Kung Fu Panda 2

Saw Kung Fu Panda 2, which picks up where Kung Fu Panda left off: with Po the panda (spoiler alert) joining the kung fu team and becoming the dragon warrior.  In this film, they must take on a peacock who is threatening the kung fu hegemony by introducing gunpowder to China.  It's an interesting idea which has potential to veer off into notions of feudalism giving way to European colonialism but we (probably wisely) ignore all that in favor of contrasting different kinds of absent parents.

Early in the film, Po realizes that he has been adopted by his presumed father (who is a goose) and this sets him wondering what happened to his parents and why they abandoned him.  The antagonist, meanwhile, has horrified his parents with his early psychopathic tendencies.  Both characters have been abandoned, and both have been a little messed up by this.  There's interesting parallels between the two which I enjoyed thinking about, but which don't really enter into the film in a heavy-handed way.

Like the previous film, this one is a Jacky Chan movie at heart.  It's in its element when there's a funny fight scene.  There's a great rickshaw chase scene and some inspired business with a jail cell door.  The film shows flashbacks sometimes using traditional 2d animation, but sometimes using Tibetan shadow puppets which is fabulous.

Unlike the previous film however, this one had some deeper characterization.  Po is still mostly a fat, hungry doof, but in the first one I feel he would not have been doing tai chi on a rock to attain inner peace.  Similarly, we get some hints of vulnerability behind the Tigress's spikey shell.  I feel she's destined to be a love interest by the third film.  We'll see!

So this was an alright film.  I think it's a better made film than the last one, however it was a little less surprising.  I know the characters' shtick now and some of the gags felt compulsory, but I think the franchise learned a little from its previous weaknesses (character, plotting) and built on its strengths (fight scenes.)  Well done.