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!

As a certain character once said, a James Bond movie is only as good as the villain. The same rule actually applies to just about any story with some kind of confrontation, with the best of such stories having villains which you even want to relate to.

Kung Fu Panda trilogy is no exception. One of the reasons behind the first film's excellence was Tai Lung, a character so intense, conflicted and deeply rooted in the history of the KFP universe, that his story managed to combine the vibes of two great confrontations: Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader and Darth Vader vs Luke. So it's no wonder that my greatest wish for every next KFP movie was to have him back somehow. Those vain hopes...

The villain's complexity became the foundation on which the rest of the story could develop. Including the main character. First film's Po was so great because he was a classic "loser with a dream" type of character: confined in his bleak reality but refusing to accept his destiny. Po's power was in finally letting himself pursue the dream he's been having on his own for so long, and in how a true dream can overcome any obstacle in its way.

The problems began when Po was raised to the supreme position. It's where the pursuit of a dream was replaced with a job. Po is not a leader, he's not even a hero, he's just a guy who does what he can because his heart tells him so. But letting him keep that spirit would mean losing pace for the franchise. So each next film was basically creating a new villain out of thin air (or, in this film's case, from the other world, literally) and imposing the duty of defeating him on Po, using it as a justification for granting him another magic ability.

The gods are what we create ourselves. And, at the end of the day, KFP3 finished creating a cult of the Dragon Warrior by transforming Po from a goofus with a heart and spirit into some kind of omnipotent golden Buddha, smiling and just-be-yourself-preaching. The complexity is gone, the humanity, with all its inherent flaws, is gone. The only thing that's left is the divine perfection and invulnerability. Maybe the kids will love such glossy happy ending, just like they love playing video games in god mode: easy win, plain and simple. But for someone more mature, that kind of easy is just boring.

Kung fu panda is a concept so ridiculous that we think to ourselves.. it is actually genius. Jack Black returns as the lovable Po, and shows us just why we missed him so much in the years we had to wait. These films always deal with acceptance and Kung Fu Panda 3 is no exception, with an added family element. I give praise for this for the simple reason that Bryan Cranston is AWESOME and really stands out in a movie that already has some brilliant stars, he was so funny and heartwarming as Po's biological father and makes a welcome addition to the cast.

The story follows Po as he is asked to teach the furious 5 so Shifu can retire and master 'Chi'. After a bad session he meets his father by chance and finds out about a new supernatural threat from the spirit realm, played by the brilliant J.K Simmons. He adds his own stamp to this character and gives us a badass villain, like Cranston becoming a welcome edition. Po embarks on a journey to a secret panda village to himself master 'Chi' and take out Kai for good. So for a start the story is brilliant, it keeps everyone entertained and never lingers on for too long. The members of the furious 5 however do get less screen time, even Angelina Jolie's Tigress although she does play the biggest role of the 5. The standout for the limited screen time he has is Seth Rogen's Mantis. I don't know what it is but i love this character and wanted more of him.

If you are a fan of the other films in the Kung Fu Panda franchise like i am then you won't be disappointed. The film manages to stay on par with both previous films and has all the humour and kung fu action you can expect from it. If the franchise ended here i would be happy, i would love more from the characters and the world built around them, but i really don't want the franchise to outstay it's welcome at the same time. But anyway, go see Kung Fu Panda 3. It is much better than the forgettable London has Fallen and you won't regret it!

At start it felt like that I have entered that awesomely animated familiar environment of kungfun with our favourite panda.

Sadly the same feeling remains the whole time. Don't get me wrong, fights are still fun but story wise you get the feel they are just trying to make things up now. Also it doesn't help to keep similar story structure every time. It just bores you much of the time. Not caring about the characters as you already know what their fate is going to be, you have ample amount of time to appreciate the animation. I really liked the 2-D animation that is shown for flashback. Moreover there's so much pseudo philosophical drag & knowledge sharing going on that it makes you feel "ya ya! just give me some more kungfun already!"

Now children would definitely love this film. But for any adult who have already watched the awesome first part & then the follow-up later, it could still be fun provided you are in really good mood (& remain so while ignoring (virtually) repeated script and zero character developments) and ready to mentally kungfu-dance through whole film on the song "Everybody's kungfu fightin'..." :D

The Good Stuff (in order of awesomeness)

1. Superb animation and various art styles used. Hits are emphasized well with excellent sound design and voice acting. Good action.

2. Jokes are (mostly) good, made me laugh out loud multiple times.

3. The plot and pacing is pretty good and character development is adequate.

The Bad Stuff (in order of amplitude)

1. Antagonist is not really memorable with vanilla personality and motivation.

2. Film is obviously meant for a young-ish audience and contains some irritating slapstick and bad jokes.

3. 99% of Panda characters are completely forgettable.

Should you watch it: Probably, yes. I can't stress enough how good some of the visuals are.