While Dreamworks Animation certainly hasn't given us the consistent greatness that it's arch rival, Pixar, has, I feel that those who dismiss Dreamworks outright are mistaken. Tehy've made some high quality animated films (last year's How To Train Your Dragon was genuinely up there with some of the better Pixar films), and what they do is consistently better than most non-Pixar kids fare. And, this summer, Dreamworks gives us another one of their very best films, a triumphant adventure/comedy that's as appealing to adults as it is to kids.
The story essentially picks up where the first film left off, with our hero, Poh (a panda voiced by Jack Black), now having found his place in the world as the Dragon Warrior, protecting China alongside his heroes, the Furious Five. But China is threatened by a new evil: Lord Shen, a peacock (voiced by Gary Oldman) has harnessed the power of fireworks to create, well, a weapon of mass destruction. Poh and his cohorts must spring into action. At the same time, Poh, raised by a Goose, is beginning to wonder where he came from, and who he really is.
Kung Fu Panda 2 features some of the most spectacular and thrilling action scenes any movie has given us in a while. Notice I didn't throw in the modifier of "animated" film. This dwarfs most of what we're seeing in live-action, including the adventure films I've seen this summer, which generally have been a lot of fun. Of course, it's easy to do that in animation. There are no boundaries of safety, practicality, or gravity. But, while we see the benefits of that in most animated movies of today, those films typically lack the sense of intensity and peril that puts us on the edge of our seat in an Indiana Jones or James Bond movie. Here, the stakes are that high, and you're actually left with the the feeling that one of the Furious Five could lose their life in the proceedings.
That may seem like a liability to some. While my 4 to 6 year old niece and nephews, who saw the film with me, were fine, this could possibly be too intense for some little ones. In particular, one plot element is surprisingly disturbing:
SPOILER ALERT
When Shen first began experimenting with fireworks, a soothsayer prophesied that he would be defeated by a warrior of black and white. This lead Shen to go all Ten Commandments on the Pandas of China, leaving Poh orphaned and seemingly alone among his race. It's handled tastefully and without on-screen carnage, but, still, the idea of a panda holocaust is awfully intense for kids.
END OF SPOILER
One of the biggest strength of the film is, of course, its humor. If only Jack Black were still anywhere near this funny in his live-action films. I found myself laughing out loud routinely. And, amazingly, while the running gag is that Poh blows every big hero moment by doing something stupid or clumsy, that never undermines the dignity of the character, or the more dramatic moments in the film. And there are some very dramatic moments. Poh's adopted father is one of my favorite characters in animation, and I admit I shed a few tears over the relationship between them.
Kung Fu Panda 2 entertains and engages on every possible level. It's the best film of the summer so far, and trails on Robert Redford's criminally underrated The Conspirator on my list of best films of the year.
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