One notable thing about the 2008 animated picture “Kung Fu Panda” was how laid back it was. Yes, it had its share of martial-arts action, but overall the film seemed almost zenlike in its cheerful, quiet manner.
Somebody at
Dreamworks Animation must’ve noticed, because “Kung Fu Panda 2” is a much noisier affair. It’s possible this will make it a grabbier movie for the target audience, but a lot of the charm of the first movie is left by the wayside.
The chief charmer is the plus-size Panda named Po, voiced by Jack Black. In the first movie, he became a Dragon Warrior, laying down some serious Panda Fu as protector of the weak.
In “Panda 2,” Po has daddy issues. You will recall that Po’s father is a goose (the great character actor James Hong), which leads to inevitable questions about Po’s biological parentage.
This issue is connected with the evil past of a power-hungry peacock (Gary Oldman), who rises anew as a villain. (Yes, a peacock: Behold his mighty, er, tailfeathers?) Po must band together with his kung fu posse, the Furious Five, to battle the peacock and his super-weapon.
The Furious Five are a goofy band of masters, all with celebrity voices: Tiger (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross).
As in the first movie, this is an example of wasted talent. Except for Jolie, whose voice you can’t recognize anyway, the other actors have two or three lines apiece. Well, it must make sense to Dreamworks.
The actor having the most fun is Dustin Hoffman, returning to his part as a wise old teacher. His character disappears in the midsection of the film, so we don’t get to enjoy too much of him, unfortunately.
Although “Kung Fu Panda 2,” directed by Jennifer Yuh, is visually spectacular (and contains some reasonably clever 3-D moments if you view it that way), the general approach is loud and aggressive. There’s lots of dark scenes of cannons booming and armies clashing, and against all that, our gentle Panda hero tends to get lost.
Too bad: Jack Black’s vocal performance in the first film was childlike and funny. Maybe things will change in the next “Kung Fu Panda” picture. Does that sound over-confident?
Let’s just say that the final scene of this film leaves little doubt that another installment in the franchise is almost certainly under way. In which case, a request: less peacock, more zen.
“Kung Fu Panda 2” 1½ stars
A very noisy sequel to the rather laid-back 2008 cartoon about a Panda (voiced by Jack Black) that became a Dragon Warrior. This one has lots of cannons booming and armies clashing, which leaves less room for Black’s funny performance or his camaraderie with his kung fu buddies.
Rated: PG for violence
Opens Thursday at Alderwood, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Olympic, Stanwood, Metro, Pacific Place, Thorton Place, Woodinville, Blue Fox, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor; opens Friday at Cinebarre.
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