Kung Fu Panda 3

I went with my 14-year old son to watch Kung Fu Panda 3. We both loved it. It's definitely a feel-good movie. We've watched every Kung Fu Panda movie, and we are definitely fans. The cast is incredible! Jack Black is awesome as Po, as usual. We particularly enjoyed the music score (which nicely emphasized the emotional parts) and the artwork. I appreciated that there were morals woven into this movie, especially with regard to finding your true self, appreciation of what it means to be a family and the importance of family, and Po's learning about chi, the life force in all living things. This all added depth to Po's character. There were, of course, many funny moments in the movie that made us both laugh. At the end of the movie (and we always stay to the very end, reading all the credits), the artwork was particularly beautiful, where they took images from the movie and made it look like an ancient, Chinese watercolor. We left feeling very good about having spent time together at this movie!

Not quite as good as Kung Fu Panda 2 since it does rehash some plot elements from Kung Fu Panda 2, but Kung Fu Panda 3 is still a solid entry in this kung fu fighting franchise.

The first 'Kung Fu Panda' film is a solid film, colourful and fun with thrilling action and engaging characters. The second film is even better, darker and more emotional while never forgetting to be entertaining, with the best villain in the series.

'Kung Fu Panda 3' is not as good as the previous two films but there is plenty to make it well worth watching. It does contain three big flaws. As funny as the film is and how often hilarious the gags and dialogue are, 'Kung Fu Panda 3' does go overboard with the silliness and it does feel like it takes over everything else. Even in moments that are meant to be tense, like the confrontation between Po and Kai, they don't quite have the impact due to the humour getting in the way and it does jar.

The film's villain Kai is the least interesting and least developed of the 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise, a huge disappointment after the previous film did such a wonderful job with Shen, one of those villains where you can understand why he's a threat but also to some extent understand his point of view. Kai certainly had potential. His first appearance was cool, suspenseful and wonderfully animated, the music in this scene fitted perfectly with the scene and a contender for the highlight of the soundtrack and JK Simmons clearly has a ball, booms ominously and demonstrates that he was born to play villains. However Kai compared to the previous two villains is rather one-dimensional, the Oogway conflict is forced and not enough is done with it and his motivations are not interesting or clear enough (not to mention clichéd).

Lastly, the secondary characters and Po's friends are rather sidelined at the expense of the relationship between Po and his father, which admittedly is very nicely done, with their personalities somewhat bland. Tigress is the least wasted, showing some personality, but Shifu and Viper are especially wronged and criminally underused.

However, the animation is really superb and some of the best and most inventive of the franchise. It is so vibrantly coloured, the backgrounds are fluid and very meticulously detailed, the editing has much finesse and the characters are well designed and modelled. The jombies, the nickname of the jade zombies, are splendidly realised in animation and personality. The soundtrack is incredibly dynamic, but also provides some tension and emotional depth, Kai's first entrance music is my personal favourite.

Dialogue is zany and hilarious, loved the rapport between Po and his father, and the gags are cleverly animated and mostly are incredibly funny, apart from a few going on for too long and a bit too silly. The action is thrilling and filled with so much energy and the repartee is sharp. The story is admittedly predictable, but is efficiently paced, a lot of fun and provides plenty of thrills and emotional depth (the latter especially applies to the relationship between Po and his father). The life-lessons are well incorporated and never feel shoe-forced, I just wish that the humour despite being very entertaining was toned down. Loved the homage to 'Seven Samurai' too.

While the characters and their developments are among the weakest assets of the film, they do engage enough. Po is still likable and Li Shan is a welcome addition. Mei Mei avoids being too annoying while not necessarily adding to the plot. The voice acting is terrific, Po has always been one of Jack Black's most tolerable and likable roles and he still delivers, Bryan Cranston shies away from his usual persona and entertains hugely and as aforementioned JK Simmons really impresses as Kai. The others, with Angelina Jolie being the standout, are solid though their material could have been much better.

Overall, while the weakest of the 'Kung Fu Panda' films, 'Kung Fu Panda 3' is good solid fun, the 'Kung Fu Panda' films being one of those rare film franchises where all the films so far are good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

There's a reason why the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise is one of the most successful of all-time, and I'd like to believe that that reason is because the writers and the creative talents behind it know how to solidly move the story forward, even with the same characters, they know how to make them evolve without losing the charm and the heart that made the first and the second film effective.

In KUNG FU PANDA 3, Master Shifu appoints Po as the new teacher, a responsibility that of course Po is not able to handle, because he feels more comfortable just being the dragon warrior that saves the village whenever they need help. But that's the thing, once you've felt comfortable and you do only what you can, then you close any room for growth. But being a teacher is not Po's only new challenge. We know that it was just a matter of time until Po reconnects with his family, it was teased at the second film's end. Po's long-lost panda father reappears, just as the supernatural villain Kai, from the spirit realm, returns to the mortal world and vows vengeance. Each film has a certain kung fu style or a goal that Po must achieve, and in this one he has to master the Chi while at the same time learning to know what it means to be a panda.

