For those of you who do not know, I have a particular dislike to DreamWorks computer-animated films. The best film they've ever made that was animated was The Prince of Egypt. The closet they've come to that in these later years are Over the Hedge and Madagascar. Kung Fu Panda was not one of those of films. A story that could have been good was ruined by this "find yourself" philosophy. The sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, does offer more but just like the original falls flat.
The story for this film is that Po (Jack Black) is trying to discover who his true parents are due to a vision he had while fighting some thieves whilst him and the Furious Five try to stop Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) from destroying China. Okay, good premise. But this is DreamWorks, the same guys who brought us Shrek. Knowing the first film, it's bound to have an "inner peace" philosophy, kung fu action and a disappointing payoff. But this film does two things different from the first film that I like:
ONE: Po discovers he was adopted by a duck (the first film never explained it) and Po now want's to find his true parent hood. This idea and plot line is not only good but actually very intriguing. According to my sister, when she saw the flashback of Po's parents saving him she called it "Sophie's Choice with pandas!" (Though not as sad as it sounds but still.) By the end you feel happy that Po, knowing the truth, still chooses to stay with his dad. It's not only satisfying but it shows Po has grown as a character. But then the film basically gives us the middle-finger by having Po's father alive in the last shot, eradicating any character development Po had.
Now my favorite part of the movie:
TWO: The villain. Lord Shen is not only awesome (as if having the voice of Gary Oldman wasn't enough), he's also sympathetic. In the begging we are told that Shen's wanted to use gunpowder as a weapon and that a soothsayer (who I'll get into later) told his parents that he would be defeated by a panda. Thus, Shen went and killed the panda's (it just happens to be where Po was from). His parents banished him and thus cue our antagonist. You do feel for Shen and Gary Oldman helps carry the emotion whilst also delivering every line awesomely (even the really cheesy ones.) And how do they kill Shen: by having a cannon fall on him and blow up. This really irritates me but I've probably already explained why.
The Furious Five are still cool and we luckily have a 24 minute short film Secrets of the Furious Five that explains their origins in great detail. Hans Zimmer and John Powell (both veteran composers) once again deliver a good score and mix chinese and orchestral instruments together great (it's also what made the first film's music great.)
The Soothsayer (voiced by Michelle Yeoh who you may remember from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who follows Shen around has no purpose then to point out the painfully obvious and the action and animation really aren't as cool as the first film. I don't like this or it's predecessor, but at least this tried (though it failed.)
I'd give this film a rating of 1.5 out of 4.
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