They were funky China men

KUNG FU PANDA 2 (2011)

Kung Fu Panda (2008) and its awesomeness was overshadowed by the sheer brilliance and perfection of Wall-E (2008) when they came out in the same year. At least for me. I had to see it again to recollect how funny it was. I'm glad I did it in time for the sequel.

The sequel is a worthy one. It has the same awesome humor. I even got my acupuncture scene. In the first movie, I had a laughing fit in the acupuncture scene. It made me laugh out loud continuously for 10 minutes. This time I told myself not to cause such embarrassment. Getting serious now, Po (Jack Black) is as lovable as ever. I was surprised to see how this film achieves moments of subtle connection and deepens the relationship between the characters. This world has come alive with this film as we are now emotionally vested in Po. Po's journey also has a spiritual yearning attached this time. Inner peace, the past and the future also become concerns. Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) aids Po on his spiritual journey while the villain Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) (which is also a peacock, mind you) receives guidance from a soothsayer (which is also a yak, mind you).

The story mainly consists of Po finding the roots of his parentage. There is emotional depth here. While I was completely satisfied with a goose being his father, (I mean seriously what would suggest otherwise?) I am told the true story of his childhood. The sight of a symbol triggers uncomfortable nightmares in Po which have a direct connection with his lineage. The wonderful memory sequence where Po remembers his mother is surprisingly heart-wrenching. Of course, a character's memory and dreams in a 3D animation film will be in 2D, right?... RIGHT?!

Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who served as story artist on the first film, directs the sequel and you can see why she was given this job. The story is told marvelously, the animation is exemplary. In one particular scene we see the Panda and Tigress (Angelina Jolie) getting wet and they actually LOOK wet!!!

There is one tiny scene at the end. This denouement shows what separates a good sequel from a bad one. Also, when you take a peacock seriously as a villain, you know its a good movie. I just wish this doesn't go the Shrek way, the other successful DreamWorks animated franchise with 2 great films and 2 unsatisfactory ones. I hunger for Kung Fu Panda 3. Skadoosh.

Rating: