The gang in Radiator Springs bid farewell to Mater and Lightning McQueen as they jet off in the unfocused, globe-trotting Cars 2.

So a few years back (2008) a roly-poly pudgy panda with identity issues learned the art of kung fu and made new friends. Just before that (2006), cars - actual engine-bearing, rubber tire boasting automotive machinery - got eyes and ears and started talking like small town dreamers, and one sounded like Paul Newman. Both incredibly preposterous films turned into sleeper hits and proved that high concept novelty could indeed co-exist with respectable narrative and fully realized characters.

The former film, Kung Fu Panda, benefitted from Jack Black's typical franticism, toned down just enough, as the schlubby panda Po. A slyly cheeky screenplay that simultaneously poked fun at and honored chop socky cinema helped. Anthropomorphization went to a new level of silly when the cars of Cars were given personalities, but somehow it worked - a great deal of which can be chalked up to Pixar's Midas touch when it comes to characterization and thematic storytelling. It was only a matter of time before Po returned to the screen; its studio, DreamWorks, has no issue with sequels. The return of the toothy radiator grilles, however, is a bit of a surprise, given Pixar's resolute rejection of sequels unless really, really, really justifiable. Yes, Toy Story turned into a franchise, but that had just as much to do with the animator's partnership with and eventual purchase by Disney.

So here we are in the middle of summer and the kids are completely free of school, which means the barrage of family entertainment is in full swing. For the sequel to Po's "legendary tale of a fighter whose skills were legendary", Kung Fu Panda 2 is more of the same. The new addition is Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), a strutting, seething peacock bent on ruling China with the aid of an enormous new-fangled cannon and eliminating the Furious Five. This brings up the sometimes painful repressed memories of Po's youth, and how he was orphaned and came to live with noodle shop owner and adoptive dad, Ping (James Hong).

On the other hand, Cars 2 (opening in Hong Kong on August 11) takes a vastly different road than its progenitor. Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is now a star, and sets his sights on winning the World Grand Prix, a series of races that unfold in the likes of Tokyo, London, and something called Porto Corsa, Italy. So he and tow truck yokel Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) head off on a continent-spanning adventure that includes Mater behaving like an ignorant doofus. There's a touch of James Bond in store for him though, thanks to British undercover agents Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell (Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer).

What went wrong and what went right? Where do you begin with a question like that?

Though Kung Fu Panda 2 is repetitive, both in message and execution, Po is so fundamentally charming it's hard to take umbrage with the film's weaknesses. Yes, he goes on the same internal journey he went on in the first film. Yes, the supporting players - Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Mantis (Seth Rogen), and Crane (David Cross) - are so thinly written as to be nearly invisible. They are the quintessential Black back-up, there to let him do his thing and mostly stay out of the way of his antics. But KFP2 has a great energy (again) and rich, intensely detailed visuals that are a feast for the eyes, and are indeed well served by 3D. However, if you have 3 children, they look just as strong in 2D.

Strangely it is Pixar that has dropped the ball this time. Instead of a carefully crafted, emotionally connective story (Up, WALL-E, Ratatouille) Cars 2 has the feel of a merchandising machine, a movie that was made less to entertain and engage than to generate toy car sales.

Sure, Cars 2 has a fully formed car world (with car royalty, ruins, casinos) and teems with photorealistic images, but they're caricature-ish landscapes; outdated or simply tired ideas of what the UK (fox hunts and the Thames) or Japan (Neon and Hello Kitty) are about. McQueen, Mater, Finn et al have a single expression pasted onto their faces that recalls cheesy, cheap, and fast television animation from the 1970s. This is not what we expect from Pixar. To add insult to injury, John Turturro shows up as Francesco, an elite Italian racer, replete with a clutch of OTT Italianisms right out of vaudeville. Then there's the bad guys this time, a sinister German mastermind that at one point has some of his enemies rounded up to be gassed (!). There are no words for this.

Cars 2 reaches the point of simply being infuriating. Mater is such an extreme model of the Ugly American (seriously, car or not, anyone from Arizona should be up in arms) that you have to wonder in what alternate universe does anyone put up with people like Mater (answer: there isn't one)? Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn't take many risks or go too far off book, and while that can make for altogether too much familiarity, first time director Jennifer Yuh (an illustrator and storyboard artist), and writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Burger (KFP, Monsters vs Aliens) understand what worked best the first time around and run with it. Cars 2 loses sight of the nostalgic Route 66 intimacy that made Cars a minor (by Pixar standards) success. The grounding force that Newman's Doc Hudson lent to the first film is missed and it can't be replaced by the snappy travelogue this time around. It's a rare misstep for returning director John Lasseter (Brad Lewis replaces Joe Ranft this time), and while the mighty haven't exactly fallen, they're looking a lot more fallible.

Kung Fu Panda 2 opened in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) gives the Furious Five some bad news and a new mission in Kung Fu Panda 2.

(HK Edition 07/23/2011 page4)