"Awesome!''
Scarcely two minutes had passed and the cartoon panda left us in no doubt who was his alterego.
Jack Black says the A word so often I am surprised he hasn't claimed it as a trade name.
It seems to lay a marker that whether he is a giant in land of little people, a guy dating a thin beautiful girl who is really a grotesque fatty, an off-the-wall supply teacher or, as said, Kung Fu Panda, he is still the errr...Awesome Jack Black.
And fair enough for now. There were certainly enough people in our screen in Cineworld who were lapping up the Blacksims.
Me? I find it more than a little bit wearing.
In fact, I really feared for the panda seuqel, knowing that Black would be doing his usual and Steh Rogen was going to be in the cast too.
For once, though Rogen didn't mention dope incessently and his character, the praying mantis, was surprisingly funny.
Dreamworks have thrown the kitchen sink at Kung Fu Panda 2. Aside of reappearances of A-listers like Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman, there is a dastardly villain, voiced by Gary Oldman (do you think the English never win Eurovision because it is ingrained from such an early age that we are the bad guys?).
And, even though it is just a comedy cartoon, it is a big movie.
There is an almost bewildering pace to it with huge battle scenes which sometimes tended to swamp the funnier lines.
The set pieces, for example, between Po (Black ) and his adoptive father, the goose Mr Ping (superbly done by James Hong) are among the highlights.
Is it better than its predecessor? Do you know, I think it is.
But comparisons with Pixar or Disney are overblown.
Some reviewers have said this is up there with the best of recent cartoons but this ain't no Toy Story nor Tangled.
It is perfectly good fun and I would recommend it but, despite the Blackisms, it just doesn't have the fairy dust of the classics.
In fact, I'd make my overall mark 7/10
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