Kung Fu Panda 2

[Nepenthe]

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Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Writer: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Roge, Lucy Liu, David Cross

Release Date: May 26, 2011

Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior' date= protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po's new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will Po be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Soundtrack:

• Composers: Hans Zimmer and John Powell
• Length: 63:56
• Label: Varese Sarabande
  01. Ancient China/ Story of Shen -
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  - 08. Gongmen Jail - 09. Rickshaw Chase - 10. Po and Shen- Face to Face - 11. More Cannons - 12. Fireworks Factory - 13. Invasion Begins - 14. Zen Ball Master - 15. My Fist Hungers For Justice - 16. Dumpling Warrior Remix
  
  
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  Seven Reasons Why You Should See This In Theaters (slight spoilers for the sensitive):
  
  

  
  

  • The storyline trades a great deal of the first's comedy for a more serious tone that successfully gives weight to the expansion of the universe's lore and Po's heart-wrenching character arc.
    • However, there are still laughs, and the biggest ones are well placed and balance the film just enough to keep it from being unnecessarily serious.
      • The Furious Five get more screentime to show off and display their relationship with Po, specifically Tigress.
      • The villain, Lord Shen, is written in a way that makes him hateful but not completely beyond redemption or empathy. His fighting style also renders him a bigger threat to Po than Tai Lung ever was.

      [*]If you thought the tower collapse in the trailer was a bit insane, the final fight is going to completely blow your mind about three times over.

    [*]The art is fantastic. It features a new style remniscient of paper-cut animation alongside traditional and CGI, the switching back and forth between all three providing a nice way to signify of recaps, dream states and epiphanies.

• [*]Do you really want a good film to flop in the wake of Puss in Boots? If not, then please donate to a good cause.

  ---

  I've noticed this film's marketing has been a bit weak, what with the trailers preying only on the popularity of the first and painting a picture that isn't entirely accurate, thus it's trailing a bit behind its predacessor domestically. It's likely to make a profit overall, but regardless the more folks I can hopefully convince to see this film, the more likely we're to see this same level of quality from DreamWorks as a whole. Plus, it's just plain fun and vastly superior to the original film in just about every way. DreamWorks is earning the good will that Pixar has with me.

  So has anyone else seen this or is anyone else interested in seeing it?

Edited June 10, 2011 by Nepenthe

[Emperor Robrainiac]

I really want to see this movie. I liked the first one so much, that It restored my faith in Dreamworks movies. I started hating them beginning with Madagascar (GOD, I hated that movie) and started enjoying them around the time the first Kung Fu Panda was released.

Unfortunately due to my lack of money, I have yet to see it. Hopefully I can see in theaters before its run is over.

[Saint Nathan]

Motherfucking Jack Black

I would feel horrible if I didn't see this. Like suicidally horrible.

So that's on my list. I'm happy to hear it's supposedly really good, the last one seems to be known as that one movie everyone likes but we don't talk about it because we think everyone hates it.

[Axl.EXE]

The first one was wall-to-wall awesomeness.

Damn right I want to see this one.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Haven't seen the movie yet, but it's works like Kung Fu Panda that get me into making movies of my own.

[DarkLight]

I've already commented on seeing this in the Movie Thread, but it's worth mentioning again here.

Still the best movie for me so far, (though Cars 2 may top it.)

I liked the subtle theme of genocide on the pandas and how the survivors at the end could lead to a third movie.

Baby Po was so cute and I freakin' cried at the part that Po fully remembers the day of the attack on his village and his mom saving him before she got hunted down by the wolves and Shen. The fact that I cried during a DreamWorks movie tells me that they are capable of conveying pathos as well as Pixar and they finally did with this movie.

Edited June 6, 2011 by DragonSoul

[Nepenthe]

I've already commented on seeing this in the Movie Thread, but it's worth mentioning again here.

Still the best movie for me so far, (though Cars 2 may top it.)

I liked the subtle theme of genocide on the pandas and how the survivors at the end could lead to a third movie.

Baby Po was so cute and I freakin' cried at the part that Po fully remembers the day of the attack on his village and his mom saves him. The fact that I cried during a DreamWorks movie tells me that they are capable of conveying pathos as well as Pixar and they finally did with this movie.

