Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2

                Kung fu panda 2 is the story of Po, who is voiced by Jack Black, and the Furious five as they race to save China and Kung fu from the evil peacock Shen(Gary Oldman).  Shen has harnessed the power of gun powder and is using it to try to destroy kung fu and conquer China.  This of course does not sit well with the dragon warrior and his friends who are off to stop him before his plan can come to pass.  The movie also has a nice sub story that tells you about Po’s past and the role Shen plays in it.  The voice acting is really good in the movie with a lot of big names contributing such as Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Seth Rogan all reprising their roles from the first movie.  The animation as really good and I especially enjoyed how the movie would switch from the computer animation for most of the movie to the cruder hand drawn animation for the flashbacks.  It added a depth to the look and feel of the movie that helped set it apart from other recent animated films.  I also liked the fact that the first movie was mentioned but you did not have to see it to understand what was going on in this movie.  I liked this movie just as much as the first one but my wife said she liked this movie more which is a good thing because the end of the movie set up another one so I am sure we will be seeing Kung Fu Panda 3 in the years to come. 

                This movie was a great family movie especially for families with little boys even though girls would like it too.  This was the first movie that we have ever taken our kids to in the theater and they loved it especially my almost four year old.  There was a good mix of action and comedy in the movie and it flowed along at very good pace, with the final run time with previews it lasted about an hour and a half. 

I recommend this movie for anyone who has young boys or if you are just looking for a fun movie. 

I give Kung Fu Panda 2, 4 out of 5 paw prints.

My Next review will be over the 2010 Matt Damon Iraq war movie Green Zone.

As always “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”