of Po excellently on screen.
I also loved the lendings by Garry Oldman,Van Damme and Dennis Haysbert.Some +ves::1)Excellent direction skills by Jennifer Yuh.2)3D was showcased well.3)Characters were given more emotional depth.4)Some genuinely hilarious moments which make us jump of the seats laughing.5)Action sequences were well choreographed.Only -ve which i felt was that the movie seemed lagging at times.On a whole Kung Fu Panda 2 is a worthy(or even better )sequel to Kung Fu Panda.The movie has more in store for all the sections of the audience.A highly recommended movie.Must Watch.Ma Rating::9/10.
Now that is not to say the original Kung Fu Panda is a bad movie, actually it is a very entertaining movie and one of Dreamworks' better films.
Jack Black and Dustin Hoffmann stand out among those who return, and I liked how Po and Tigress'(nice voice work from Angelina Jolie) relationship is further explored here, but overall the standout was Gary Oldman who is absolutely brilliant as the villain Shen the Peacock, who happens to be of now my personal favourite Dreamworks villain because he is actually given layers in alternative to being the standard villain you love to hate.Overall, a great film and better than the (entertaining) original film.
Just when you think that every sequel you watch will amount to little compared to the very first, Kung-Fu panda comes out with an entertaining and hilarious movie which had me rolling in the aisles.
The movie is not quite as much fun as the original (which wasn't a great film to begin with) but it does deliver the laughs and action fans expect.The first film dealt with Po living out his dream by joining his kung fu heroes, 'The Furious Five', and becoming the chosen 'Dragon Warrior'.
Jack Black as Po, this time is accompanied by the first movies' cast, Angleina Jolie as Tigress, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Jackie Chan as Monkey, David Cross as Crane, Lucy Liu as Viper, Dustin Hoffman as Shifu...with a few new additions including Gary Oldman as the wonderfully voice-overed (Po's) menace, Shen; Michelle Yeoh, Jean Claude Van Damm, Dennis Hayesbert etc.
The film was funny and dramatic also really enjoyed Po solidifying his place as the Dragon Warrior in The Furious Five also Lord Shen was a great villain and Even Hilarious at Times better Than Tai Lung The film was brilliant amazing Musical Score by Hans Zimmer(The Lion King) & John Powell(How To Train Your Dragon) also Amazing Direction by Jennifer Yuh Nelson(Spawn) Best Out Of The Kung Fu Panda Trilogy 8/10.
But not only does it have good voice acting, but it has a very impressive ensemble of voice actors on the list, which includes Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh and Jean-Claude Van Damme to mention but a few."Kung Fu Panda 2" turned out to be rather enjoyable and entertaining, and I was more than genuinely entertained by the overall movie.
However that didn't lessen my interest instead makes me feel like "step aside Sire's, I am in a mood." For the recent 3D-ish spectators, I won't mind stating that I was not lucky enough to watch it on a giant IMAX 3D screen.With an amazing voice crew (including Jack Black as the fluffy panda Po, Angelina Jolie playing the adverse Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as the one smart master Shifu, Gary Oldman this time as the evil Shen and chunky Jackie Chan as the best Monkey around) under the best visual team of DreamWorks studio, this film fires on nearly every cylinder.
The Soothsayer, the fortune telling goat, reminds me a lot of Rafiki from The Lion King, but the way she explains Lord Shen's reasons for murdering his panda family is good and while having a sense of humor, there's a creepy atmospheric feel about her.The voice acting is great and it's awesome to Jack Black, Gary Oldman, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Seth Rogen return along with some new ones.
Kung Fu Panda 2 packs as great a punch as the original and also adds lots of laughs.Po (Jack Black) and the Furious Five are back in action to fight evil.