Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011 film)

History of the film

Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 2011 3D American computer-animated action comedy-drama martial arts film, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, produced by DreamWorks Animation, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.1 It is the sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda and the second installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.

The film stars Jack Black, Gary Oldman, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Danny McBride, Dennis Haysbert, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Victor Garber. In the film, Po and his friends battle to stop a would-be conqueror Lord Shen with his powerful new weapon, with the giant panda discovering a disquieting link to his past in the process.

The film was released on May 26, 2011 in Real D 3D and Digital 3D. Kung Fu Panda 2 received positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, voice acting, action scenes and character development. It was also a commercial success surpassing the original film and, like the original film, was the highest grossing animated feature film of the year. The film was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards.

A sequel, titled Kung Fu Panda 3, and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, was released on January 29, 2016.

Synopsis

Years before the events of the first film, Lord Shen, the scion of a peacock clan that rules Gongmen City in ancient China, seeks to harness fireworks as a weapon. After discovering from the court's goat Soothsayer that "a warrior of black-and-white" will defeat him if he does not change his ways, Shen leads an army of wolves to exterminate the panda population to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents are horrified at this atrocity and exile their son, who swears revenge.

In the present day, Po is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five. His teacher Shifu tells him, however, that he has yet to achieve inner peace.

While defending a village from wolf bandits who have been stealing refined metal for Shen, Po is distracted by a symbol on the wolf leader's armor, which causes Po to have a flashback of his mother and allows the wolves to escape. Po asks his goose father, Mr. Ping, about his origins. Ping reveals that he found Po as an infant in a radish crate and adopted him, but Po remains unsatisfied, wondering how and why he ended up in the Valley of Peace.