Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 2

For my son's 8th birthday, we went to see "Kung Fu Panda 2".  You all know my love of the original, so I was pretty geeked up for the sequel, so much so that I was worried that it would end up disappointing.  Luckily, it did not.

Dreamworks has really hit on something here with the lovable Po back at it again along with his teammates, the Furious Five.  This time, Po and the Five have to save China from a mysterious new enemy that seems to have a power that can defeat even Kung Fu.  When Po meets this new enemy, he begins to question who he is and where he came from.  Can our hero overcome these doubts, find inner peace and save China?  You'll have to watch to find out.

"Kung Fu Panda 2" brings back all the same vocal talents, with Jack Black as Po, Angelina Jolie as Tigris and Dustin Hoffman as Shifu.  We're also introduced to Shen, a diabolical peacock voiced by Gary Oldman.  The vocal talents are really top notch.

We saw this one in 3D...I wouldn't waste your time (or money) on the 3D.  It wasn't bad, but it didn't add anything either.  Plus, the movie theater charges an extra $3 a ticket if you go to 3D.

Overall, this is a 4.5 star movie.  Almost as good as the original, but not quite there.  The story is great, the villain is really well established, the humor is good, the final battle is brilliant and the ending will bring a tear to your eye.  Plus, they set this up perfectly for "Kung Fu Panda 3".  So, why the 0.5 drop from 5?  Well, it just wasn't as crisp as the original.  A few things felt forced, but that doesn't mean this isn't still a great movie.  I highly recommend it.

Why Does the Media Care So Much?

So, it's May 24th, and we're all still here.  The world did not end on May 21st, as predicted by Harold Camping and his small "Christian" group.  I put Christian in quotes there, because it is obviously not a Christian perspective to believe one can know the date of the second coming.  In fact, Matthew and Luke are pretty clear about this:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” – Matthew 24:35-36

“You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” – Luke 12:40

Mark Hart writes an interesting post on a "Catholic Perspective" on the end of the world if you want to read more.  That's not actually the reason I'm writing this blog.  I'm writing this because of a conversation I had with Nuke today.  It was brief...we do actually work.

Anyway, Nuke was lamenting the fact that the mainstream media latched on to this one "out there" guy and used it to make all Christians look bad.  I responded by saying that the media wants to tear down Christianity because Christians have too much power in this country.  To which Nuke responded that this was because "deep down, they know we are right."

I initially objected to this, stating that the mainstream media follows the gospel according to Marx, but Nuke persisted, sending some scripture my way and using an example from his own life.  After thinking about this, and reading the scripture Nuke sent my way, I have to agree he's right.  Sorry, I can't remember the scripture he sent to me...perhaps he'll comment with the verses.  And Marx was just my joke...the media has actually accepted relativism as their "truth."  My definition of relativism is that whatever you have as morals is "right for you" and if someone else has a different set of morals, that's "right for them."  Basically, the truth is what you make of it.

The mainstream media does know, in the deepest recesses of their hearts, that Christians are right...we have the truth and it scares those in the mainstream media.  They have accepted the truth of relativism with their minds, but their hearts don't believe it.  Deep down, they know that what is right and what is wrong is not relative, but that there are indeed absolute truths in this world.  However, in their minds, they don't want this to be true, so any chance they get to lash out against Christians and against God they take it in an effort to change the truth.  But, the truth is the truth and nothing the mainstream media does will change that.

All we as Christians can do is pray for those in the mainstream media who would see us destroyed, and live our lives in a way that makes us different from what the world tells us we should be.  We need to be living the lives Christ taught us to live.  We don't need to "lash out" at the media.  In this instance, we need to turn the other cheek and remain confident in what we know to be true...that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that's all that matters.  It doesn't matter what the world or the mainstream media says about us...all that matters is what Jesus says about us when He comes again.