UP TO SCRATCH
SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Writers Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger tried so hard to forcefully link two stories just to make this sequel exist. Chi-teaching pandas? Really?
Dad-son bonding scenes are some of the reasons used to extend the runtime. Characters appear out of nowhere into the screen space during the first duel. You don't feel the urgency of the situation, because the screenwriting is not amusing, let alone making sense!
If every animal can perform chi without any Masters teaching them a how-to, as shown preposterously in the pre-climax, why did Master Oogway (voiced by Randall Duk Kim) mentioned it came from the pandas specifically? Why would Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) want to learn chi, a skill that he has already mastered, from Po?
What one can never cavil about is the eye-popping visuals! DreamWorks Animation blends bewitching 2D posterior backgrounds with enchanting 3D characters, mesmerizingly!
Masters converted to chis, obvious biological connection hint & panda village are cool to watch. As Po (voiced by Jack Black) discovers himself, you can feel for him this time around. 'Notorious' Kai (voiced by J.K. Simmons) is an entertaining figure, with unfortunately, a messy motivation.
Po's final dragon reincarnation is nice, as the closure to the story is. Insipid stunts, yet pithy film editing. Boring training montages, yet peerless score. Chuckles for some, yet unfunny for the most.
"The more you take, the less you have."