[DarkLight]

Perhaps 'subtle' was the wrong word. It's just rare to me for animated films to get away with those kinds of themes these days and it is usually overlooked/ignored because it's an comedic animated kid's film, or maybe I'm just overthinking it.

I understand what you mean by the pandas at the end and it cheapening the tragedy aspect the film was going for, though. I could see the potential of them making a third movie about Po somehow finding out about the survivors and going out to find them. But if they do make a thrid movie, please don't let it be like Shrek the Third. *shivers*

Edited June 6, 2011 by DragonSoul

[speedfreak]

I loved the first one so I had to go see this. Usually sequels aren't as good as the first, but honestly I think this one was pretty damn close. Without spoiling anything I'll just say the ending hints at a third movie. Naturally when I got home I got online to look up a possible 3rd movie. What I found is that 6 Kung Fu Panda movies are planned as well as an animated series on Nickelodeon. I really like the characters, but I fear they're going to run the series into the ground by putting quantity over quality. :/ I'll give the series a chance but I don't have much hope......though I did find the Holiday special to be pretty good.

[Nepenthe]

It's the bad thing about DreamWorks' mode of operations. Any successful movies are immediately granted extended franchises. While they have good people working under the roof now and I'm not entirely afraid for KFP at this point, (or Dragon, which has more films, a virtual world, tv show, and stage play comng), they are still primarily in the operation of milking their franchises for all they're worth. It's kind of annoying in a way.

Although, I'm hoping that the third film doesn't play upon the ending of this one. The arc seemed swiftly solved, so I'm hoping it's just a little tidbit to make the kids feel better about it.

[DarkLight]

I loved the first one so I had to go see this. Usually sequels aren't as good as the first, but honestly I think this one was pretty damn close. Without spoiling anything I'll just say the ending hints at a third movie. Naturally when I got home I got online to look up a possible 3rd movie. What I found is that 6 Kung Fu Panda movies are planned as well as an animated series on Nickelodeon. I really like the characters, but I fear they're going to run the series into the ground by putting quantity over quality. :/ I'll give the series a chance but I don't have much hope......though I did find the Holiday special to be pretty good.

I'm kinda concerned with the other planned sequels as well. Given how they handled the Shrek sequels and TV spin-offs (I find Penquins of Madagascar to be decent, but a bit bland) there's not much to hope for. But I can't really make any judgements so far, so we'll see what they'll come up with.

[speedfreak]

Yeah, I really like all the characters so I'll certainly give the show/other movies a chance. I just fear that the quality might drop. I really didn't like Shrek 3 or 4 while I thought 1 and 2 were great. Though the Kung Fu Panda Holiday special was actually pretty good IMO, so if the show is at least around that level in quality (except I don't think we're getting the same voice actors) than I'll be pretty happy.

I have no problem at all with milking the franchise if the quality doesn't drop off.

[Kevin]

I saw it over the weekend, and it definitely exceeded my expectations which is rare for a sequel. The presentation of both the characters and the animations are fantastic, and I really liked the way the story was developed too. I agree with speedfreak that the ending has "third movie" written all over it.

I agree with the others, Baby Po was just adorable! It was a very emotional scene when his Mother said goodbye to him

[Sean]

I decided to watch the first movie today on a whim. It was... good. No truly bad qualities, but no outstanding ones either. And definitely not Dreamwork's best. I'll wait until KFP2 hits DVD, but I'm sure it's still a good watch.

On Cars 2, I initially thought to myself that anything could be better than the first, and I attempted to justify that messy salad of a trailer in my mind after watching it. Eventually I decided, who am I fucking kidding. Nothing can redeem that movie god-forsaken franchise.

[Nepenthe]

Although the beginning is a bit slow, you're missing a really fun theater-going experience. I still can't get over that final battle, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS3vRuZBlLA. ;3 Although, DreamWorks' best shall forever be The Prince of Egypt. Why does everyone forget their 2D shtuff? It was all pretty great until, yanno, Sinbad ruined it all.

