Being in Helsinki puts me in close proximity to many Kung Fu Panda 2 posters, and that reminds me that I should write you all a review. Now is as good a time as any to do that.
Let’s put this under a cut, shall we? Because there are spoilers in them thar hills.
I didn’t expect it to be this good. I heard it was this good, but honestly?
Dream Works has succeeded in life after Shrek. I liked the Shrek films just fine, thank you, although I will be the first person to tell you that they are not all equal quality. But the original Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon get to the heart of a personal story without being maudlin. Hiccup actually doesn’t even have the danger of that pitfall, his movie being about the smart kid unsuited for Viking society who does good.
Panda 1 had all sorts of room for fail. It was a movie that made fun of a fat guy who wanted to be a kung fu master. Po, our main character, was ridiculed for his lack of skill, his poor shape, and all those things, until finally Master Sifu gets it together and sees what’s in front of him, rather than what he wants to see. Sifu and Po get it right. Sifu became a teacher who suits his lessons to the student. Po becomes the student who works hard and has his dreams come true.
We’re past all this in Panda 2. Sifu goes a long way in redeeming himself in his opening monologue where he talks about how meeting Po and discovering Po was the dragon warrior was the worst day of his life, until Sifu got over himself and found himself in the teaching of Po.
This is Po’s movie to find himself. On the surface, Po’s really got it pretty good. He’s hanging out with the Furious Five, who respect him as part of the Kung Fu team. They have great team maneuvers and strategies. Po has a strong friendship with Tigress especially.
Jack Black, who voices Po, still does a good job of imbuing Po with humor. The audience gets that Po’s bungling is really Po’s strength. He always knows what he’s doing, but he’s not what his opponents expect. And that is awesome.
But what kind of film would it be if it was just a Po/Furious Five appreciation fest? Not so good. However, two things happen. The first thing is that Po discovers he isn’t Ping’s son. (Yes, I know we knew this. ) Ping shares the story of how Po came to him, and I’ll be damned if it’s not one of the most touching moments in all of animation. (“On that day, I made two decisions. I decided to no longer use radishes in my soup, and I decided to raise you as my son. Both decisions made my life taste sweeter.”)
The other fork of this story is that Po has to defeat the film’s main villain, a peacock with a chip on his shoulder named Lord Shen who has decided that the awesome power of fireworks can be harnessed to be a pretty bad-assed weapon. Shen blames his parents for exiling him because he was a bad guy. Also, there’s this prophecy about how he’s going to be killed by a panda, and in a very Greek way, Shen brings about his demise by waxing Po’s village. Po’s mother hides him in a radish box, and off Po goes to his life with Ping.
Po has to find out about and come to terms with his past. Ping is worried about what that means for his relationship with Po. After a series of martial arts adventures and a near death experience, Po is taken to his native village by the seeress that predicted Shen’s demise, and he remembers the violence of his past.
And here, for me, is the profound moment of the film. “The beginning of your life was very sad. What you do with the rest of it is up to you.” Needless to say, that echoed resoundingly for me.
Po rises to the occasion. He rescues the Five, and confronts Shen. He tells Shen that you have to leave all that past stuff behind you. Of course, Shen can’t, and Shen essentially sets up his own death. Po returns to Ping, and Ping has no doubt that Po is his son, his family of choice.
Well, it was awesome. There was a lot of martial arts action too, and one could write a review based on how much the director seems to love these types of films and pays them homage, but that is not my review to write. Also, get a load of the Dragon Warrior sized dumpling. Mmmm. Not that Ping isn’t a little bit of an opportunist. (“My son the Dragon Warrior saved China. Why shouldn’t you save on this week’s special?”)
Go and see it. Get some action and some philosophy. Wonder what they will do for the next one.
Catherine
