Kung Fu Panda 2

Get out your 3D glasses and harness your mad kung-fu skills, we're reviewing Kung Fu Panda 2! IN 3D!!!

Put on your 3D glasses now.

I have to say I really enjoyed Kung-Fu Panda 2. I was excited for it coming out, then I was worried that I was excited for it, and then I was excited again when I experienced it. And it was in 3D in a theatre full of screaming kids, so I really experienced the crap out of it.

What you need to know and why you are coming to this movie is because the animation is completely and utterly amazinawesome. I had to physically put two words together to properly describe how good the animation is. The action sequences are beautiful and well choreographed. All the animals not only move and act how animals would but how animals would use martial arts. And it flows seamlessly from beautifully rendered 3D animation to beautifully drawn 2D animation. All the sequences are fun, humorous and exciting. Not only do I want to watch it again, I feel the need to play the videogame. I don't even know if there is a videogame or if it's any good! (UPDATE: There is, it isn't.)

Also, I saw this in 3D, and I loved it. I find that animations are much easier to do well in 3D these days. Maybe because it's easier to convert? Or because it's easier to move camera angles around for a better experience? In any case, things were going back and forth and really creating a vivid three dimensional environment. This is one of those movies that is worth the extra buck.

The story: Shen(Gary Oldman) and his evil minions have a new fangled weapon that's said to be able to counter Kung-Fu, and Po(Jack Black), the fabled dragon warrior, is the only one who can stop it. Conversely, Po keeps getting flashbacks about his childhood, and the only way to unlock his mysterious past and achieve inner peace is to confront Shen.

The movie felt so quick that I really didn't have time to meditate over the story. It missed those slow contemplative moments of the first. Looking back, I enjoyed it. Some movies that have to do with mysticism really hammer in the chosen one aspect in the sequel(I'm lookin' at you Matrix Reloaded), but this sequel, though it did have another prophecy, held the same overarching feeling of stumbling into destiny. All the scenes were extremely funny and even the action scenes had that "making fun of action sequences" humor from the last one.

I loved all of the cast. The First Kung Fu Panda had me too lost in the great characters to have voice actors stand out, and this one was no different(except for Seth Rogen. You always know it's Seth Rogen.). Gary Oldman was especially entertaining as the evil peacock, Shen; I was waiting in anticipation for the credits to find out just who that astounding voice actor is! It had a stellar cast including Michelle Yeoh as the ram Sooth Sayer, Danny McBride as an evil wolf, and Jean Claude Van Damme as a Croc from out of nowhere!

Overall I can't recommend this enough. It's a great sequel. The pace and story move along a little quick, but the action and animation are well worth it. A must for animation lovers, kung-fu enthusiasts, and little children. Go see it and see it 3D!