Line #23 YMMV/KungFuPanda2


1	* {{Adorkable}}: For being a brutal warrior, Wolf Boss has many dorky features, like whimpering when his toe is stomped or annoying Shen with out of place comments.
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
3	** Lord Shen. Is he just a power hungry, cold blooded killer who will do anything to get what he desires? Or a [[JerkassWoobie tragic character who truly felt unloved by his parents]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and is taking out his pain on the rest of the world]]? Or how about both: A villain who is driven to increasingly wicked acts by his flaws and trauma.[[spoiler: Also his death, being either a defiant attempt or being a total DeathSeeker]]. The creator's commentary also heavily implies that [[NobleDemon he has some sense of morality]], continuing his destructive path because [[IveComeTooFar he knows he can't just turn around]] and render all his genocidal actions "mistakes".
4	** The prophecy of the "Warrior in Black and White". While Po is certainly the most obvious candidate who fits the mold perfectly, there is another great warrior of black and white who could qualify just as well: Shen himself. After all, it's only ''after'' his attempt at genocide that he was exiled from his home. He also [[spoiler:died at his own hands, intentionally or not]]. And while Po did effectively destroy Shen's army, [[spoiler:he sure had a lot of help from all those cannon balls that Shen kept sending his way, even after witnessing then and there how Po was directing them back at him]].
5	* AngstWhatAngst:
6	** What finally stuns Lord Shen at the end [[EvilCannotComprehendGood is not]] [[spoiler:Po countering cannonfire with kung fu to singlehandedly destroy his fleet, but the fact that Po is neither permanently mired in a HeroicBSOD believing the lie that his parents abandoned him because they hated him, nor charging in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge for the extermination of his people]].
7	** [[spoiler: When Po discovers what Lord Shen did to his parents, and for that matter ''species'', his response is to... let go of his pain and find inner peace. Shen, who has never got over his own deep-rooted issues, is utterly shocked. While it goes with his AllLovingHero status and is a potent emotional moment, it can still be rather jarring to see Po so easily forgive the genocidal dictator and would-be conqueror who massacred his species with next to no reason to do so other than "letting go of pain." It comes across as borderline apathy to what Shen did to his knowledge at the time. Po might just be one of the most forgiving characters in cinema.]]
8	** Played with when the Soothsayer and Shen first meet Po. ''They'' know that Shen attempted genocide against the Pandas, and assume that the reason that the Panda is here is to a) avenge his family/species, and b) destroy Shen once and for all. Both are shocked when they learn that not only had Po never ''heard'' of Lord Shen, but had no idea why he ''should'' have. The look on Shen's face when Po just brushes him off, totally ignoring the well-prepared speech upon their first meeting, is priceless.
9	* AwardSnub: Some may feel it suffered this when it lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', though the latter was a stronger critical success.
10	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The animation as a whole is [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome fantastically fluid]], but it also provides us with not one but two gorgeously 2D segments in [[ArtShift different art styles]]: Shen's backstory in the prologue, told in the form of [[GeniusBonus Chinese shadow puppetry]], and [[spoiler:Po's memories of his childhood]], done in an incredibly vibrant and colorful style that rivals if not excels Disney at its peak.
11	* BaseBreakingCharacter: While Lord Shen has been widely praised as one of the best [=DreamWorks=] villains yet, thanks to being a [[KnightOfCerebus surprisingly dark]] yet [[HiddenDepths multi-layered]] villain with a killer performance from Creator/GaryOldman, there's a bit of a divide as to how sympathetic he really is. Some feel sympathy for him due to his backstory of [[IJustWantToBeLoved feeling unloved by his parents]] and his desire to find true happiness as a result, while others see him as an [[BeyondRedemption irredeemable monster]] completely undeserving of sympathy due to him committing genocide, bringing his unhappiness on himself. And then there are those who TakeAThirdOption: that his insecurities are absolutely no excuse for his actions, yet they still make him pitiable to a degree.
12	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: While trying to [[spoiler:convince Masters Ox and Croc to escape the prison]], Po delivers a RousingSpeech about how they will defeat Shen and destroy his weapon. A [[https://kungfupanda.fandom.com/wiki/Master_Boar random prisoner]] then enthusiastically agrees, but he's never seen again. Oddly, he was a boar and had a completely unique character model. It turns out that this character was ''going'' to be in the movie as a fourth master (alongside Ox, Croc, and Rhino), but was cut for one reason or another and the character model was used in the place of a random criminal (and also recycled for a gang of bandits that appear ''Kung Fu Panda Holiday'' special).
13	* ContestedSequel: While it's generally agreed that this is an excellent sequel, opinion is pretty strongly divided regarding which movie is superior between this and the first - the first movie is generally regarded as having a stronger structure, balanced tone and a classic theme, while supporters of the second point to superior characterization, more emotional scenes and the darker tone.
14	* CryForTheDevil: Lord Shen. He's a [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]], AxCrazy warlord who committed near-genocide on the pandas just because of a vague prophecy. However, he struggles with [[IJustWantToBeLoved deep-rooted insecurities]] due to believing that his parents never loved him and desperately seeks happiness as a result. His conversations with the [[MoralityPet Soothsayer]] especially bring this to light, as it's strongly implied that he knows that what he's doing won't bring him happiness but believes that [[IveComeTooFar he's come too far to stop now]].
