So, what did we think about “Kung Fu Panda 2″?
It was AWESOME!
(ok, you probably saw that one coming, but it true!!)
Time has obviously passed since the last movie and the “Furious Five” are busy keeping the land peaceful. Po’s dad’s noodle shop has become a place to “see the great dragon warrior” and Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu is still wrestling with inner peace.
Gary Oldman is fantastic as the voice of the peacock Lord Shen – there’s definitely a new cool villain in town
Jack Black as the fun to love Po and Tigress (Angelina Jolie) still argue over honor and intensity (Po generally being more in awe of Tigress than hating her.
The rest of the furious Five: Crane (David Cross), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) are now Po’s loyal helpers who work together to fight crime.
In order to not ruin the plot, the evil Lord Shen has something to do with Po’s real parents (spoiler, ** yes, he is adopted ** ha ha) but it’s all done with class and fun.
There’s plenty of action and as usual Po is funny enough to break even the scariest scene. There are also the usual homages to Kung Fu to keep parents and geeks interested as well!
Technically, this is the best 3-D movie we’ve seen so far. The sets seem to wrap around the people sitting in the theater and the kids we took kept trying to reach up and grab things. I didn’t think it was over done (not too many in your face things) but if your child does get sensory overload you might want to take him to the 2D version – there’s enough to watch in gorgeous sets and animation to carry the movie in 2D as well. (watch for the water droplets on the animals fur near the end – AWESOME if you know anything about animation!)
Go and enjoy! It’s a fun film and I’m sure we’ll be buying it when it’s out on DVD!