I had concerns at first because "Kung Fu Panda 3" is released this month, and you know that January is a dumping ground for terrible movies. But now I see that this may actually have been a smart move on the studio's part because this is quite possibly the only great film this month, people will turn to "Kung Fu Panda 3" because everything else will disappoint them.

Just like the first and the second film, KUNG FU PANDA 3's animation is sharp and beautiful. The action sequences are fun and entertaining, and there's a little bit of a fish-out-water situation as well because our hero Po is pretty much new to this whole Panda village and they way they do things over there. But what rings true throughout all three films is that it's ultimately about Po's journey to become one with who he is. He accepted his destiny despite people's doubts, he let go of the past and found inner peace, and now he's put to the test once more, his confidence will be tried once more, and so seeing him be the underdog again is why root for Po. And on top of that, KUNG FU PANDA 3 never runs out of ammo to get you to feel emotional and they do it without trying too hard because it's done in a way that serves the story and the characters, the emotional scenes make sense, I often say that "Kung Fu Panda" movies faithfully follow Pixar's manual — the undeniable importance of a well-written story; one that goes straight for the heart and aims to inspire. KUNG FU PANDA 3 is simply awesome! And it's so cool if you think about it, this is an animated family film franchise that gets more and more solid with each installment, and that's rare.

Time to go back into the world of DreamWorks animation. I had read more information about the company's corporate shakeup that not only involved several people replace and relocated, but it also involved the closing of the Northern California studios and the reduction of the output of feature films. It seemed like a formidable movie fiscally, until the release of last year's Home, which I mentioned that I didn't care for. I guess I wasn't the only one as the critical reviews were tepid, and the box office numbers were low (not a failure, but not even close to a hit). Has DreamWorks truly learned?

If the new original features aren't doing well, then the next strategy would be to take advantage of some of their past hits. Shrek, Madagascar, and How to Train Your Dragon seem to be the franchises that they like push and make more sequels and television programs. I like those movies (except Madagascar), though my favorite is the Kung Fu Panda films. This is the ultimate "don't judge by its cover" story as it's dumb title is really a silly martial arts story that teaches a lot about Chinese philosophy. Po's training is taken the next step in Kung Fu Panda 3.

Master Shifu (played by Dustin Hoffman) has announced that's he's stepping down as the teacher of the Furious Five: Master Tigress (played by Angelina Jolie), Master Crane (played by David Cross), Master Mantis (played by Seth Rogan), Master Viper (played by Lucy Liu) and Master Monkey (played by Jackie Chan). Shifu says that the only one who can teach them is the dragon warrior, Po (played by Jack Black). Po is still his silly self and doesn't feel like he can be a good teacher. It's evident on the his first day when the masters are unimpressed.

While visiting his adoptive father Mr. Ping, a large panda named Li Shan (played by Bryan Cranston) comes looking for his long lost son. Po is excited to finally meet his father let alone another panda, who were thought to have been gone. Shifu knows that the Panda's were masters of controlling chi, so he tells Po to go with his real father to discover chi. Within the hidden Panda village, Po learns more about being one of his own and learning more about his family.

Meanwhile, Kai (played by J.K. Simmons), a powerful spirit that can take away one's chi has entered the mortal world in order to gain chi from all the Masters. Tigress shows up at Po's village to reveal that all the masters have been taken by Kai and it's up to Po to fight him and teach Kung- Fu to all the pandas.

I really appreciate DreamWorks for not only taking Chinese martial arts and philosophy seriously, but for taking the story of a Kung-Fu fighting panda just as seriously. Not only is Po really learning more about what his skills can do, but really seems to be growing as a person…or a bear.

Kung Fu Panda 3 still boasts some of the most beautiful computer animation I've seen from DreamWorks. It is so atmospheric, that this is one of the few movie worlds I'd love to live in.

The characters from the previous movies are all back and play up their parts just fine. The newcomers Bryan Cranston and J.K. Simmons both bring in their own spark, fitting in just fine. Without giving anything away, I only have two gripes. While J.K. Simmons does well as Kai, he's not as intimidating as Gary Oldman from Kung Fu Panda 2. Also, when Po's father Li Shan make a big discovery about himself, it's a little rushed.

I'll give this eight Chinese scrolls out of ten. This is a part of a series that is just so funny and beautiful, that I find it hard to find much to nitpick. Kung Fu Panda 3 is a great piece of family entertainment that should get both the parents and children engaged. I hope these characters continue Kung Fu fighting for a while!