My Movie Review on Kung Fu Panda 3 · 9:06pm Jun 7th, 2020
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for my 160th film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Kung Fu Panda 3".
Here's the summary of this tale:
A long while after the defeat of Lord Shen, Master Shifu announces his retirement from running the Jade Palace and teaching kung fu. And who better to to pick as his successor...than the Dragon Warrior, Po the Panda.
On his first day of teaching, though, Po discovers that he's terrible at teaching, and as if that isn't enough...he starts to have a very serious identity crisis, no longer sure who he is and what it means to be the Dragon Warrior.
In a sudden turn of events, Po reunites with his long-lost biological father, Li Shan, who has been searching for son after getting a message from the universe that he was alive.
However, Po and Li Shan's happy reunion is cut short when a new foe makes himself known: Kai. A warrior who was banished to the spirit realm by Master Oogway after stealing chi in order to gain ultimate power. Because Kai can only be stopped by a master of chi, Po must learn how he can wield it before he can confront him.
Will Po somehow become a master of chi and stop Kai? Or will the world suffer under Kai's wrath?
Will Po also figure out who he is? And what it means to be the Dragon Warrior?
When I watched this movie a few times long before, I remembered having a lot of fun seeing it. And now, after watching this film recently in preparation for reviewing it, I found it to be as enjoyable as I remembered it being.
Among the things I enjoyed about this movie was the animation. Not only were the animators able to retain the same style as that of the two predecessors, but they weren't afraid of taking risks and expanding some too. The overall visualization was even more like a comic book brought to life, and the film's use of coloring and lighting, like before Po and the Furious Five got some food at Mr. Ping's restaurant at the beginning, was so astonishing. Plus, the hand-drawn animation that was used, such as with Kai's backstory, was gorgeous to look at.
The direction by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, and the story by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, were likewise TOTAL AWESOMENESS!
Coming from a guy who had seen this film many times before, I was pleasantly surprised to find how enjoyably funny it was. The humor was executed so well throughout the movie that it was hard not to laugh, with even the most ridiculous of jokes working marvelously. Along with giving the movie the best humorous side of the three films, I loved the sheer amount of passion, heart, and sincerity the filmmakers gave it, with Po's journey, his compassion for those he loves, the bonds he shares, and the reconnecting between him and Li Shan being the boosters of it all. Plus, I deeply enjoyed seeing Mr. Ping having a larger role and greater amount of screen time compared to the last two films, and the filmmakers hardly seemed to know when to stop on making the story unique and different, which is something I love.
The voice acting, casting, characters, and character development were incredible as well.
The film definitely had great new characters that were filled to the brim with personality, life, and growth. The people portraying them even sounded like they were having fun working on the film and playing their parts. In my opinion, the best of the new characters were Li Shan and Kai, because the two characters had marvelous growth and roles, and Bryan Cranston and J.K. Simmons did an awesome job voicing them. I'd also like to add that Kai himself was a brilliant villainous successor to Tai Lung and Lord Shen, and I loved how into the character Simmons appeared to be both physically and emotionally as he portrayed him.
The film's regular characters and cast members were amazing too. As with the previous movies, I've enjoyed how into it the performers were and how passionate they sounded. Prime examples came from James Hong's portrayal of Mr. Ping being as fiery, lovable, and humorous as ever. Likewise, Seth Rogen and Dustin Hoffman supplied tons of terrific comedic-timings as Mantis and Master Shifu. And as always, Po was as funny and lovable as ever, and the growth he had throughout the movie was brilliant, with Jack Black giving perhaps his best performance as the character yet.
Finally, the music by Hans Zimmer was magnificent. Returning to the series as the sole composer, Zimmer created what I believe to be the best melodies for the series by far. As a film taking place in China, the music had a resonance that was pure Chinese, and there was a vast amount of cinematic and emotional epicness to go with it. A big example is the music played for whenever Kai was around.
In conclusion, "Kung Fu Panda 3" is an unexpectedly wonderful sequel, and it continues the streak of showcasing the series as one of Dreamworks's crowning achievements. It's even great enough to be the conclusion to the franchise if Dreamworks decides to stop there, although I wouldn't mind seeing it become a six film series like Dreamworks has been planning, as well as for them to surprise me and see how they'd make it work.
So, I rate "Kung Fu Panda 3" five out of five stars.
Make that three films of the series I need to see
I've yet to see this installment, and I'll let you know my input once I've seen it.
It goes back to the failings of the first film, and piles the failings of other films of its time period on top of it. I wouldn't call it bad, per se, but it did not live up to Kung Fu Panda 2, in my opinion.
The first KFP was basically an Adam Sandler film starring Jack Black (in fact, the final fight makes an unintended but anvillicious in hindsight reference.) The second one was a masterpiece, and a proper kung fu film that adhered to the rules of the genre while making fun of it. The third one was just Hollywood being Hollywood, in my opinion. Looks nice, sure, but lacked substance, which the second film most definitely did not. The second Kung Fu Panda made me laugh and almost cry. The third one made me shrug.
It really all boils down to whether you've seen Kung Fu Hustle, pretty much the definitive kung fu film parody, first or not. I have, and it set the bar high.
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Your opinion’s your opinion, but I think all three of them are equally full of awesomeness in every way.
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