Kung Fu Panda => 2

Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who worked on the first installment as head of story, action sequences supervisor and the Dali-esque position of dream sequence director, devotes the requisite amount of time to small-fry-friendly bumptious slapstick and silliness, which feels generically mandatory. But it all moves along briskly, with a degree of visual grace and a solid feel for 3D.

When the first "Kung Fu Panda", arrived in the summer of 2008, it squared-off against Pixar's lofty message film "Wall-E". As a broad martial arts period comedy/talking animal film and Jack Black vehicle, it was easy to dismiss "Kung Fu Panda" at first glance. As a matter of fact, I admit that's exactly what I did. It wasn't until the movie hit the inexpensive local second run theater that I finally succumbed to the lingering positive critical and audience buzz it had been generating all summer long, and quickly conceded that it trumped the pompously cute yet heavy "Wall-E" as best CG animated feature of the summer.

In the story, an evil razor-feathered peacock with super-villain aspirations of ruling China channels the destructive capabilities of fireworks in his power play to overthrow the reigning hierarchy. Meanwhile Po, the still-new Dragon Warrior, is dividing his time between collaborating with the dynamic Furious Five (clever animal actualizations of the five animal fighting styles of certain martial arts), and his father's noodle shop. Just as he begins to question the authenticity of his birth to his goose father (he's yet to learn he's been adopted. Po may be the affable Dragon Warrior, but he's still not the sharpest tool in the shed), his martial arts master informs him that the time has come for the next phase of this training: mastering inner peace.

"Kung Fu Panda 2", although it does bear a message (one that it isn't afraid to outright detail for the benefit of any younger and more dense viewers). The movie works as not only a family entertainment, but also as action spectacle and even a bit of epic mythmaking. It's also the funniest comedy of the summer so far. While it's possible that Jack Black may've worn out his welcome with general audiences, "Kung Fu Panda" still has plenty of kick, and part two definitely brings the hardcore fireworks.