For Your Anticipation: Let the Explorers Through

Do I really have to talk about this less-than-far-below-average comedy starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black? I don't care. I don't even know what the hell I'd talk about. I could barely sit through 10 seconds of the clip below. No interest in "The Big Year", and in any case, marketing has been abysmally timed. No chance anyone's going to see it this weekend.

Film Review: "Kung Fu Panda 2" (***)

Last year was a booming year for animation, so this year has been more than a bit of a disappointment. Rio is the only animated venture I've even considered attending this year, but ultimately opted out of it. Seems more than a little too irritating for my tastes. Pixar is setting themselves up for another moderate dip with Cars 2, so we leave it to Dreamworks Animation to redeem this Summer. The tricky thing with Kung Fu Panda 2 is the expectations of this sequel, especially after the first film kicked off a trend of quality within the less than stunning animation company.

The film picks up some time after its predecessor, just as albino peacock Lord Shen returns to China in order to proclaim his rule over the world. As per usual, Po and the Furious Five head to Gongmen City to defeat him. Whilst this is all going on, Po begins seeing visions of his real family, and is reinvigorated in his hunt for Shen by his search for answers. Despite all their Kung Fu abilities, the group is rendered powerless against Shen's latest masterpiece of destruction: a unique fusion of cannon and fireworks.

The first film dealt with some rather standard themes in kids films, with Po transforming himself from a simple juvenile panda into one of the greatest kung fu masters in history. This second film's plot isn't as openly inspiring, and it works on several different emotional levels. The main theme it deals with is identity, and who we make ourselves to be as opposed to who we were born to be, and how those sometimes work in harmony. Po's discovery of his past is played a little too dumb, because Po would have conceivably figured things out sooner. It didn't make things any less heart-wrenching when Po finally remembers how he lost his parents.

For Your Anticipation: Anyway, Where Was I?

Kung Fu Panda 2 is easily the film that I'm most looking forward to seeing this weekend, mostly because I won't be able to see The Tree of Life this weekend. I'll probably get to that sometime in the approaching weeks, but not now. Kung Fu Panda 2 offers us the same sorts of action and laughs as we've come to expect, and the fact that Charlie Kaufman did a touch up on the script is more than reassuring.

Teaser Trailer: Kung Fu Panda 2

The original Kung Fu Panda fleshed out the fact that Dreamworks films aren't always as bad as their trailers indicate, so whether this trailer is bad or good doesn't really matter. It doesn't reveal anything about the plot, but it offer one or two kind of amusing jokes, including one that lasts a rather long time, and for good reason. I suspected that we'd be getting a trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2 this weekend, and it played pretty well at the screening I went to, so I'm going to keep optimistic.

Theatrical Trailer: Gulliver's Travels

Does anybody honestly like Jack Black? I'm not talking about little kids. I'm talking about actual people, and as an actual human being, I do not like Jack Black. On top of that, I just don't like this trailer. It looks like the same sort of large-scale animated flop that Evan Almighty turned out to be. On top of that, the entire plot is spoiled away in this trailer, as if you weren't already familiar with each and every plot turn. In short, you just should not see Gulliver's Travels. Take a look at the trailer, and let me know what you thought of it.