Kung Fu Panda 2

Name: Kung Fu Panda 2      

   

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure/Comedy

Cast: Voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Garry Oldman, Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Director)

Synopsis: Peacock Clan rules the Gongmen city of ancient China. Lord Shen of peacock clan wants to use fireworks as new weapons and developing the same. His court’s goat future teller tells him that a warrior of black and white will defeat him and will be hindrance in his rule. Hearing this Shen with his large army starts exterminating Panda population of the area to stop this prophecy to never let that happen. As Shen parents came to about his atrocity, they immediately exile Shen to move out of the Gongmen city and never come again and before going out of the Shen promises that he will have his revenge. After thirty years, Po is now the dragon warrior protecting the villagers from the bad guys with the furious five. Shifu tells Po that he is now a kung fu master but he still doesn’t have the inner peace. When he was defending villagers from wolf bandits of Shen who were there for stealing metal for new cannons to be made, a symbol distracted him and remind of a flashback of his birth. Po later on came know that he was found in a radish box by his goose father and he is an adopted child though Po still remained unsatisfied.

Shifu received a message that Shen has attacked Gongmen city and has killed Master Rhino and is planning to destroy Kung Fu and the whole of the ancient China with a new weapon developed by him. So he sends Po and the furious five to stop Shen and his evil plans. They entered the city and finds that Master Ox and Croc were being held captive. Po and the furious five asked them to help in liberation of city from Shen but they refused in saying that if they do then he will destroy the city by the new weapon. Po and the furious five were chasing Shen’s men and later surrendered and were taken to Shen tower. Later they destroyed Shen’s new cannon but during his fight with Shen a symbol on Shen’s plumage reminds his past again with a little flashback and that gives time for Shen to escape to its other tower. Tigress asked Po about what distracts him again and again to which Po finally tells him that Shen was there and he knows something about his past. Tigress asked him to stay here but he went into the factory to find Shen. On other side the furious five too entered the factory to blow it out so that cannons can’t come out but seeing Po in trouble they went into the factory and tried to help him. Shen starts fighting Po and ultimately hits him with a cannon and Po went all out. Shen captures the rest of the furious five as their hostage.

Po wakes up and sees that Shen’s future teller has rescues and healed him and is now in his ancestral village and asks him to remember and embrace his past. Po remembers everything that what actually had happened that on that day and how his parents sacrificed his own lives to save Po. Po finally attains Inner Peace that he is now living a happy life though such atrocities and hardships is being faced by him. He went to the city again to stop Shen and his evil plans. He freed the furious five and later sees that Master Croc and Ox with his own Master Shifu too has arrived there and starts fighting with Shen’s wolf bandits. Eventually they thought that had stopped Shen’s plan but Shen hits the wreckage created by Po with his new cannon. Shen starts a whole round of cannon towards Po but as Po has now attained Inner Peace deflected all the cannon balls fired at him. Tigress, Shifu and even Shen was shocked to see this and could believe its own eyes. Finally Po went to Shen and asked him to stop all this but listening to him Shen starts again attacking him and in that fight ropes which were holding a canon falls on him and crushed him to death. 

Po came back to the village and tells to his goose dad that he is his father at all and hugs each other. Meanwhile somewhere else, Po’s real father who were living with rest of the alive panda’s senses that his son is still alive somewhere.

Review: As first was a big success so a lot to be expected from the next part and it delivered with full expectations. The movie is full of action, adventure and a lot of comedy scenes which makes it a little ahead of its previous prequel. Action sequences used in this part was even better then it was used in the prequel. Story was at all connected with the previous part. Lord Shen was better on the villain part and was more effective than the prequel’s Tai Lung. Music given by Hans Zimmer and John Powell were as usual at its level best. It has to be said that this part of the movie has more action sequences and adventure fun than the previous part and the 3D make it an extra edge to it. A fabulous and a classic animation movie with Po’s panda style was mind blowing.

Stars given: 3.5 out of 

Kung Fu Panda

Name: Kung Fu Panda

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure/Comedy

Cast: Voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, John Stevenson & Mark Osborne (Director)  

Synopsis: Po (Jack Black) was having a dream where he seen legendary warrior with unmatched Kung Fu skills are being greeted by the legendary kung fu warriors, The Furious Five bow down to that legendary warrior and requesting him to fight with them and at that time suddenly Po wakes up from dream. In the valley of peace in ancient china Po is a Kung Fu lover panda who idealizes the furious five including Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper and Crane trained by their master Shifu. Po tells to his dad Ping a goose that he had a dream and being forced to ask about the dream he tells he dreams about noodles. Oogway, an old tortoise had a dream that Tai Lung,(Ian McShane) an evil snow leopard and also old student of Shifu will escape from prison and come to Valley of peace again to have his revenge as he was denied to take the dragon scroll, the source of limitless power. Hearing this, Shifu send one of his goose messengers to check the security of Tai Lung so that he can’t escape.

