Po, the big clumsy panda has now been accepted as part of the Furious Five but cannot find inner peace, especially when he longs to discover where he actually came for. While tackling with his past, he and the gang must take on a deadly peacock that has created a weapon to stop kung fu and wants to rule China.
This is a much better effort than the first film. More action, more depth of characters and more gags that the adults can enjoy and the kids can look puzzled over. The overall animation is much better too, mixing the original style with Chinese and even cell animation (for Po's identity crisis scenes).
Dreamworks have also employed some of the biggest names to supply their voices. Jack Black has found his niche voicing the panda. He is goofy enough but also a touch of childish innocence that makes Po so likeable as a character. Angelina Jolie also returns as the fighting tiger and Dustin Hoffman's role is reduced but just as significant as Po's mentor. Added to the mix is Gary Oldman as the bad peacock and if you listen very carefully you might even hear Jean Claude Van Damme as well.
The film is let down slightly but the frantic fight sequences, which do get a little confusing and the overall plotting is very simplistic but we are not going into a territory of Shakespearean plotting for a family film (whoops, forgot about Gnomeo and Juliet).
Overall this is a fun and frantic romp with plenty of flashes and colour to keep the very young happy and plenty of nudge nudge and pop reference gags for the tagging along adults. The bonus is that the 3D here actually works. We get to see depth for a change and some of the objects do come out at you (still not enough but it's a start).
If you are looking for something undemanding but will keep the kids happy over the next few weeks, this does the job just perfectly.
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