Hes back and, of course, it was inevitable he would be. In a market in which the very few rare and successful original films are taken and flogged to within an inch of their lives by the Hollywood machine, there was simply no way that there was not going to be a sequel to Dreamworks' all-conquering anthropomorphic martial arts flick, Kung Fu Panda. With a large all-star cast, the film has, since 2008, made back six times its own outlay, and its witty dialogue and endearing characterisation made it a hit with critics, parents and children. Speaking at a recent corporate forum, producer Melissa Cobb gave an indication of the sort of themes the public can expect from the next instalment in the franchise:
The movie deals with pretty tough, emotional issues that he goes through, as well as a huge adventure. This movie is on a much bigger scale then the first movie. Its been much more ambitious and hard to make from a filmmaking standpointIt really builds on what was set up in the first movie, and has Po struggling with bigger issues than he did the first time.
What bigger issues may exist than the death of, or tyranny over, Panda Pos friends and family, as was the original faux-wuxia narrative of the original is anyones guess. However, the basic premise seems to be Panda Po and his master under threat from a Gary Oldman voiced peacock with a weapon that could destroy Kung Fu itself. In addition to the grandiose pretensions implied by Cobb, there are a number of factors which suggest that the sequel may lack much of the charm and punchiness of the original. Firstly, the men who wrote the original story (although not the script), Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, are not part of the creative team; also, directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne- who played a massive part in getting the film made at all- have been shelved in favour of a first time feature director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7OwxSjtsrE&feature=related Worst of all, of course, is that the cancer of 3D has now spread to what was a perfectly charming childrens digimation story. Soon, of course, this practise of conditioning children to be distracted by the base theatre of this optical illusion will make it impossible for smaller companies to produce childrens animation, or any other childrens film, making it increasingly difficult for real artists to access that demographic. Kung Fu Panda 2 is released on May 27th through Paramount Pictures.