Kung Fu Panda 2

It will not be the brilliance of the jokes themselves that will tickle your funny bone, (they remain puerile, as it is after all, a kids' movie) but Jack Black's histrionics will provide opportunity aplenty for a gleeful chuckle or two. You come to realize midway through the film, as you are hurled in the midst of a playdough-battleground, dodging spears, cauldrons, mantis(es?) thrown at you from every possible direction, that 3D is perhaps not the worst thing that could happen to Hollywood, certainly not to the animation genre. The makers of Kung Fu Panda 2 have shown a remarkable command of the dynamics of the new technology as a result of which the movie boasts some very daring camera shots and bursts with sheer Awesome! We finally get a taste of 3D at its best which is not limited to a stick thrown whimsically our way every once in a while. As for Jack Black...well, I think it is evident to anyone who has seen the film that at heart, he is just a giant panda with a love for dumplings.

The movie employs a perfunctory yet warm opening where we see Po the Panda (Jack Black) stuff his mouth with 40 dumplings ( thus establishing him as the lovable, clueless protagonist) while the real masters of Kung Fu - a tiger, a monkey, a crane, a mantis and a Snake, namely er, Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis and Viper, marvel at his adroitness. But no time is wasted in cutting to the chase as in the very next scene, Po is summoned by Master Shifu ( If you don't know who he is, watch Kung Fu Panda 1 again. Do it. Now.) who teaches him that a warrior can only gain mastery of his abilities if he attains inner peace. Attaining inner peace, therefore, becomes the unspoken objective as with that roll of parchment in the first part that held the secret of becoming a Dragon Warrior. In the very same shot, we see streams of water washing wistfully down in streams from above quietly ensconced in a shroud of fog, an image that I remember as being altogether enchanting. It gives you an inkling that at least in terms of cinematic and visual pleasure, this movie will not disappoint.

The plot itself is not astounding or convoluted in itself. I think a simple plot behooves a movie of this particular type as no twists or surprises are necessary when appealing to a predominantly juvenile audience. In fact, the most surprising revelation in the movie is when Po comes to realize that he is adopted. (*Gasp* You mean the Goose is not really his father?!) Anyway, coming back to the storyline, our heroes fight a pack of attacking Wolves in a town who seem bent on stealing as much stuff made of metal as they can find, which curiously include only cauldrons. A feel-good fight sequence ensues with a number of characters soaring through the air like circus-freaks, but with a grace that surpasses that in any movie of this kind you have seen. At the end of it Po is knocked on the head and this triggers a series of flashbacks. There is also an ominous sign tattooed on the arm of the Hammer wielding evil Wolf-Leader that sparks our curiosity. We see the same symbol again, this time on the feathers of the main villain, an evil Peacock named Shen (voiced by Gary Oldman). Then through the next half hour we learn that Shen is responsible for pillaging the village where Po was born and for persecuting the peaceful Pandas inhabiting it. That is when Po is packed in a carton filled with vegetables and is later found by Mr. Ping, the Goose who decides to feed him copious amounts of noodles and bring him up. So now Po needs to avenge his birth-parents (whom he has never met) by crushing the evil designs of Shen, who plans to reign over all of China. We also find that the metal being stolen from all the villages is being used to construct cannons that are used by Shen in establishing his reign of terror. And that the Wolves are his henchmen. (in case that wasn't evident)

I have always been a fan of Gary Oldman who finds his comfort zone in portraying highly controversial characters, mainly negative ones. His natural eloquence and menacing expression of speech that he can call forth at will is used in many a role to lend the necessary touch of deviance. This, however, was seemingly an easier role for him, but there is no hint of a lapse that might suggest that he took it any more lightly than he would his role of Gordon in the Batman series. He brings character to a caricature and voice to a script that might have been found lacking without him. In short, Oldman to Shen is what Gayle is to RCB! Another impressive feature of the film is how simplistic it essentially is. No measures are taken to include traits in superfluous characters (something that might have truly appalled Tim Burton or Gore Verbinski), in fact, most of them aren't even given proper names. I mean an Ox is called an Ox. The genius of it lies in the fact that an Ox is essentially an Ox. This is very helpful in order to keep track of the sundry animal-characters as even unpassionate viewers are allowed to understand and enjoy the film. The inane puns and verbal cutesies that one might find annoying in any other film are not in the least off-putting, but in the course of it, you grow into the jokes just as you grow to like a special brand of alcohol. Also, one must not be blinded by the razzmatazz of a very showy cast. Yes, for a movie that boasts a cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucie Liu and Dustin Hoffman in addition to Black and Oldman, the number of lines for any of their characters is astonishingly few. But again, this can be construed as a clever ploy to appeal to the adult half of the audience who are dragged in by their whiny kids and to keep them happy. I was disappointed by the small role given to Master Shifu, perhaps because Dustin Hoffman has better things to do with his time than voice animated rats. (Does he though? He was certainly content being one in the abominable movie called Tale of Despereaux) But whatever your excuse, you don't mess with Master Shifu. Because Master Shifu is Awesome!

Kung Fu Panda 2 is hardly a sequel. It does not rely on the glitz of the previous installment, rather it blends in and out of its storyline with ease only when strictly necessary. As Po balances his craving for dumplings against his need to find inner peace( a quality that enables him to deflect cannon balls in the end), his innate awkwardness against graceful Kung-Fu and his natural naivete against a hunger for retribution, we find ourselves egging him on every inch of the way. The inclusion of Michelle Yeoh and Jeanne-Claude Van Damme in the cast is refreshingly welcome. As the curtains fall on the second installment, we are left with a feeling that there might be a third, and we can only hope that it's every bit as sumptuous as the second and also that the giggling kid digging his nose beside you is struck by a meteorite before it hits theatres.