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Over
the past few months
we’ve been bombarded
with
Kung
Fu Panda
at the Jones
residence. That’s
mainly due to
Nickelodeon’s new TV
series
Kung
Fu Panda and the
Legends of
Awesomeness.
That show is now
taking the place of
SpongeBob Square
Pants
as
the most-often aired
non-teen demoed
sitcom cartoon. And
that’s after this
movie,
Kung
Fu Panda 2
,hit theatres in
time for the summer
rush. So yes, I’ve
been treated to
quite a bit of Po
over the past few
months, but the good
news is that I can’t
say I mind. I really
don’t mind watching
Kung Fu Panda 2
on DVD because it’s
a wonderful watch.
In Kung Fu Panda 2,
Po and the Furious
Five are back to
fight what’s right
and to fight for
Kung Fu. When their
master Shifu learns
that the evil Shen
is on a quest to
conquer all of China
and destroy Kung Fu
it’s up to Po and
the five to stop
him. There’s one big
thing that’s keeping
Po from being
victorious… himself.
Before he can stop
Shen, Po has to find
inner peace and be
at peace with his
past and his place
in the world.
Jack
Black, Angelina
Jolie, Jackie Chan,
Seth Rogan, Dustin
Hoffman, and Lucy
Liu are all back in
their roles in
Kung
Fu Panda 2
and they did just as
wonderful of a job
with this movie as
they did the first
one. Jack Black
brings everything to
this movie and is
amazing as Po. You
can tell that the
animators and the
creators of the
movie really
borrowed from
Black’s personality
to create Po and all
of what’s wonderful
about him on screen.
Jack Black will
forever be Po the
Panda no matter who
is voicing the
character on the TV
show.
The cast of
characters from the
last movie is joined
by Gary Oldman
voicing the evil
Shen. Gary Oldman as
the bad guy!?!?! Get
out of here! He’s
great as he usually
is and he makes Shen
( a Peacock no less)
a terrifying villain
and a formidable one
too. Normally a
peacock isn’t even a
little spooky; Gary
Oldman makes him
creepy to no end.
The animation is up
to snuff with all of
Dreamworks’ stuff.
That’s never a
problem, and in this
world it’s really
not a problem.
Everything is
wonderfully animated
especially all of
the China scenery
and architecture. If
there is one
criticism that I had
its regarding all of
the sub-characters
in the story; all of
the villagers and
townspeople look the
same- there are some
sheep, some birds,
and some pigs.
That’s the extent of
what’s there, you’d
like there to be a
little diversity
with the animals
included instead of
the same few
characters over and
over.
One
of the big releases with
Kung
Fu Panda 2
is a double DVD
pack. On the
first DVD, the disc
features the
theatrical film and
a Dreamworks Kids
special feature that
has a trailer and a
music video from
different DreamWorks
movies. The second
DVD includes a
Kung
Fu Panda
short and
some
other animated
goodies as well as a
computer game.
Kung
Fu Panda 2
was the best
animated film to
come out in the
summer of 2012. Jack
Black and the rest
of the cast provide
great voicework to
memorable characters
and the story for
the film is one
inside of the
universe that the
show exists in. They
didn’t try to push
things too heavily
into new territory;
they focused on what
the
Kung
Fu Panda
world does well.
There are little
things to change
here and there that
would have benefited
the final product
but it is what it is
and that’s a good
family movie.
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