Kung Fu Panda 3 Review

Going off of a title like Kung Fu Panda, you would expect a title like that to be found in the bargain bin of your local grocery store. But honestly, Kung Fu Panda 3 is a good sit down animated family movie. For those who aren't aware of what happened in the last 2 movies here's the story in a nutshell: Po, an obese panda voiced by Jack Black, is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, a chosen one who keep the world safe. He teams up with a group called "The Furious Five", a group of animals made up of a Tiger, who is voiced by Angelina Jolie, a Mantis, who is voiced by Seth Rogen, a Crane, who is voiced by David Cross, a Snake, voiced by Lucy Liu, and a monkey who is voiced by Jackie Chan. Along with the teacher Master Shifu, who is voiced by Dustin Hoffman, they must protect their village from threats The relationship between Po and the five along with Hoffman's character starts out rocky but Po ends up winning them over. As time goes on Po grows into his role as the Dragon Warrior and it's when kung fu itself is threaten that Po learns about his past. He was abandoned as a baby after his mom is killed by an evil Peacock who believes a Panda will kill him and thinks he is the last Panda in existence. But unbeknownst to him, a village of Panda's lies deep in the mountains where his father along with the rest of his family resigns. This is where the 3rd film starts off

Given all the information presented this sounds pretty weird for an animated kids movie. And that's one of the problems with the movie, it doesn't work well through word of mouth. You have to see the movie in order to understand why people can like it. It's story is basic but the characters and the animation pull through. Po is very likeable character and once the other characters stop being jerks to him they also become enjoyable. But there in lies another problem. For as much as they build up the epicness of the other characters, they get very little lines and are pushed aside for the development of Po.

In this movie, Po discovers his long lost father and the village of Pandas mentioned previously. He goes to the village with his father, who is voiced by Brian Cranston, so that he can discover who he is in order to find himself so he can be a better teacher as Hoffman's character is retiring and passes teaching duties down to Po. But at the same time a villain named Kai, voiced by J. K. Simmons, is looking to take the chi of all the martial arts masters so that he can be the most powerful warrior in the world.

Again the story is very formulaic for the franchise. Po can't do a thing, he goes on this big adventure, and he defeats a villain by learning said thing he couldn't learn in the beginning of the movie. But again its the way the film does it and the morals it gives that makes it enjoyable. It's also a very funny movie. The animators take advantage of the fact that it is an animated movie and use it to give us some good humor. It's not fall out of my seat funny but I got a good laugh now and again. Brian Cranston and Jack Black do a great job working off of each other and its easy to see these two as being father and son.

Where the movie falls flat is with the problems I have mentioned. It's formulaic and I wanted more interaction between characters like Seth Rogen's and David Cross's. With that being said, Kung Fu Panda 3 is a beautifully animated movie with a story that, while over used, is fine as its characters and its humor make it a good sit for kids and adults.

Grade: B-