15	* DracoInLeatherPants:
16	** Lord Shen. Any surprise? He is painted as a TragicVillain by many because of his insecurities and unsureness of what he wants to truly be happy. This is in spite of the fact he is also a genocidal tyrant who committed genocide against the pandas for flimsy reasoning (he overheard the Soothsayer's prophecy), raided villages for metal, murdered innocents like Master Rhino, took over and oppressed his family's city, attempted to murder Po several times, murdered his own men, and tried to take over China. To top it all off in the movie itself, Po even gives Shen the second chance for redemption that many of Shen's fans think he deserves but Shen's only response is to make one last attempt to try to murder Po ''again''. Driving the point home further, he tends to get the {{Bishonen}} anthropomorphic treatment in fan art.
17	** The Wolf Boss has also been subject to this. Despite his prominent role in the panda genocide, the plundering of innocent villages, and the direction of the goon squad that terrorizes Gongmen City, some people portray him as a cuddly puppy. He's a goofier character than Shen, but he's far from an AntiVillain. Even him turning on Shen was a case of EvenEvilHasStandards, not any remorse for what he's done under his command.
18	* EnsembleDarkhorse: The Soothsayer. Much like Master Oogway in the first film, she's utterly beloved for being an incredibly wise, funny, and yet deeply human mentor figure, and her one-on-one scenes with Shen and Po are some of the best in the entire movie.
19	* EvilIsCool: Unsurprisingly, Lord Shen's many fans definitely think so.
20	* FoeYayShipping:
21	** Boss Wolf mentioning how "cuddly" Po is on a few occasions.
22	** In one scene when Boss Wolf and Po are in mid air, they promptly ''hug each other.''
23	** Oddly enough, there's a Shen[=/=]Viper pairing out there. While there's little "proof" in the film, fans have paired them up.
24	* HarsherInHindsight: The end of the movie confirms that [[spoiler:Po's father Li Shan and a handful of pandas survived the onslaught, providing hope that his mother did as well. Sadly, Li Shan confirms that she was killed in the attack]].
25	* HeartwarmingInHindsight: [[spoiler:Li Shan fighting off the Wolf Boss to protect his son and wife is even more heroically badass when the third movie reveals that he has ''no knowledge'' of kung fu whatsoever... and went up against Shen's forces armed with nothing more than [[PapaWolf a father's love]]...and a rake.]]
26	* JerkassWoobie:
27	** Lord Shen could be considered one if you pity him enough for his FreudianExcuse: although for the most part he is a genocidal monster, a large part of his motivation is that he felt unloved by his parents and deeply unhappy as a person. No matter what he does or how much power he possesses, he can never be happy--he's left stupefied when Po is able to move on from his trauma [[EvilCannotComprehendGood because he himself is utterly incapable of it]].
28	** The wolf boss was Shen's only friend when he was young and served Shen loyally for 30 years. Shen murdered him the instant he refused to fire on his own men.
29	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: You didn't really believe that Po was dead when Shen shot him with his cannon, did you? Because they wouldn't kill off the ''main character'' of the franchise. Likewise, he survives, thanks to a wok shielding him, which is shown less than three minutes later.
30	* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Shen ''starts the movie'' far on the other side of this trope. When he overhears a prophecy that "a warrior of black and white" will stop his plans to conquer China, he resorts to [[FinalSolution the genocide of an entire panda village]] in an attempt to avert the prophecy.
31	* OneSceneWonder: Master Thundering Rhino. He makes a good first impression showing how little he is intimidated by Shen. Pity it doesn’t last long.
32	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The game for [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1 the original]] was well received, but the video game for this was sub-par at best. The [=PS3=] version, however, [[PortingDisaster stands out]], resembling [[ObviousBeta a meeting pitch prototype shown to the publisher to continue work, but was released as a finished product instead]].
33	* SelfFanservice: While some people already find Shen alluring, people who have drawn him as a human will often portray him as a LongHairedPrettyBoy with pretty youthful features for a character that is meant to be around 50 years old.
34	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Addressed by the writers themselves with the Soothsayer being voiced by Creator/MichelleYeoh, a skilled martial artist, while her character is one of the very few never performing any martial arts in the film. They considered it justified seeing as the Soothsayer is an old lady, but still found it an ironic casting.
35	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: While learning about Shen's panda genocide, Po is mostly concerned about what happened to his biological parents, and [[AngstWhatAngst never brings up the fact that]] ''[[LastOfHisKind his entire species]]'' may be extinct. [[spoiler:The film's ending revelation that the pandas actually survived also prevented his thoughts on this from being explored in the future]].
36	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: This film has genocide, PTSD, and ParentalAbandonment as main plot points. Some kids can probably relate to the latter hardship, the two former? Not so much.
37	* TheWoobie: Po starts getting PTSD flashbacks when he sees Shen's crest, and his lack of knowledge about his past is a major plot point.

Context YMMV / KungFuPanda2