Kung Fu Panda 2 tells the backstory of Po (Black), the obese bumbling panda warrior that was raised by a goose (Hong). Po rejoins his team of kung fu masters to protect a village from a pack of wolves. Those wolves are henchmen for the evil peacock Shen (Oldman), who is building weapons of mass destruction to take over China. As Po gets closer and closer to Shen, he also gets closer and closer to the shocking truth of his past. Honestly, the plot is ludicrous. I'm embarrassed just typing it out. You don't need me to tell you that it is the weakest aspect of the movie. Fortunately, however, the directing, the animation, and the acting are all amazing. They integrate seamlessly to fashion this wonderfully endearing film.
Just like in the first one, the filmmakers use the animation to free themselves from the limitations of live action instead of trying to mimic it like in WALL-E. For example, the first battle against the wolves in the musician's village. Each attack, block, and fall is perfectly synchronized with musical instruments to turn the violence into a delightful melody. Another example, the scene in which the kung fu masters are hiding inside a dragon costume (by far the best scene of the movie). It almost plays like a video game and rekindles viewers' fond memories to elevate this movie off the screen and into our collective experiences. That, and it was just plain hilarious. This movie is not perfect by any means, but it's a lot of fun and it's a breath of fresh air for the world of animated films.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1302011/