Anyhoo, I'm waiting on reviews to come in on Cars 2. It's Pixar, so there's always that little nugget of faith. If it isn't all that great though, it will only be another little tick in my list of things Lasseter has gotten wrong for me and completely forgotten in a year by Brave.

[SuperStingray]

I'm feeling like there's been some kind of baton pass in the CG film industry. Cars 2 feels like something Dreamworks would make, Rio feels like something Pixar would make and Kung Fu Panda 2 feels like something Blue Sky would make.

[Nepenthe]

You really think Rio is Pixar-level quality? Whilst I personally love it and such a compliment makes me happy, (though the rest of SSMB didn't care to see it, the sods ;_, it's competent in the same way that Cars is competent-- It abandons any attempts at depth in conflict for the sake of targeting children, relying on the appeal of the cast to make up for whatever flatness the storyline possesses. This really isn't the Pixar I've come to know as of late, hence why I have a personal beef with Cars and its blasted sequel.

I can see the comparison of the other two, however. :3

Edited June 9, 2011 by Nepenthe

[Conando]

I only tend to catch movies once they end up on Blu Ray. I'll see it then.

[LATER BUDDY]

I've been wanting to watch this, but really no good opportunities have come up yet. I could always go alone, but I feel weird whenever I do that. I did go to the theater today actually, but went to go watch X-men First Class (which was completely badass I might add, >D).

And oh yeah, wolves, <3.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Wolfy

[Johnny Boy]

I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and needless to say, excellent film. Dreamworks actually tried with this one.

[HunterTSF]

So, I just saw this movie today. As a sequel, my expectations weren't particularly super high; I expected it to be, at best, almost good as the original.

It was not. It was far better than I could have even imagined. Why, I believe that this may just be Dreamwork's best animated flick yet (and yes, this is coming from a How to Train Your Dragon fan). It managed to retain all the humor of the original while at the same time integrating a far more serious tone, and quite a bit of added depth with the unfolding of Po's backstory. Everything about this movie is just great and you all need to go see it now.

I for one also suggest that if you haven't already, watch Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five before doing so. It serves as a semi-sequel-prequel of sorts that elaborates upon the backstories of the Furious Five a bit more in-depth, which might come in VERY handy before seeing the second film, especially in regards to one character in particular*. If anything, most of the entire movie is nothing but flashbacks so it's all rendered in the beautiful 2D dream-sequence art style of the first and second films, so it's definitely worth a look!

*

It's Tigress, in case you didn't already guess. Second spoiler contains spoilers for both KFP:SotFF and KFP2, so watch out!)

It's not directly stated in the second film, but like Po, Tigress was also abandoned as a very young child. She was the outcast of the orphanage that she grew up in, and was regarded as a "monster" of sorts due to her immense strength that she was unable to control. Because of this, she was deemed as both unadoptable and a detriment to the facility as a whole by the agency's faculty. Although she was eventually adopted by Shi-fu after countless sessions of mentoring, she, like Po, never knew her real parents... (or perhaps, like Po, chose to have forgotten..?) I found this bonding aspect between these two very unlike characters in the second film to be incredibly impactful and amazingly well executed. It was just so... great.

Edited June 10, 2011 by HunterTSF

[Demofax]

I'm actually really surprised to hear this as my neighbour came back from watching it and told me it was really bad and how she was disappointed with the film. I didn't reveal any of your spoilers as this is the second good report i've seen of the movie so you've convinced me to give it a go! =D LOL my neighbour obviously must have weird taste.

[DarkLight]

I'm actually really surprised to hear this as my neighbour came back from watching it and told me it was really bad and how she was disappointed with the film. I didn't reveal any of your spoilers as this is the second good report i've seen of the movie so you've convinced me to give it a go! =D LOL my neighbour obviously must have weird taste.

Please do. I highly recommend it.

If your neighbor can't elaborate on why it was bad, he/she probably doesn't watch a lot of good movies.

Edited June 10, 2011 by DragonSoul

[Balding Spider]

Saw it, loved it, and gonna buy it when it comes out on blu ray.

[Dorylus]

Only one thing describes this masterpiece.....awesome awesomeness.....blindingly awesome awesomeness.....(but still preferred the original, fresher you see)