Kung Fu Panda 2

[Vanilla]

Do your thing.

[Rudolf]

nice visuals, interesting story furious five could use some extra screntimegood: no romancebad: Herodes theme

[baumer]

Just as bad as Shrek 2  4/10

[Gopher]

Awesome sequel that logically builds theme and meaning from its predecessor, features a kick-ass villain in Gary Oldman, some great action sequences, some smart comedy and cool use of traditional animation. Disappointed that the Furious Five wasn't given much to do (besides Tigress) but considering this is really Po's story I can excuse that.

B+

Baumer, don't you like movies?

Edited June 22, 2012 by Gopher

[mattmav45]

Ahhh this is such an under-appreciated film, I actually enjoyed it more than the first.

It's funny, has some good action, but what really separates this from the first is I felt it had a stronger emotional core. The scene in which Po has the vision of what happened to his parents is one of my favorite scenes from last year.

There wasn't a great deal of competition, but easily the best animated film of 2011.

B+

Edited June 22, 2012 by mattmav45

[AniNate]

Kind of a letdown for me. The advertising seemed to promise a bigger presence from the Furious 5 but they're even more dispensable here than they were in the first movie. I never got invested in Po's aimless search for his parentage and the action sequences were often overlong or without purpose. The movie just left me cold.

C+

And Gopher, weren't you in agreement with me when I posted my review on BOM? What changed?

Edited June 22, 2012 by tribefan695

[Gopher]

I saw it again in 2D (thankfully, because the 3D in this movie is so damn dark) and enjoyed it a lot. Po's story resonated with me more.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Gopher

[AniNate]

Well, I saw it in 2D first, so I doubt my opinion would change if I watched it again.

[JohnnY]

The first movie was already generic enough for me, this one felt even more unoriginal. It was just Po fighting a new enemy and protecting the Valley, and I really didn't care about his adoption story, less interesting and less fun than the first movie.D

[Blankments]

I actually thought the first Kung Fu Panda was really overrated and generic. The sequel, though, blew me away on the quality. Great animation, some of the best animated action ever, and there's a lot more emotional attatchment to this one with Po's past. Also, Gary Oldman's Shen is fantastic. I remember calling this the Pixar movie of 2011, since Cars 2 was disappointing, along with this sharing quite a few positive qualities of Pixar. A

[tommycruise]

Liked the first one but this one was boring and lame.C

[Goffe]

the best movie of 2011.A+

Edited August 19, 2012 by Goffe Recall

[Goffe]

Just as bad as Shrek 24/10

blasphemy

[efialtes76]

Just as bad as Shrek 24/10

[Olive]

   well baumer rates all pixar movies lower than that.

[StarSaber]

One of Dreamworks best and even better than the first which I loved!

 

A+

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Meh, this film really didn't do anything for me. The first film was much better. No wonder why this dropped domestically so much from the first.

[Goffe]

I just saw it and I got to say that literally everything that the first lacked or didn't work got fixed while everything that did work was perfected. Villain is memorable and Po's character arc is so so much stronger. Score is legit masterpiece.

It's smarter, funnier and darker than the first one. I love it. 90/100

[Morieris]

I feel like this story has a lot of half-plot lines.

 

Po's character arc doesn't come from nowhere, but I didn't think it was something to be invested in this early in the franchise. It never bothered him before and all of a sudden, he's super pained about it. If it was about trying to 'live up' to the status of Dragon Warrior before learning a lesson, sure (but that might be a bit reductive of the first one). The first one has a great balance of seriousness and humor, but this one trades it for so much seriousness (it's about genocide!) that a lot of it wasn't fun.

 

"Your story may not have such a happy beginning," - but his story, his origin, not knowing about his parents, didn't bother him until halfway through this movie. Either hold off for a later film (I think the third deals with Po's history and natural family better), or have it established better in the first one that not knowing his origins bothered him, it's just treated as a few jokes, which is fine, but it makes this entire movie feels like it comes from nowhere with his internal struggle. 

 

I revisit this movie every so often in the hopes that I'll like it, but I never do. I will give it one thing - the sequence with More Cannons! is the best in the franchise, period.

[Avatree]

On 6/21/2012 at 5:15 PM, baumer said:

Just as bad as Shrek 24/10

What's wrong with Shrek 2?