Master Shifu ordered furious five that there will be a Kung Fu tournament and from there Master Oogway will choose the dragon warrior who will have the dragon scroll and in turn Tail Lung can be defeated. Everyone in the village gets this news and was very excited to watch the tournament which includes Po as well. But when Po reaches the arena the door were closed. In desperation after doing every attempt to watch the tournament, he sat on a chair with full of attached fireworks and rockets. Suddenly he moves in the sky but very soon falls down in middle of the arena but he woke up, he saw Master Oogway was pointing finger towards him and telling everyone present there that he is the dragon warrior.

Furious Five and Master Shifu were angry that it was just an accident and couldn’t believe that he is dragon warrior. Shifu tried every trick in his book to make Po quit of being himself considered as dragon warrior and should go back home but Po remained there as he was so fanatic about Kung Fu. Even most of the furious five wasn’t impressed from him and wanted him to immediately move out of Jade palace where they all lived. There once together he came know about the real story of Tai Lung from Tigress (Angelina Jolie). Meanwhile on other side, after seeing all the security preparations of Tai Lung, Zeng, the goose messenger of Shifu was getting out of the prison at that moment one of his feathers was dropped near to Tai Lung. He used that and as he himself is a master because he was treated by Shifu himself used that feather starts fighting with the guards himself. After a hell of fight he breaks from the prison and tells Zeng that he should go back to Shifu and tell him that he coming back to have his dragon scroll back.

Zeng gives this bad news to Master Oogway and asks him to guide to stop evil Tai Lung so that Village and the people can be protected. Oogway asks Shifu to give him promise that he must believe in Po and nurture him to bring the best out of him and then he ascends into the sky. Shifu went to Po and the furious five and gave them both the news of Tai Lung is free and Oogway is gone. He further asks Po that he will teach him but Po refuses saying that he will never able to defeated Tai Lung. On initial disagreement between the two, Shifu starts teaching Po Kung Fu and in a little while the progress showed by Po, Shifu can’t believe himself. Po starts believing in himself as a Kung Fu master. The furious five decides to take on Tai Lung by themselves. They have tough fight with Tai Lung but in the end Tai Lung defeated them all and strikes them with nerve attack. Crane brings all of them and seeing all of them defeated Shifu decided to give dragon scroll to Po. On the day of giving dragon scroll to Po, he opens the scroll but nothing happens and being disappointed and no other way to save the valley, Shifu ordered Po and the furious five to take the people out of the valley as far as possible and he himself will face Tai Lung.

When Po and the furious five were starting to take villagers out of the valley, Po meets his goose dad. Po was little upset that things doesn’t go right but his dad tell him that it’s Ok if things doesn’t go right. He tells him that he is gonna tell him his secret of his secret ingredient soup and which is nothing. You just had to believe that it is special. Realizing this he went back to master Shifu. Shifu on other side had started fighting with Tai Lung. Tai Lung being in rage and aggressive was overpowering Shifu at every front. When he was about to Shifu, Po came there and challenged Tai Lung to take the scroll from him and he is the dragon warrior. Tai Lung was now more angry starts fighting with Po with full force. But Po’s unconventional and effective kung fu techniques were too much for Tai Lung. Tai Lung when once defeated was about to open scroll but nothing happened at that time too. Po at that time asked Tai Lung that he didn’t get that in first time either and that there is no secret ingredient and it’s just you. Tai Lung starts attacking again but Po finally over powers him. Seeing this, all the villagers including furious five bows down to Po and call him as master. Po remembers of Shifu and went back to him and Shifu asks him that finally now he can have peace.

Review: One of the classic animation movies with full of action and adventure. The Kung Fu sequences used in the movie from start to finish was great. Story of the movie was decent but the focus given on the rest of characters excluding Po was a little disappointing. Comedy scenes in the movie were quite good which brings some laughable part. Music given by Hans Zimmer and John was good too. Although at some areas movie seems to be a little stretched but as a whole movie is a great to watch full of action and adventure and specially the introduction of new style of Kung Fu “ The Panda Style” this was great.

Stars given: 3 out of 5