EVERYBODY IS KUNG FIGHTING!

EVERYBODY IS KUNG FIGHTING!

A movie review on Kung Fu Panda 2

Synopsis

Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five - Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. But Po's new life is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, Lord Shen, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon; a destructive firework cannon, to conquer China and destroy kung fu. Po and the Furious Five are entrusted the mission to stop Lord Shen from destroying China and Kung Fu, but flashbacks of Po's humble beginnings hinder his concentration on the mission. He puts himself on the deadly task on confronting Lord Shen himself, as he believes Lord Shen has the answer to his true family and beginning. As the journey deepens into Lord Shen's own palace and weapon, Po discovers the fact that he can only defeat Lord Shen through inner peace, but to accomplish it, it requires forgetting the past, which meant forgetting how Lord Shen killed his own parents.

Filmography

Kung Fu Panda 2 is the sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda. The first film was released in June of 2008, and by the following October, the studio Dreamworks Animation announced plans for a second film. Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who was head of story for the first film, was hired to direct the sequel. The original film's cast members reprise their voice roles. Like the other DWA films beginning production in 2009, Kung Fu Panda 2 was produced in stereoscopic 3-D technology. The studio also plans to release the film in IMAX theaters worldwide. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were screenwriters and co-producers for the first film, and while they returned for the sequel, the studio hired Charlie Kaufman to revise the screenplay.

On International Relations

While watching Kung Fu Panda, I can’t help but connect the story to International Relations. World order can somehow be reflected on the plot as the protagonist has their perpetual mission of saving the world from destruction. Po stands for a benign yet powerful state equipped with hard and soft power. Remember, his Dad (a goose) was able to sell truckloads of noodles and dumplings named after the Dragon Warrior himself.  People (or should I say, animals) seem attracted to his small resto in the midst of a small Chinese town.  The citizens also rely on his (Po) protection whenever there will be bandits and looters. Po is destined to fulfill his duty of saving China as if it was a ‘Manifest Destiny’. His pack (Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey) forms a sort of NATO alliance that maintains social order and contains the invasionist and ‘alien’ principles of Shan, the evil peacock.

The story reflects how the changing security order, unstable regimes after the peaceful reign of Lord Shen’s parents, enabled him to deter the traditional warfare (Kung Fu) by launching a new armament (a firework canon) for some time. It is like the end of history for some characters especially to the Crocodile and who wanted to stay on their prison cells as Shen’s invention is a Weapon of Mass Destruction, marking the end of Kung Fu. After experiencing a short defeat, Po decided to fight back and end Shen’s delusions of conquering the world. Using traditional warfare, Po used the canon fireworks to defeat Shen. A symbolical battle telling the world that the world is still protected by the Dragon Warrior.

On Morality

As a fable, Po’s past hunts him creating a void that made him in despair and confusion for some time, he wants to unravel his real identity and he continuously asks the question of why does he need to suffer and be the dragon warrior. As the story itself reveals the answer, what is important is not the gloomy past that we had but how we, as an individual, try to live our lives according to the will of God while accepting that those sufferings are in itself a primordial human joy. His mother left him at a raddish box for him to suvive the slaying of the wolves. It is his mother’s joy to see him alive and well.

Dreamworks has unleashed the first official teaser trailer of Kung Fu Panda 2:

KUNG FU PANDA 2