Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

"ahh my old enemy: stairs." (Po)

"I hope this is better than your plan to cook rice in your stomach by eating it raw and then drinking boiling water..." (Tigress)
"This is nothing like that plan." (Po)

"Taste the defeat!" (Po)

So...a part of me wishes that Kung Fu Panda had just been a one off and there never would have even been a Kung Fu  Panda 2.  I am a strong advocate of new movies, not sequels.  I just once want a movie studio, director, and the film industry to look at a film and say "You know what...that was good.  Let's not sully it."

Oh but oh if they only listened to me.  No: Cars 2  No: Taken 2 No: Breakin II: The Electric Boogaloo.  The list goes on.

oh but if they had only listened...to wait what I am I saying?  Kung Fu Panda 2 is pure Awesomeness@!

New rule:  Bad movies shouldn't get sequels.  Good movies shouldn't get sequels either unless somehow the gods align in a way that the script, the cast, the director, and movie studio are committed to a higher standard of art before even one frame is animated, or scene shot.  Sequels without commitment and integrity of purpose should be shunned.  (Unless they are hysterically bad, hahahahhahahaweghaghahahahhah, then bring em' on.)

Review:  Take Kung Fu Panda add an amazing villain voiced by Gary Oldman, up the mayhem, increase the Kung Fu soul, and deliver it all in a thick milieu of backstory and foreshadowing that is reminiscent of a great epic poem, heroic saga, and Monty Python and Holy Grail, and you have Kung Fu Panda 2.

Ratings:

Kids:  See it

Joseph Cambell:  See it

Writers:  Mythically see it.

Jean Claude VD: You're in it!!  (Master Croc!)

Those that take pride in what they do:  See it

On a scale from brown rice to white rice, I give Kung Fu Panda 2 3.75 out of 5 stars.