Po and his friends fight to stop a peacock villain from conquering China with a deadly new weapon, but first the Dragon Warrior must come to terms with his past.
The Dragon Warrior has to clash against the savage Tai Lung as China's fate hangs in the balance. However, the Dragon Warrior mantle is supposedly mistaken to be bestowed upon an obese panda who is a novice in martial arts.
Continuing his "legendary adventures of awesomeness", Po must face two hugely epic, but different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to home.
Directors:
Alessandro Carloni,
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
The Madagascar animals fly back to New York City, but crash-land on an African nature reserve, where they meet others of their own kind, and Alex especially discovers his royal heritage as prince of a lion pride.
When Sid's attempt to adopt three dinosaur eggs gets him abducted by their real mother to an underground lost world, his friends attempt to rescue him.
Manny, Sid, and Diego discover that the ice age is coming to an end, and join everybody for a journey to higher ground. On the trip, they discover that Manny, in fact, is not the last of the woolly mammoths.
The Madagascar animals join a struggling European circus to get back to New York, but find themselves being pursued by a psychotic animal control officer.
When Gru, the world's most super-bad turned super-dad has been recruited by a team of officials to stop lethal muscle and a host of Gru's own, He has to fight back with new gadgetry, cars, and more minion madness.
Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.
After a year of being the dragon warrior, obesitized but fearless Po (Black) is a hero in China along with Crane (Cross), Mantis (Rogen), Monkey (Chan), Viper (Liu), Tigress (Jolie), and Shifu (Hoffman). But trouble pops out when villian Shen (Oldman) begins chaos. Everybody is ready to fight, but Po is unprepared when he learns Shen was his enemy in his infancy.
One Master that would have joined the Masters' Council of Gongmen City was Master Boar. Initially meant to be a warrior alongside Masters Storming Ox and Croc, Boar was dropped, due to the complexity of his design. The rolls of fat on his neck were too hard to animate, reminiscent of the problems the animators had with Po. See more »
Goofs
When Shen orders the destruction of the tower, he fires 4 cannons. In the next shot, there are only 3 cannonballs going to the tower. See more »
Quotes
[as Po, the Furious Five and the Masters fight their way through Shen's wolves]
Shen:
Why aren't we firing?
Wolf Boss:
They're taking out our gunners, sir! They're getting close!
Shen:
Fire, fire at them!
Wolf Boss:
But, sir, we'll kill our own!
Shen:
[screaming]
I said fire at them! FIRE!
Wolf Boss:
[drops his torch]
... No.
[Shen kills the Wolf Boss with his daggers, then jumps onto the cannon and lights the fuse himself]
See more »
Crazy Credits
The ending credits feature in Chinese shadow-puppetry how baby Po undertook the journey from the point his mother hid him, to the exterior of Mr Ping's restaurant. See more »
Let me preface by saying I was rather unimpressed with the first Kung Fu Panda. As entertaining and well-choreographed as it was, it didn't pass my bar for mediocre DreamWorks animated movies. It was amusing and had some heart, but all-in-all was pretty expected. Now when I got a chance to see a preview of Kung Fu Panda 2, I was rather indifferent to seeing DreamWorks trying to pump out a mediocre sequel and a new franchise. But WOW... was I wrong! 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. Lord Shen, an albino peacock banished by his parents many years ago, has returned with a technology capable of ending kung fu and conquering China. As the Furious Five embark to destroy the weapon, Po begins to realize that Shen may be linked to his lost childhood past as a panda bear. I won't say any more in fear of spoiling the story, but be prepared for a powerful emotional experience.
I found a big improvement was that they toned down all the things that made the first movie irritating: over-the-top Jack Black antics, overused slow-mo effects, and dialogue silliness. That's not to say Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn't have humor; actually, it has exactly the right amount at the right time. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot at the jokes in the first movie, but the sequel had me (and the whole theater, for that matter) genuinely laughing! The characters have fully matured and been fleshed out to the point where even Jack Black fits comfortably as Po, though regrettably the Furious Five barely get any screen time. Of course, shining in the spotlight was Gary Oldman as the sinister Lord Shen, whose fantastically evil voice acting tops even Ian McShane's as Tai Lung and is the ONLY way that a peacock could possibly be made scary! The 3D was also showcased quite well, enhancing most of the visuals throughout the movie without being a headache.
Maybe you call it blasphemy, but the comparison must be made. Kung Fu Panda 2 was put together with such a degree of excellence that it rivals many Pixar movies (and in my opinion has a good chance of outshining Cars 2 this year). With some fantastic animation, a surprising and touching story, and convincing voice talent, Kung Fu Panda 2 will easily go down as one of my all-time animated favorites.
9/10
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Let me preface by saying I was rather unimpressed with the first Kung Fu Panda. As entertaining and well-choreographed as it was, it didn't pass my bar for mediocre DreamWorks animated movies. It was amusing and had some heart, but all-in-all was pretty expected. Now when I got a chance to see a preview of Kung Fu Panda 2, I was rather indifferent to seeing DreamWorks trying to pump out a mediocre sequel and a new franchise. But WOW... was I wrong! 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. Lord Shen, an albino peacock banished by his parents many years ago, has returned with a technology capable of ending kung fu and conquering China. As the Furious Five embark to destroy the weapon, Po begins to realize that Shen may be linked to his lost childhood past as a panda bear. I won't say any more in fear of spoiling the story, but be prepared for a powerful emotional experience.
I found a big improvement was that they toned down all the things that made the first movie irritating: over-the-top Jack Black antics, overused slow-mo effects, and dialogue silliness. That's not to say Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn't have humor; actually, it has exactly the right amount at the right time. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot at the jokes in the first movie, but the sequel had me (and the whole theater, for that matter) genuinely laughing! The characters have fully matured and been fleshed out to the point where even Jack Black fits comfortably as Po, though regrettably the Furious Five barely get any screen time. Of course, shining in the spotlight was Gary Oldman as the sinister Lord Shen, whose fantastically evil voice acting tops even Ian McShane's as Tai Lung and is the ONLY way that a peacock could possibly be made scary! The 3D was also showcased quite well, enhancing most of the visuals throughout the movie without being a headache.
Maybe you call it blasphemy, but the comparison must be made. Kung Fu Panda 2 was put together with such a degree of excellence that it rivals many Pixar movies (and in my opinion has a good chance of outshining Cars 2 this year). With some fantastic animation, a surprising and touching story, and convincing voice talent, Kung Fu Panda 2 will easily go down as one of my all-time animated favorites.
9/10