Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Rating : 3.5/4

When evil prevails, when dark days are here to stay, when the good are on their way up and when all hope is lost, you can count on the the Dragon Warrior for deliverance. Mind you thats not much of a comfort because, he may be the Dragon Warrior, but until the nick of time he still is every bit the same stupid fat voracious cuddly squishy panda called Po(Jack Black). And thankfully so, if you ask me. Ain't that what we love him for? Who needs originality when familiarity is this much fun.

The movie begins with a prologue about how Lord Shen(Gary Oldman), son of an Emperor, embraces the dark side to prevent a prophecy foretelling his undoing, from coming true. He uses his spare time, during his banishment from home, to create the one weapon that evokes submissiveness through fear. Just as Po is beginning to live his dream as the Dragon Warrior, staying with his kung fu idols - Tigress, Monkey, Viper,Mantis and Crane - and everything around is boringly peaceful, Lord Shen not-so-subtly returns home to make things interesting.

If Panda-1's Tai Lung and Master Shifu reminded you of Darth Vader and Master Obi-Wan^*, Panda-2's Lord Shen is bound to remind you of You-Know-Who. The prophecy, the parents.. the similarity is so obvious that Po might as well be called Harry Po or The Panda Who Lived. But I'm not complaining because any similarity ends there. Every time there is an attempt at poignancy by someone or a grave situation pops up or a grim tone tries to seep in, leave it to the Panda to reduce everything into a rip-roaringly hilarious affair the very next moment. Armed with unintended irreverence, immunity from sarcasm and abysmally low self-esteem, this Panda is going to hurt your innards. Visually, theres so much to savour in so little time. Gongmen's city, where most of the action takes place, is beautifully vibrant and artistic. Theres so much happening in the co-ordinated and expertly choreographed action sequences that we are bound to miss a few things. Slo-mo is used to good effect, serving the dual purpose of hiking up the 'coolness' and also making sure we dont blink and miss something that shouldn't be missed. The voice cast is joined by a couple of newcomers among whom Gary Oldman as Lord Shen stands out. His deliberate and unhurried delivery of lines, well- accentuated by pauses, oozes menace. When Lord Shen isn't talking, he shows us how deadly a peacock's dance can be. So any doubts about a peacock making a worthy nemesis are sure to be dispelled once Gary Oldman and the animation wizards take over.

My complaints are but minor ones - Why is Master Shifu barely there on screen? Why din't they increase the brightness enough for 3D? The 3D itself was good though. Nevertheless, this movie is filled to the brim with worthy-sequel stuff. So snug in your thermals and head to the cinema.. this one's severely cool

^* Star Wars : Jedi Master Obi-Wan trains a young Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi. However, Anakin turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader and eventually kills Master Obi-Wan