Dreamworks #22: Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 - 9.5/10

Just a couple of write-ups ago, I mentioned that How to Train Your Dragon was “one of” my favorite animated movies ever. You’re about to see why I made that very specific distinction.

When I was younger, I was a big fan of the X-Men cartoon, and there was a quote in one episode that has stuck with me ever since. An anti-mutant bigot accused Apocalypse of being a mutant, and in all his magnificence, Apocalypse haughtily declared, “I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you.” This quote is what comes to mind when I try to describe how good this movie was. The first Kung Fu Panda was a clever, funny, entertaining animated action/drama/comedy with a good soundtrack, solid performances and a tight, well-written script. A good movie by any standard, as I have already related not too long ago, and without question a cut above the standard fare offered by any of the myriad animation studios churning out CGI movies these days. Kung Fu Panda 2 is as far beyond its predecessor as that film is beyond everything else. It is nothing short of a modern cinematic masterpiece that can and should be enjoyed by people of all ages and from all walks of life. 

It’s hard to pin down in words just why I love this movie so much. Literally everything positive I said about the first one holds true, only to an even greater degree. Jack Black completely inhabits the role of Po, to the point where all I’m hearing is the character and it could be anyone voicing him – much like Jay Baruchel’s Hiccup. The rest of the cast is once again great as well, and this time they all actually get stuff to do and say. Huzzah! There are a few new additions to the cast as well, but far and away the shining star was Gary Oldman as Lord Shen, the villain. This was the perfect type of villain for this type of movie; he was threatening, intelligent, had a great design, a good backstory, and was just the right amount of ham. And Oldman is one of the greatest actors alive today; I’m convinced he could play a five year old girl so convincingly you wouldn’t know it was him. Live action.

All the colors and scenery I gushed about before are back and more impressive than the first time; it’s like the art department was deliberately trying to one-up themselves. And the music – holy shit, is it awesome. It’s a perfect blend of classical Chinese and modern orchestral scoring that fits the tone of this movie like a glove. Like Powell’s score in How to Train Your Dragon, the music emphases all the right emotions at all the right times, and knows when to be fast paced and intense, and when to slow down and tug at the heartstings.

The comedy is also top notch. Despite not being the focus, I think it’s the best Dreamworks has ever done, including Shrek 2. Most of it is of the incidental variety, where no one is doing anything deliberately funny; the characters are completely serious the whole time and this is a major source of humor. The filmmakers utilize anticlimaxes a lot, which suits that type of humor very well.

The philosophy is also stepped up from the first film. A lot of focus is put on the question of destiny and choice – similar to Megamind, actually – but through the lens of traditional martial arts values and ethics. The theme of conquering oneself before one’s enemies also plays into this, and it’s a lesson the villain ultimately fails to learn where Po succeeds.

Again like How to Train Your Dragon, there is an extended climax that doesn’t really let up for the entire sequence (about 8 minutes), accompanied by a magnificent, heart-pounding score that amplifies both the intensity and the excitement wonderfully. Unlike Dragon’s climax, which sort of plateaus, this one builds to a towering crescendo that doesn’t finally hit until the last possible second. The denouement is wonderful and heartwarming as well, and ties together all the morals and themes in a way (and with such beautiful music) that has never failed to elicit many tears. By that point, depending on how sappy I’m feeling that day, that can be tear-up number two or three.

I’ve compared this to How to Train Your Dragon a few times, and that’s because I think those two are easily the best Dreamworks has yet produced, and they share a lot of the same strengths: strong themes, sympathetic, well-written characters, a powerful climax, stunning visuals and absolutely amazing music. I’m always bouncing back and forth on which one is my favorite, and I usually land on whichever one I happened to view most recently. If I’m completely honest with myself though, I’d probably have to choose this one. No other movie that has brought me to tears has ever made me laugh so hard, and no other movie that’s made me laugh even half so hard has ever brought me to tears. It’s just about as close to perfect as an animated movie can hope to get, if I do say so myself. 

Skadoosh.