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Kung Fu Panda 2 seeks peace in darker, more intense story
0526kungfupanda
Jeff Marker
Updated: May 26, 2011, 4:30 AM
Published: May 25, 2011, 6:36 PM

Jeff's summer movie review

Kung Fu Panda 2

Rated: PG

Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Bottom line: Enjoyable but not quite as good as the first

When Dreamworks released "Kung Fu Panda" in 2008, no one predicted its success. "Shrek" was still the studio's favorite franchise, and American animation studios had encountered little success translating Asian themes.

The movie won us over, though, with boundless positivity and perseverance, beautiful animation and rapid-fire in-jokes. The studio very wisely said goodbye to "Shrek" and built a franchise around Po (Jack Black), a cuddly panda and martial arts fanboy.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" is a very different movie than its ancestor, but it holds on to most of the things we liked about the original.

Po is now the famed Dragon Warrior, the prime protector of the Valley of Peace. He continues to train with Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and fights alongside the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross), and Viper (Lucy Liu).

Po's life is awesome (his favorite word), except he has not attained the highest level of kung fu mastery, inner peace.

This is the weakest element of the story. It isn't exactly respectful of Asian philosophy to boil down everything to a buzz phrase, and it misses the point entirely to suggest that inner peace is something to "achieve" in the first place.

To "find" inner peace, Po must learn more about his birth parents. He finally recognizes that Mr. Ping (James Hong), a goose, is not his father, which opens up all sorts of questions.

Just as Po begins to wrestle with those issues, a villainous peacock named Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) emerges with plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. As fate would have it, Lord Shen also holds the key to Po's identity.

Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to defeat Lord Shen and save China.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" doesn't go for laughs nearly as often as it aims for the heart. This is a much darker, more emotional movie than the franchise starter.

It is rated PG, but it's more intense than many PG movies. This might not be a good choice for preschool age children.

While the movie doesn't necessarily pay due respect to the philosophy it plays around with, it does honor Asian artistic style and gives several nods to animation innovators. Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and her crew have made a beautiful, distinctive-looking movie, if nothing else.

Nelson might be the first woman to direct an animated movie with a blockbuster budget (it's certainly a first among the major American animation studios), and it's nice to see something with a slightly different sensibility.

Nelson also smartly kept the fan side of Po's character. He might be famous now, but he is still just happy to be among his heroes.

The 3D enhances certain scenes, but I would only pay extra for it if you are already a fan of 3D.

A question we should always ask is whether a sequel is necessary. Does it take the characters someplace new?

The verdict is partially still out for "Kung Fu Panda 2." Yes, Po explores his younger years and delves into the mystery of his identity. But he did a fair amount of that in the last movie, too. And perhaps this movie's biggest flaw is that to a certain degree, it seems like a set up for future sequels.

Po's exploration of his origins has only just begun. Beyond one very touching scene involving his mother, Po doesn't really learn much about himself, who his parents were, or other pandas.

No, we're going to have to come back for "Kung Fu Panda 3" to watch Po complete his personal journey. I haven't quite found peace with that, but I'll keep looking.

Jeff Marker is a media studies professor at Gainesville State College.
Revenant a brutal, beautiful gut punch
Grisly grizzly attack launches a raging, unforgiving portrait of man and nature
Film-Review-The-Reven2 Albe
This photo provided by courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox shows, Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, in a scene from the film, "The Revenant," directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The movie opens for nationwide release Friday.
Cary Darling
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Updated: Jan 7, 2016, 6:00 AM
Published: Jan 6, 2016, 6:18 PM

‘The Revenant’

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson

Rated: R for strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, sexual assault, language, brief nudity

Runtime: 156 minutes

Bottom line: 4.5 of 5 stars

Everything you’ve heard about the bear is true.

The frenzied grizzly-on-man attack in “The Revenant,” director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s brutal and beautiful gut-punch of a film, is such an explosion of ursine rage that it is both hard to watch and fascinating (how did they do that?).

And that is “The Revenant” in a nutshell — a grueling portrait of nature and man at their most unrelenting and unforgiving.

Based on a novel by Michael Punke, which was based on the real experiences of 19th-century frontiersman Hugh Glass — a man who sought retribution against his compatriots who left him to die in the wilderness after a bear mauling — the film may be easy to knock as a self-indulgent showcase for DiCaprio and his Oscar ambitions.

But that would be selling it short. Combining the awe-inspiring vistas of a John Ford Western (it was filmed in rugged western Canada, Argentina and Montana) with the blood-soaked justice of a Sam Peckinpah film, “The Revenant” is a gorgeously shot exercise in survival and revenge that’s definitely not for the squeamish.

DiCaprio is Glass, part of a group of hard-pressed fur traders somewhere in the wild, wild West. It’s a large, unruly squad of men headed by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), the fair-minded but put-upon leader. An attack by Indians slaughters many of them and sends the rest fleeing.

Expert tracker Glass leads the way, but then he runs across that bear. The rest of the group is left with the decision of carrying a nearly dead Glass, and thus slowing them down, or leaving him alone to let nature finish what the bear started.

Glass’ son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), whose mother is Indian, doesn’t want him left behind, but he’s not taken seriously by the group. The only reason he’s around is because of who his father is, and he is outweighed by cantankerous and scarred John Fitzgerald (a nearly unrecognizable Tom Hardy), a man who just wants to get paid and get out of there.

What no one expects is that Glass would not just survive but thrive on the thirst of payback.

It’s a riveting story, made all the more persuasive by Inarritu’s quest for realism. Much has been made of the physically demanding shoot that had many on the production quitting. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the set was called “a living hell” by one crew member.

All that effort shows onscreen. The actors look as if they really have been fighting for their lives, and DiCaprio turns in a visceral, unforgettable performance.

Celebrated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Gravity,” “The Tree of Life”) turns the West into a series of striking tableaux that rival Ansel Adams.

Meanwhile, Inarritu has created a panoramic, foreboding natural world that’s completely the opposite of the claustrophobic, backstage theatricality of his last film, “Birdman.” Whereas that movie was all about language, much of the beauty of “The Revenant” is in the way it uses silence.

The director also deserves a nod for not making the Indians faceless, violent villains as that opening attack implies. Their back story gets filled in during the 156-minute running time and their motives become clear.

“The Revenant” is shot through with a spirituality, as when Glass stumbles across an Indian, Hikuc (Arthur Redcloud), who helps heal him.

While comparisons are inevitable to “The Hateful Eight,” this year’s other long, violent Western about people trying to kill each other, “The Revenant” lacks Quentin Tarantino’s tongue-in-cheek sensibilities — and it’s all the better for it.

Inarritu keeps it straight, simple and deadly. Just like the bear.