In my opinion DreamWorks has always played second fiddle to Pixar in the computer generated feature film genre. Their rivalry has existed for nearly as long as there has been a computer generated feature film genre! Pixar had Toy Story, DreamWorks had Small Soldiers. Pixar had A Bug’s Life, DreamWorks Antz. Pixar Monsters Inc., DreamWorks Monsters Vs. Aliens. Pixar with Cars and DreamWorks with Trucks. No wait, I made that last one up. But you get the idea.
It seems to me like DreamWorks’ best efforts are the ones that don’t have a direct Pixar counterpart: The Shrek saga and How to Train Your Dragon to mention a few. I am of the stance that 2008’s Kung-Fu Panda perfectly represents this phenomenon of high-quality DreamWorks originality.
What we had there was a bit of tribute to the Kung-Fu classics with a lot of unexpected character charm to cement the intense action sequences and lovely visuals. When I heard a sequel was in the works, I naturally feared for the worst. Generally speaking sequels in the CG film arena are hit or miss (with emphasis on miss). Ever see Space Chimps 2, Hoodwinked 2 or Open Season 2 (or even scarier, Open Season 3)? Sure you have your Shreks & Toy Stories but more often than not it seems to me that animation studios have a hard time recapturing the magic of the originals; especially when the original contains the ever-illusive element of heart.
That said Kung-Fu Panda 2, riding on the success of the first one, was given a budget increase to the tune of 20-mil ($150,000,000 versus 130,000,000), brought back all of the key members of the original cast (with a few new ones) and even retained the vast majority of the production & animator crew. To summarize, DreamWorks made darn sure not to risk losing said heart of the first film. Did they succeed? For the most part absolutely. Viewers looking for something more grandiose may be disappointed but the good news here is that Kung-Fu Panda 2 succeeds at feeling more like a continuation of the first film than it does a genuine sequel. And considering the first film ended in such a manner where a sequel wasn’t necessary, this is a very good thing indeed.
Jack Black reprises his role as the titular overweight martial-arts trainee panda and his entire Furious Five retinue return uninterrupted (Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross)). Series staples Dustin Hoffman as Po’s master Shifu and James Hong as Po’s noodle-peddling dad return as well. The villain is new this time; a sociopath peacock named Shen, and played to perfection by Gary Oldman. Other noteworthy additions include casting real-life karate aficionado Jean-Claude Van Damme to play Master Croc.
The story takes us back to the visually lush Valley of Peace and finds a newfound camaraderie between Po and his Furious Five cohorts. At just about the same time Po suddenly realizes that he bears (no pun intended, for now) no physical resemblance to his dad, the villainous Shen surfaces with a weapon of mass destruction and plans to conquer all of China.
In terms of scope, the bar has been raised slightly but it’s clear that the focus here was to expand upon the character back-stories and their interaction with one another over expanding geographically strictly for the sake of spending some of that additional 20-mil.
The plot thickens slightly once Po realizes Shen’s ambitions and the fact that he doesn’t remember his birth parents aren’t completely unrelated occurrences. Unfortunately though, canceling out the slightly deeper plot structure of the sequel is the fact that Po’s clumsy, lighthearted enthusiasm seems somehow misplaced now that he has been revealed a psychologically scarred Kung Fu disciple.
Pacing is decent, if a bit longer feeling than the first, though all in all the 90-minute runtime does go by fairly quickly since no time need be wasted setting up backgrounds for our heroes. Hans Zimmer nails the musical score with his trademarked near-subliminally perfect melodies and heart thumping action accompaniments.
In all Kung-Fu Panda joins a pretty slim gathering of titles that actually manage to do the concept of a sequel justice. While it could be argued that DreamWorks played it safe by failing to stray from the path established in the first one, at least they knew not to fix what wasn’t broken. The old phrase, “it’s not as original as the original” certainly applies as well but here’s hoping the formula continues to stay fresh as DreamWorks has stated they hope to milk this into a 6-movie franchise. Will fans tire of Po’s antics through four more films? There’s a swamp-dwelling big green ogre who thinks not.
