1/30: Kung Fu Panda 2

On day 7 of my 34 days of Oscar, I decided to watch a lighter movie this time. "Kung Fu Panda 2" is nominated this year at the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film.

The Academy Award for Animated Feature is only a decade old, with the first award given in 2001 to "Shrek". The award itself is only given if there are at least 8 animated feature films with a theatrical release in Los Angeles each year. If there are 16 movies eligible, then there will be 5 movies nominated, but if there are less then only 3 will make the shortlist. The award was seen by some in the animation industry as a chance to get wider recognition for animated films and in turn get more animated films made. There are some people who are against this category as they think it removes any animated movie's chance of being nominated and winning the Best Picture award.

There is not a whole lot of explaining I have to do for "Kung Fu Panda 2". Po, voiced by Jack Black, along with his friends must stop a peacock from taking over China. I never in a million years thought I would write that! The story is light and entertaining and the animation is crisp. I did enjoy that for flashbacks, they used a completely different style of animation. It reminded me of how some filmmakers use colored or stylized lenses to show a flashback in a different light. It might have been one of the main reasons this "Kung Fu Panda 2"was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. The story is nothing really crazy original, except for the villain being a peacock I guess.

I have seen a lot of animated movies in my time, and this one falls close to the middle of the pack. I will give this movie a 3 out of 5 rating. It was a good looking movie and it hits all the right buttons for a family film. It presents nothing original, but it was an entertaining hour and a half movie.