Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

My Review

“Kung Fu Panda 2” is an animated martial arts comedy movie, the sequel to “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), continuing the story of Po and his Furious Five friends who travel to a neighboring city to stop an evil peacock from conquering China. Po also discovers some of his lost family history. Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson (in her motion picture debut) and screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger do a fantastic job in organizing this very entertaining film.

The colorful animation is top rate, especially in 3D, with numerous fight scenes giving the film an extra kick. The stars from the first film return to reprise their characters: Jack Black as Master Po, Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Seth Rogan as Master Mantis, Lucy Liu as Master Viper, David Cross as Master Crane, Jackie Chan as Master Monkey, and James Hong as Mister Ping. Actors voicing new characters include Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Danny McBride, Dennis Haysbert, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber, Fred Tatasciore, Lauren Tom, and Conrad Vernon.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The outstanding musical score was composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. It was extremely successful at the box office for DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures.