The original film “Kung Fu Panda” was really good so I had some high expectations for the sequel “Kung Fu Panda 2”.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” continues what he would call ‘awesome’ adventures of a kung-fu panda named Po (Jack Black “Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny”, “Kung Fu Panda”) and his friends; Viper (Lucy Liu “Charlie’s Angels”), Tigress (Angelina Jolie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), Crane (David Cross “Small Soldiers”), Monkey (Jackie Chan “Rush Hour 2”) and Mantis (Seth Rogen “Pineapple Express”) as they battle the Peacock (Gary Oldman “Dracula”) to stop his plot of taking control of China. Also, Po finds out more about his parents.

Jack Black is Po and Po is Jack Black. The two feel so alike it’s almost impossible to separate. He gives lots of energy and makes Po very much like himself. Lucy Liu is good as Viper despite her little dialog. Angelina Jolie is unmemorable as Tigress, who unfortunately has lots of dialog. David Cross is surprisingly good as Crane again despite his little dialog. Jackie Chan is unable to give his charm as only a few lines are there. Also why make a cartoon with Jackie Chan doing incredible things when Jackie Chan can do them in live-action form? Seth Rogen is poor as the weak character Mantis, who I find to be very uninteresting and isn’t redeemed by the voice acting. Gary Oldman is charismatic as the villain.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” is okay. The action didn’t feel like the humorous experience I was hoping for. What I mean is it didn’t have the slapstick vibe of the other title. The movie isn’t as funny as the original either. Also, I thought it was quite a dark kids’ movie. The movie really hints at a sequel and with numerous direct-to-video movies and a tv show I can see that being very likely to happen. If you have a young child who liked the first one then “Kung Fu Panda 2” is a good buy.