Kung Fu Panda 2

Taking up where the popular 2008 original left off, Kung Fu Panda 2 finds the titular roly-poly, dumpling-devouring bear now firmly established as Dragon Warrior Po (voiced by Jack Black) in the Valley of Peace. But dastardly albino peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) is determined to rule all of China from Gongmen City with his Wolf Boss (Danny McBride) and a powerful new weapon: the cannon. So Po turns to his loyal friends, the Furious Five—Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Tigress (Angelina Jolie)—to turn back the threat. And there are new characters, such as the former bandit Master Croc (Jean-Claude Van Damme), and Soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh), Shen's fortune-telling goat. Part of Shen's strategy is to bring up traumatic secrets buried in Po's past, including the revelation that Po was adopted by noodle shop owner Mr. Ping (James Hong). Po's kung-fu master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), feels that anger issues are interfering with his disciple's martial arts ability, so the panda must find inner peace. Directed by Jennifer Yuh, this awesome, action-packed sequel also tells a character-driven, emotionally resonant story, tackling thorny issues like abandonment, nontraditional families, and self-discovery. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, producer Melissa Cobb, production designer Raymond Zibach, and supervising animator Rodolphe Guenoden, a “Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters” new animated adventure (23 min.), an episode from the TV series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (23 min.), “Kickin' it with the Cast” including Jack Black and Angelina Jolie (13 min.), “Panda Stories” on real life pandas (8 min.), deleted scenes (5 min.), a “Kung Fu Shuffle” game, a “Ni Hao” language learning tool, the “World of DreamWorks Animation” interactive featurette, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are “The Animators' Corner” picture-in-picture commentary, an “Animators Inspiration” interactive map (11 min.), a trivia track, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning animated film.] (S. Granger)