Doing a sequel right. Kung Fu Panda 2.

[Laurie Barnes]

Let me start by saying there is nothing that annoys me more than an unoriginal, shameless cash grab sequel, that just tells the same joke/story a second time, (I'M Looking at you Hangover 2!), except for maybe a shameless cash grab prequel that actually makes the decent original worse by simply existing, (That's you Mr. Lucas!). Don't even get me started about shameless, crappy, video game tie-ins, (*cough* Terminator!), and ridiculously underutilized 3D that serves only to boost the ticket price, (Monster's Vs Aliens). Finally I'm gonna call out advances in tech without innovation, (Avatar).

Now that I have that out of the way, let me say that the sequel to "Kung Fu Panda" suffers from none of these pitfalls. It might be the best animated movie I have watched this year, and I loved it just as much as I did the original. I'm not sure what made it different from your run of the mill sequel. Perhaps my love for the first one simply outshone any minor grievances I could have had.

A few ideas spring to mind, along the lines of character development without spoon feeding the audience facts, and answering questions that the original left us asking without making it obvious as the intention. Referencing the first movie for some facts, but never anything currently driving the plot. Existence of a plot second to the original's while still keeping with the theme established. Improving on a style of art, via tech and direction, without having to Photoshop in walky-talkies instead of guns, and keeping the style intact.

I hope anyone who saw this movie knows what I mean at least a little, but I'm gonna leave it at that other than to just say if you liked the first one, see this one and make sure you sit all through the credits. No teaser or anything, that crew clearly just worked hard, and you can stand to spend a little time acknowledging it.

Discussion time. What do you think makes a good sequel? Do you have any examples? Try to avoid recent movies like the one I mentioned, for the sake of spoilers. Do you think it is more important to have parallel artistic direction? Or to simply have a good formula?

 

[4RM3D]

A sequel doesn't need to build up the world and the protagonist again. That means more time can be spent on other things. That would not automatically make it a good sequel, but it's a start.

As for sequels:
The Dark Knight, X-men 2, Spiderman 2, Aliens... That's all I can think of ATM.

 

[kaffineaddct]

Hell yes! Took my kid to see this last weekend expecting another cash grab from Dreamworks (especially after that god awful teaser for Puss n' Boots) and was floored with the overall quality.

As far as sequels better than the originals....Empire Strikes Back is my personal favorite of the Star Wars Trilogy, Predators was good as a direct sequel to the original, The Dark Knight (has been said, I know) will always hold a special place in my heart, and I was really hoping The Wolverine would become such a great sequel that it would cancel out Origins, but I've been hearing First Class has already done that.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I liked Kung Fu Panda 2 slightly less than the first, simply because Po was already established in his kung fu ways. What I loved about the first movie was him bumbling around and the other characters slowly coming to like him despite his flaws. One of the best lines was when Seifu asks him why he didn't quit.
"Because every time you hit me, or threw a brick at my head, yeah, it hurt. But it couldn't hurt any worse than just being me."
All that said, the sequel is amazing, and hopefully the third will be as well. Because after that scene at the end, we all KNOW there's going to be a third one. I also loved that the furious five got more screen time to show that they deserved their title, and they got to speak more. "FEAR THE BUG!" Did anyone else start to wonder at a few points if Tigress was starting to develop feelings for Po during the film?

 

[Turmoill]

Did anyone else start to wonder at a few points if Tigress was starting to develop feelings for Po during the film?

As a matter infact I did, so did hundred of other KFP fans, so it pretty much spread. =)
Lets face it, with a franchise that is set in 6th movies, there has to be some romance at some point. Hell, most of the Dreamworks animations had romance in it and they didn't even make more than 1 or 2 parts.
And the 1st Kung Fu Panda had quite a few hints that Po has a thing for Tigress (hell, even the developers admited it). I think Dreamworks had this one thought through, how slowly the friendship between Po and Tigress blooms into something more. I don't know what I hear people complaining about that diffrent species shouldn't be together. I mean come on, Madagascar has a Giraffe and a Hippo love going on and you don't hear people moaning about it.
I will however be ticked off is developers suddenly pull out a no-name panda girl just for him.

 

[Esotera]

The Godfather II. Doesn't go over the entirety of the first film, but makes references to it and can stand by itself. More importantly, it goes in a different direction.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well I personally love Iron Man 2 (I know some people hated it) and Ice Age 2 was good the last time I watched it (I didn't watch it last Christmas).
The way I see how a sequel work is that the first film should had establish the protagonist motive or origin and the sequel is all about expanding it further (character development) without it being a rehash of the first movie.