“KUNG FU PANDA 2” My rating: C
minutes | Rating: G
“Kung Fu Panda 2” is one of the most beautiful animated films ever, with fantastic action scenes, astonishingly detailed “sets” and a filmic sense worthy of any live-action epic.
It’s a good thing it’s so gorgeous, because dramatically it’s pretty much a wash.
Not awful. But not memorable.
This sequel assembles most of the voices from the first “Panda,” especially Jack Black as the bumbling, infantile title character, Dustin Hoffman as his martial arts master and Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, David Cross and Lucy Liu as Po’s kung fu comrades.
New to the mix is Gary Oldman as Lord Shen, a power-obsessed crane with a plan to rule first China, then the world, employing his new inventions of gunpowder and cannon.
Also fresh to the franchise are Dennis Haysbert and Jean Claude van Damme as masters Croc and Oxen, two fighting masters imprisoned by the evil Shen.
The weak spot here is Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger’s screenplay, which trots out a well-worn rescue yarn. That familiarity wouldn’t be a liability were “Panda” consistently funny. But I rarely laughed out loud. A mild chuckle, maybe.
The film does have one really nice idea involving Po’s relationship with his father Ping, a goose. The movie’s best joke centers on the naive Po’s inability to understand that Ping (voiced by James Hong) is not his natural father (that geese don’t usually beget pandas is beyond his comprehension). The movie’s only moments of emotional intimacy come in the tender relationship between these two — it’s tender and touching and involving in ways the rest of the movie isn’t.
But, again, if you just concentrate on the visuals this is a fantastically crafted effort. I especially like the cell-animated flashbacks director Jennifer Yuh employs to explain the entwined destinies of the evil Shen and the innocent Po.
Kids will probably enjoy “Panda 2” and grownups will tolerate it. But unless you’re already a fan, don’t see much point in racing out to catch this one.
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 
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