3 stars (out of 5)
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Cast: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Gary Oldman (Lord Shen), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Michelle Yeoh (Soothsayer)
Rating: (PG)
It takes longer for the awesomeness to turn all that awesome. And you can't really replicate that element of surprise from the first movie - a fanboy panda who gets to team up with his martial arts heroes.
But Kung Fu Panda 2 is a sequel that delivers more heart than laughs, and is, if anything, more visually dazzling than the 2008 original film.
Cuddly, plush Po (voiced by Jack Black) is now a reasonably accomplished and competent Dragon Warrior, a sixth member of the Furious Five, meting out justice with his mad kung fu. But there is a new threat, a preening peacock (literally) who covets all of China and has a new magic weapon that "could be the end of kung fu".
"But I just GOT kung fu!' Po protests.
Po and his Furious friends have a quest - stop Lord Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman) and destroy his weapon. But first, Po's mentor (Dustin Hoffman) has a new life lesson for him - find inner peace.
"My innards are already super-peaceful," Po complains.
The chases are 3-D animated wonders, the martial arts brawls are epic, or "severely cool", as Po would put it. But the stunt voice casting doesn't pay off, as Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Seth Rogen and others don't have enough lines to make an impact.
Still, Panda 2 has more genuinely heart-tugging moments than any Shrek sequel. We're sure to see more tales of Master Po.
