Movie review score
5
Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 2011 3D American computer-animated action comedy film, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda. The cast of the original film reprised their voice roles while the new villain Shen is voiced by Gary Oldman. The film was released on May 26, 2011 in Real D 3D and Digital 3D. The film opened to positive reception and became an international success, which is also the biggest one for a female director.
The narrator narrates that long ago in ancient China, the peacock clan that ruled Gongmen City brought happiness to the land with the creation of fireworks, until their son, Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) harnessed its destructive potential as a weapon with which to rule the entire country. When he learned from the court's goat soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) that "a warrior of black-and-white" would one day defeat him, Shen had an entire village of pandas killed to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents were horrified at this atrocity and exiled Shen from Gongmen City, who swore revenge.
30 years later, Po (Jack Black) is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior and a Kung Fu master, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow Kung Fu masters the Furious Five, but is told by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) that he has yet to achieve inner peace, and complete a final Kung Fu technique. While fighting off a pack of wolf bandits who have been stealing refined metal for Lord Shen, Po is distracted by a symbol on the head wolf's (Danny McBride) armor, which makes Po have a flashback of his mother and allows the wolves to escape. Po asks Mr. Ping (James Hong) where he came from, but all Ping can tell him is that he found Po as an infant in a radish crate and adopted him.
Afterwards, Shifu receives word that Master Thundering Rhino (Victor Garber), leader of the Kung Fu Council protecting Gongmen City, has been killed by Shen with his newly developed weapon, a cannon, with which he intends to destroy Kung Fu tradition and conquer China. Po and the Furious Five go to stop him, reaching Gongmen City to find it under the control of Shen's forces. The heroes find two imprisoned council members, Masters Storming Ox (Dennis Haysbert) and Croc (Jean-Claude Van Damme), and ask their help to liberate the city, but both masters cite their helplessness against Shen's weapon and refuse to escape. Po and the Five are then discovered by the Wolf Boss, whom they chase to prevent him from alerting Shen, only to be captured by Shen's gorilla army.
Upon being brought before Shen in his tower, Po and the Five free themselves and destroy Shen's cannon. However, Po is again distracted by a flashback, upon seeing the same symbol as before on Shen's plumage, allowing Shen to escape and destroy the tower with an arsenal of cannons. After escaping, Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie) confronts Po over his distraction. Po explains that he remembers Shen's presence on the night he was separated from his parents, and wants to question Shen about his past. Though empathetic, Tigress tells Po to stay behind for his own safety.
Regardless, Po breaks into Shen's cannon factory to confront him, inadvertently foiling the Five's attempts to destroy the factory. Shen claims that Po's parents abandoned him and never loved him before he blasts Po out of the factory and captures the Five. Po is rescued by the Soothsayer, who has been exiled by Shen to the ruined village where Po was born. Guided by the Soothsayer to embrace his past, Po remembers that when he was young, his parents had sacrificed themselves to save him from Shen's forces as they killed every panda and burned down the village. While fighting back, Po's father ordered Po's mother to run and escape with their baby. Po's mother ran into the snowy woods and hid him in a crate of radishes before being subdued. Po then lifts up a broken door from the ground and finds his childhood toy. However, realizing that despite this tragedy, he had lived a happy and fulfilling life, Po attains inner peace and decides to continue his journey to stop Shen.
Po returns to Gongmen City to save the captive Five and prevent Shen's conquest of China. They then battle (in which Ox and Croc participate, after being persuade by Shifu) Shen, managing to block the gates to Gongmen City to stop Shen, but the cannon clears the way, and during the explosion, the gang are flung into the ocean. Po climbs onto a rock and uses his inner peace to enable the Kung Fu technique that redirects Shen's cannon fires against his own armada and destroys it. He then urges the shocked Shen to let go of his own past, but Shen refuses (though he agrees to choose his own path, but decides to remain evil) and attacks Po with his knives until he accidentally slashes the ropes holding up his last cannon. Shen accepts his fate, making no move to dodge the cannon, and it falls on Shen, killing him. Victorious, Po returns to the Valley of Peace and reunites with Mr. Ping, lovingly declaring himself to be Po's father. At the same time, Po's real father (Fred Tatasciore) is shown to be living in a far-off hidden village inhabited by other surviving pandas and is the village's leader, and senses that his son is alive.
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