KUNG FU PANDA 2Rating: PG for sequences of martial-arts action and mild violence.Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Huggable Po gets all touchy-feely in “Kung Fu Panda 2,” a sturdy sequel to the 2009 blockbuster.
This entry aims to expand the series both in storytelling terms and visually. It introduces emotionally complex issues and literally adds new scope via 3-D. In each case, the payoff is impressive.
The movie opens with a ravishing replica of traditional Chinese shadow-puppet plays. The prologue introduces the movie’s new villain, a militarist peacock named Lord Shen, who aims to conquer China by exterminating kung fu. Po, a giant panda who transformed himself from a dumpling-shaped layabout to a mighty martial-arts master, leads his Furious Five posse against Lord Shen’s “unstoppable” new weapon. But pride may be his undoing unless he can find spiritual harmony as his mentor Master Shifu instructs.
Haunted by memories of infancy and always a bit at odds with his fussbudget dad – how can a goose sire a panda? – Po lacks inner peace. He will have to subdue his own demons before he can vanquish his foe.