Kung Fu Panda, you’re either going to love it, or not.
I’m firmly in the love it camp. I think Jack Black is excellent, and he’s in fine form in the third installation of the Kung Fu Panda film series.
I’m liking
Kung Fu Panda 3 sees a new villan introduced. Kai is living in the spirit realm, after being banished there by Master Oogway a long time ago. Kai’s been slowly defeating masters in the spirit realm and taking their chi. This allows him to get back to the mortal realm, where he stakes his claim as the ultimate Kung Fu master.
Po and the Furious Five are all back for a third time. And all of them get plenty of lines and laughs. Po is still as clumsy as ever, which is great. And, surprisingly, there were still plenty of laughs left in this story line. I think this was mostly to do with the panda village that Po discovers. The writers really play on the food-loving and exercise-loathing nature of the pandas.
The underlying plot of number 3 is all about finding your true self, and understanding your life path. I really like that. For such a ridiculous movie, the franchise has always had a really positive underlying message. It gives the film some depth and emotion.
As you’d expect from Dreamworks, the animation is brilliant, especially the spirit world scenes.
Things that made me go hmmmm
Our three year old didn’t make it through the whole film. So I’d say this is more for 5+.
The conclusion
I wasn’t expecting much out of Kung Fu Panda 3. I knew I was going to enjoy Jake Black, whatever the story line. But I was really surprised. This was great. If you liked the first two movies, you’ll definitely enjoy the third.
