Kung Fu Panda 2

Po returns to battle evil with his improved kung-fu skills and this time he will be rocking out in another dimension of awesomeness. Dreamworks, never one to let a franchise die until the last drop of profit and respect is drained out of the series, plans to make this a six-part series. While an action movie can usually extend itself as long as it has a credible threat from a powerful villain, one can't help but think how many times you could hear Jack Black as a panda. Well on the plus side, two is not that number because it is still fun to hear his voice behind this butt-kicking bear.

Po returns with the aid of the furious five as Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Mantis (Seth Rogan), and Crane (David Cross) are set to do battle with a peacock. One may ask how a peacock can be considered a credible threat; the answer is easy: give him the mind and voice of Gary Oldman. And with the development of fire power he plans to put an end to kung-fu and conquer all of China. Now that is one evil peacock.

At times the story seems over run with characters and there is just not enough screen time for all of them. The Furious Five seem to have been combined into one character with Jolie doing most of the talking for the group. If Jackie Chan says more than three lines of dialogue I would be surprised. While we may not hear from many of the characters from the original, the new characters leave their mark, namely the aforementioned peacock and Michelle Yeoh as The Soothsayer.

Also infectious is Jack Black who seems to be the perfect fit as the hero. Po still seems to be an awe of his skill and action. His character can't seem to believe that he is living out the fantasies he once acted out with action figures in his bedroom. His character doesn't seem to be allowed to riff anymore but maybe that is because the original writing team decided to deal with his parental issues so he has a lot more on his panda shoulders.

Po's quest to find his birth parents and who he really is allows the movie to mature a little bit and distance itself from the goofiness of the last movie. For those of you bringing the children along, the memory flashbacks can be a lot to take in and may even spark some questions from the youngsters. Not that this should be a deterrent, and not that we see anyone actually get hurt but it should be noted they do let loose on this part of the story and allow it to become a little dark, and for the really little ones these scenes can be intense. Rest assured everything works out because this is still a kid’s movie and lest we forget they are trying to make another four of these movies.

Besides realizing the need for a good plot to go with their talking animals, Dreamworks is one of the few studios that really know how to properly take advantage of 3-D. They were able to do it in 'How to Train Your Dragon' and do a good job with it again. There are some classic moves of things flying out at the audience, but it also enhances the Chinese landscape. The most effective use of the technique is the end credits and the flashbacks, the artists do a great job enhancing these scenes. The soundtrack also does a wonderful job to enhance the tension and inner peace our protagonist finds in the film. While I was watching I couldn't help but be impressed and then I found out that Hans Zimmer did the score and suddenly it all made sense, the man knows what he is doing.

'Kung Fu Panda' does a fine job entertaining the audience with a new story from a loveable character. It is easy to revert to the last movie and take all the points that were successful from the original and apply it to the new movie (read: Hangover 2), but the second Panda movie decides to branch out and try something new and I think it works. The fireworks fly in this movie and it is always a treat to find a movie that both children and parents can enjoy. B