The folks at DreamWorks animation deserve considerable credit; they keep finding clever ways to inject fresh life into a franchise that began as little more than a one-note visual gag.
(A panda becoming a kung fu expert? Seriously?)
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| Following a rough ocean voyage, Po and Zhen get their first glimpse of bustling Juniper City. Po wouldn't be so excited, if he knew what was coming... |
Directors Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine, with an able assist from editor Christopher Knights, ensure that this 94-minute romp never slumps. Indeed, the length feels perfect; all concerned know when to get off the stage, on a crowd-pleasing high.
This new film’s premise is perfect: After three death-defying adventures involving world-class villains and amazing martial arts moves, Po (voiced by Jack Black) is told by Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) that it’s time to give it a rest. It’s time for Po to assume a greater role as Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace ... which means finding and training a new Dragon Warrior, before he can assume this lofty position.
Alas, Po has no interest in giving up his mad kung fu exploits as the current Dragon Master. More to the point, he hasn’t the faintest notion of what his new role might involve. (Spiritual Leader? Sounds like a snooze!) Po also is unwilling to abandon the love-fest adulation emanating from the many animal denizens of the Valley of Peace, particularly since he has concocted so many ways to franchise himself (much to Master Shifu’s disapproval).
Adoptive goose dad Mr. Ping (James Hong) and panda birth dad Li (Bryan Cranston) offer encouragement, but they can’t help Po find enlightenment.
He’s briefly distracted while catching a cloaked thief who tries to steal valuables from the sacred palace; after a brief skirmish, Po is able to put this nimble, wisecracking intruder — a Corsac fox named Zhen (Awkwafina) — behind bars.
(At this point, savvy viewers will have a pretty good idea how this story will conclude, but that doesn’t diminish the delights along the way.)
Potential Dragon Master tryouts are interrupted when Po learns that a nearby water buffalo quarry has been terrorized and taken over by raging snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. But wait ... wasn’t Tai Lung soundly defeated back in the first film, and banished to a golden-hued afterlife?
All is not what it seems ... and — wouldn’t you know it — Zhen has some answers.
To Master Shifu’s simmering displeasure, Po springs the fox, and the two of them leave the Valley of Peace, and embark on a lengthy trip to bustling Juniper City. Zhen promises that answers can be found there ... but can the wily fox be trusted?
The journey includes a hilarious stop at the Happy Bunny Tavern, perched precariously on a pointy mountaintop, where the adorable little lagomorphs are bullied constantly by their much larger, boar-ish patrons. (Cue the first of this film’s many razzmatazz action sequences.)
Meanwhile...
Juniper City is being terrorized by The Chameleon (Viola Davis), a powerful sorceress who can shape-shift into anycreature, no matter how large or small. (We must ignore conservation of matter. After all, magic is magic.) She’s somehow behind what went down in the water buffalo quarry, and she’s also extracting ever-increasing tributes of wealth from the city’s crime bosses.
But to what end?
Nothing good, that’s for sure.
Po and Zhen’s arrival in Juniper City cleverly reverses their character dynamic. Po, wholly at home in the Valley of Peace, becomes the “country mouse” to Zhen’s seasoned, street-wise “city mouse.” Poor Po is wholly out of his element, particularly when he confronts threatening criminal underground characters such as pangolin Han (Ke Huy Quan) and a trio of bunnies, whose angelic looks conceal gleefully homicidal tendencies.
(They’re hilariously lethal distant cousins of Snowball, the evil bunny from The Secret Life of Pets, along with a nod to the Killer Bunnies card game.)
Back at home, Mr. Ping and Li decide that Po could use additional help, and set off to find their son.
This realm’s tapestry continues to be a colorful and imaginative, laden with all manner of animals going about their various routines. The core plots notwithstanding, this series also has thrived on background detail: all manner of sight gags and little bits of business. It’s impossible to catch everything in one go, particularly when the evolving story demands so much attention; repeat viewing is essential (and always rewarding).
Po continues to be an amusing blend of defiant macho bravery and befuddlement. Black’s running dialogue is low-key comical, and highlighted by a running gag that finds Po trying hard to come up with the sort of wise aphorisms that Master Shifu rattles off so easily.
Awkwafina is a force of nature. Her sassy, rat-a-tat commentary perfectly complements Zhen’s sleek appearance and swift stealthiness. She’s the perfectly aerodynamic yin to Po’s corpulent yang.
James Hong’s Mr. Ping continues to be fussy and forever on the verge of hysteria; Cranston’s Li is calmer and pragmatic. Hoffman’s normally calm and soothing handling of Master Shifu frequently becomes strained, as the poor red panda’s patience is stressed repeatedly by Po’s recklessness.
Davis hisses with evil as the sinister, slithering Chameleon: definitely a villain to be reckoned with.
Steve Mazzaro and Hans Zimmer’s energetic score deftly complements on-screen events, and everything builds to a cataclysmic finale, followed by a sweet epilogue.
All in all, a richly entertaining package.
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