IslandGuru Who payed the critics

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

vivifan Kung Fu panda 2 is one of the best film sequels of all time IMO. It took everything that made the first one great and made it better.The story line is more emotional, the villain was much better, the music was better, the furious five had more lines and development especially tigress.The animation is more crisped and it looks great! Every animal has a unique design and the fur detail especially is awesome! Every character in this film is better for example PO is more confident then before and is more wise while still being hilarious. Tigress is more likable and bad-ass here as well as having more personalty. The villain lord Shen voiced by Gary Oldmen did such a great job in making him believable. Lord Shen is way better then Tai lung since he more bad ass, more developed, had more screen time and did something horrible to PO which i won't spoil.Mr ping is more loving and kind here then he was in the first film (even tho I still found him likable in the first one) The films comedy is just as hilarious as it was before but I found the first film to be a bit more funny.The voice acting is better here to and displays more emotion then before. The pacing is very fast but that makes it more entertaining in my opinion and it never feels slow. The film is rather short too but then again a lot of kids movies are short so I can kind of understand why.The only down side to the film is Shifu being a minor character, but then again I think it helped the film in a way because it gave the furious five a chance to shine and somebody has to protect the valley of peace! not to mention he was in the climax which was epic!Overall Kung Fu Panda 2 is epic, emotional, beautiful, heartwarming, dark, hilarious and is worth checking out if you are a fan of the first film.

ravsten428 This movie was excellent! To me, the second installment of Kung Fu Panda far exceeded my expectations.The animation is spectacular! And while the plot uses the typical good vs. evil story, it works well here.While not as good as the original, Kung Fu Panda 2 offers plenty of action, compassion and laughter.The villain of the movie, a white peacock named Shen is bent on having revenge from being put away for being too greedy when he is young. His parents sent him away for his own good and he ends up becoming resentful. Does this story sound familiar to you Frozen fans? Anyway, I digress.On Po's journey to confront Shen, he finds out more about his life as a baby and what exactly happened to him. A symbol on Shen brings back memories of his childhood. While Po struggles with this he eventually finds his way to inner peace and exactly what happened that day.My favorite new character turned out to be the ram that was Shen's mentor. She was great!A worthy sequel that will be coming home to my DVD player.

DCHybrid02 I heard about this movie when I saw the Deathly Hallows Part 1. It literally took me 5 seconds of watching the actual trailer before I thought to myself in disbelief, "They're not actually making another one are they?" Seriously! I heard Jack Black's voice and immediately knew what this was. Then, I forgot about it until the Super Bowl came around. And after that, I forgot about it again until a few weeks before the release date. But as the release date drew closer, I began thinking that this movie looked like it might be good. Eventually, I decided I would actually like to see this in theaters, so I went on Memorial Day.All I could say after seeing this movie was "Wow". It was truly something else, something that I never would have dreamed of seeing in an animated film. Where to start? Well, I was shocked at the beginning of the movie when we're learning some of Shen's background. The panda genocide wasn't surprising when I learned about the Soothsayer's prophecy, but it was surprising that we were discussing such a dark topic. I would've thought that the powers that be would consider it to be too "sensitive" for children, but I was impressed that it was being addressed. This brings me to the villain who carried out this heinous act. Shen was a despicable being. He was cowardly, sadistic, and just delusional when it came to being "wronged" by his parents. I hated the guy and found Tai Lung to be a more likable character. But I believe that Shen presented more of a challenge to Po due to the negative psychological effect he had, whether it was from his feathers causing visions or his toying with Po before lying about the circumstances of his separation from his biological parents. Shen clearly got into Po's head. And he did something so terrible and traumatic that Po didn't even remember it for years. He did scar Po for life, but Po might not have found the means for progression as a kung fu master if it hadn't been for Shen's actions.This is a big one for me. Tigress. Now, I'm not one of those people who fawned over this movie because they're in love with some pairing. No. But I did enjoy seeing Tigress open up more, and I was glad to see that her continual scowl from the first movie was replaced by a smile here and there. I noticed that she and Po seemed to be best friends, which had me wondering what happened between the first movie and this one to make her go from intense dislike to best friends. The hug she gave to Po and the reactions of the rest of the Five made me believe that her character development is somewhat attributable to him. This development came as a relief. I found myself wondering whether or not she'd treat him with a more mild form of her attitude from the first.My only qualm was that Tigress' time in the spotlight meant that the rest of the Five took a place on the back burner. I noticed that in the first movie, too. However, considering the fact that they're with Po for the majority of this movie, they should either have spoken more or had lines that added to their characters or the plot in some way. Tigress is my favorite character among the Five, but there's a lot of talent among their actors, and I thought it was wasted by giving the characters 5 lines apiece. I have to say that I enjoyed this movie way more than the first. I like a little darkness in my movies. I've heard some say that they didn't enjoy the movie as much for this reason, but being a movie geared toward kids doesn't mean that it can't address serious or even grim themes. I applaud the director and the writers for delving into this. Some of my praise must also go the composers, John Powell and Hans Zimmer, who managed to create a great score that perfectly matched the scenes in the film. I'd definitely say that this is one of Dreamworks' better movies. Regardless of whether or not you can empathize with what's happening in this movie, many can probably sympathize or even compare Po's search for the truth to their own experiences in some way. Kung Fu Panda 2 is definitely something that any person can potentially enjoy.

Abigail Nobles Torlao Hill This movie was greatly film and a good sequel. From 1 hour and half short length time, the animation, plot,art, scores and character development just better than I expect that gave me a teary eyes in the end and show us meaning of family and love. The soundtrack composed by John Powell and Hans Zimmer made it extraordinary and best thing I've heard. Show us behind the music of Chinese instrument that made it...godly. I'd prefer this than the 1st movie, it gave me a lot of feels and relate to me at some point and the villain is very unique I love it, and thing that made the character a-bit mature, especially Po in this film. They were few laughs. After I get out of the cinema, it had me good vibes around me, it inspired me, it was a really good movie.