The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

Kung Fu Panda 3 - Review: Pandamonium!


Kung Fu Panda 3 - Review: Pandamonium!
8 out of 10

There are many things I get equally happy and jealous about concerning this generation's kids. Their Internet access and availability have become so good, the little scamps probably wouldn’t even recognize the tone of a dial up modem. Their video games don’t take forever to load and have become much more enriched and immersive experiences. Then, they have animated movies which, despite any fond memories I might have for '80's & '90's Disney, are made to a vastly higher standard. Ever since Pixar bounced in and showed a new generation what they should be expecting from a kids/family film, the standard across industry has slowly raised ever higher as the big successful franchises become those that are just as smart and well-written as being silly and funny. The Kung Fu Panda films are some of the best examples of this positive change. Just imagine what the film would have been like if someone tried to make it in the '80's or '90's. It would have been completely devoid of substance, relying purely on the silly nature of its subject matter to drive its appeal. Instead, the film was a delight of visual storytelling with well-crafted characters and just as much cleverness to its humour as goofy slapstick. Now, nearly 8 years after its first bout, that success has earned it a third. Despite its age, this Panda is still throwing down like a champion.

The Dragon Warrior panda, Po (Jack Black – School of Rock, Goosebumps) struggles with his no responsibilities as teacher but the return of his long lost father and a homecoming to the hidden panda village may help him find himself. He’ll need to because Master Oogway’s vengeful former brother in arms, Kai (JK Simmons – Spider-Man, Zootopia) is coming to destroy him.

So after the last film’s concluding tease, this threequel dives headlong into the idea of a surviving panda society and it’s pretty much as fun as we’d expect to be. The film finds great gags in presenting the new black & white cast members with similarities with Po like getting quickly out of breath while similarly making him inept in their lifestyle ways. It feels perfectly in keeping with the existing franchise tone of well constructed lunacy. In fact, the animal martial arts master ranks even deliver their most talismanic member to date: Master Chicken! Ideally, this Panda-venture would come with more plot and purpose but we have to keep in mind that the required child accessibility means that must be simplified. Instead, the focus turns into an episode of My Two Dads (some of you may have to Google that) as Po’s adopted goose father deals with the possibility of being replaced by Po’s real father, brilliantly voiced by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Trumbo). There are places where this slips into clichés but its generally light-hearted approach helps curve that, and it even reaches several outstanding emotional moments that will resonate with any family of a modern “complexity”. The new panda characters are a merry bunch of lovable archetypes with little traits of individuality from the dumb one that’s always hugging, insanely cute babies, and a feisty lady ribbon dancer. It all works very well to keep the comedy flowing and the story feel dependant, allowing them to happily dip in and out of shot whenever it's opening for a good gag.

click to enlarge

The film expands the franchise well by quite literally taking it to another world: the spirit world, to be precise. This delivers some incredible visuals (and a few nods to Zhang Yimou’s Hero) as the various masters battle it out around, floating mountains with chi powers in spectacular style that’s also genuinely enhanced by the 3D medium. Similarly, the idea of chi possession works really to both the story and the action visuals as Kai can manifest jade zombies (“jombies”) of defeated masters. It even results in many familiar characters being pitted against each other to the extent that a “Civil War” subtitle wouldn’t be out of the question. It even helps give the film a much darker tone than either prior film when required, that’s suitably balanced out by the more fun-based elements (similarly to the approach of How To Train Your Dragon2). It also gives Po a new challenge to draw out failure based comedy from without devaluing any of the previous movies. He hasn’t forgotten anything he’s learnt, just started a completely new subject and becomes understandably baffled by it. Similarly, it allows Kai to be a good escalation as an otherworldy powerfuly villain. Villains continue to be a strength of this franchise. This 3rd installment takes its biggest gamble yet with a running gag against the idea of infamy in that nobody actually has any clue who Kai is. It could have tanked the character but instead, it’s utterly hilarious.

The biggest flaw in the kung fu technique ultimately comes from a strength. Like most of the successful animated franchises, it has a large cast of main characters (voiced by some big names) and must still add plenty of new faces each film to hold the interest of younger viewers. This does result in some getting pushed aside that really should be bigger parts of the story. The biggest case is with Po’s faithful band of supporting Power Rangers, The Furious Five. Angelina Jolie’s Tigress gets kept on screen a little more but the rest end up playing very minor parts, which is a real shame. This, combined with the emphasis on Po’s personal journey (like Iron Man 3), also means that there’s actually a lot less kung fu action here than the previous films. That really is unfortunate because what we do get, like the prior films, is a beautifully animated blending of speed, creativity, and humour when appropriate. It just feels like we’ve been sold a little short based on established franchise expectations.

Kung Fu Panda 2 was a less common example of an animated sequel bettering its prior film. This 3rd outing hasn’t quite reached that high kick but is superior to the first film and with one very stealthy finishing move in its favour. It actually rounds things off into a trilogy very nicely (even if it’s unlikely to be Po’s last outing). It ties together a lot of past events with purpose for an easily understandable journey with a sense of completion. It may not quite have the emotional muscles of How To Train Your Dragon or Toy Story franchises but this film keeps the Kung Fu Panda films as good family fun and an enjoyable visual spectacle. If the money guys are happy, let this panda keep on rolling.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Fantasy & Science Fiction and Reviews page.