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| KUNG
FU 2 (director: Jennifer Yuh
Nelson; screenwriters: Jonathan Aibel/Glenn Berger;
cinematographer: ; editor: Clare Knight; music: Hans Zimmer/John Powell;
cast: (Po), (Tigress),
(Mater
Shifu), (Monkey), (Mantis), Lucy Liu (Viper),
David Cross (Crane), James Hong (Mr. Ping), (Lord Shen), Michelle Yeoh
(Soothsayer), Jean-Claude Van Damme (Master Croc),
Victor Garber (Master Thundering Rhino), Dennis Haysbert
(Master Storming Ox), Danny McBride (Wolf Boss);
Runtime: 91; MPAA Rating: PG; producer: Melissa Cobb; Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks;
2011) "Too bad it's so forgettable." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz Entertaining
and solid child-friendly animation sequel to the box
office smash 2008 version, that's handled adequately with an eye for the
action/fight sequences by
first-time director Jennifer Yuh
Nelson. Too bad
it's so forgettable and unoriginal. Writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn
Berger flirt with a theme of inner peace, but that
quickly gives way to fighting a war as a way to
overcome the enemy. In theaters it released in 3D. I saw the DVD
without that extra feature, and don't think I missed
much. The older, wiser and still
playful Dragon Warrior panda Po (voiced by Jack
Black), from
the original version, along with his partners the
Furious Five – Tigress (Angelina
Jolie), Monkey
(Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy
Liu), and
Crane (David Cross) – are protecting the
Valley of Peace. But a formidable
peacock villain named Lord Shen ()
emerges to threaten China, as he schemes to use his
unstoppable new weapon of fireworks to conquer the
country and put and end to kung fu. Adding to the
storyline is Po's earnest search for his real father.
The action picks up when
Lord Shen invades Gongmen City and with his army of
wolves easily captures it. Master Shifu ()
fearing the worse, calls upon his kung-fu pupil Po and
the Furious
Five to stop the villain. In the opening sequence, we
learn that the seers have foretold that Po is destined
to defeat Lord Shen, so we must watch to the end to
confirm if this is so. When our orphan hero finds out
the truth about what happened to his parents and what role Lord Shen played in
their death, he then will get serious in battling the
villain and if you are not sure who will win you're
probably younger and more green than the targeted
adolescent viewer.
REVIEWED ON 1/3/2012 GRADE: B- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |