Anthony's Film Review - Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

The third Kung Fu Panda adventure continues the humor and thrills of the series...

At this point in the Kung Fu Panda series, the title character of Po (Jack Black) is far from being the overly clumsy animal he was in the first movie. We can now see him as a hero to root for and to trust. Even his sidekicks, including Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan), start to look up to Po as their leader and mentor. That's not to say Po is no longer accident-prone. He'll still have funny moments where he loses control. Just not as much as he used to.

I say all of this because it's the main reason why Kung Fu Panda 3, though not a stellar animated film, is the best of the three Kung Fu Panda movies so far. It is definitely worth sitting through a rather quick plot with some light jokes, because you'll get to see Po perform at his very best and achieve a legendary status in the martial arts world. In my opinion, you could actually end the series right here, but knowing that Hollywood has an endless appetite for box office profits, we'll have more Kung Fu Panda movies beyond number three. In any event, Po is definitely a likable hero in this movie.

But let's look at what else makes this movie plenty of fun. For one thing, you have an interesting plot to follow. The villain in this movie is a bull-like spirit warrior named Kai (J.K. Simmons), who had been banished to the spirit world but has now entered the mortal realm to steal chi from martial arts masters and grow stronger. As this is happening, Po meets his long-lost father Li (Bryan Cranston) and journeys to his homeland: a secret panda village. This is definitely where things get interesting. If watching Po fight is fun, just imagine a whole village of pandas trained to do the same.

Aside from that, you have some good humor. It mainly consists of moments that generate small but delightful chuckles and laughs. For example, there's a scene where Po is eating in the panda village, and all of the other pandas are surprised that Po uses chopsticks, because that forces him to eat one dumpling at a time, not allowing him to gulp down many at once. Also, when Li shows his father the Jade Palace, the two pandas goof around and play with the legendary artifacts as if they're toys. Again, the humor is simple yet fun.

And that is also the best way to describe Kung Fu Panda 3 as a whole: simple yet fun. There is something for the entire family. As any good animated film does, it provides a story and lovable characters for the adults, and the kids will certainly love the characters and the fun things they do. This is the kind of movie that you can enjoy if you're in the mood for an animated film but don't mind anything too sophisticated. So there. That's all I really have to say about this movie, other than the fact that I may be looking forward to Kung Fu Panda 4.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Kung Fu Panda 3, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Kung Fu Panda 4.