Besides a love of dumplings, father and son bond over a Training Hall romp that’s a highlight – along with the delightful hint there may be a kung fu master dolphin.
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DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 2” (2011) ended with a revelation: The biological father of Po (voice of Jack Black) is alive and living in a faraway panda Shangri-La. But while it lacks the wonder and nuance of earlier Pandas, there are enough new faces and wowing, Asian-influenced style to also keep parents amused for an hour and a half. But when Po attempts to train his friends, a.k.a. the Furious Five – Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross) – he proves not quite ready for prime time.
So, Po travels with his newfound father, with the protective Mr. Ping in tow, to the secret mountain where the pandas live in carefree harmony, discovering that all the quirks that make him an unlikely kung fu warrior – his huge appetite, rotund stature and disdain of stairs – are inherent to his panda nature.
So Dreamworks brought their A-game for “Kung Fu Panda 3”, including a more intimidating villain-Kai the bull, voiced by J.K. Simmons.
However, the focus on the movie’s bear necessities takes away from the potential of the other characters, especially Hoffman’s adorably testy old Shifu.
Kung Fu Panda 3 Interviews by Michelle C.
The best stuff here is in Po returning to his roots, and there’s a great sight gag catching the disbelief of the Valley’s citizens when Po and Li first meet and initially fail to recognize each other, even though they’re the only giant pandas around.
Do you plan to see Kung Fu Panda 3? .
Fathers are the theme of the film, as Po in a sense loses his spiritual fathers Shifu (who tells Po he must now take over as teacher) and Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) and has to figure out what his new relationship with Li will be and how that will affect Mr. Ping. Kai will stop at nothing and the only possible way to defeat him is Po.
And though I’m not always a fan of using famous actors for voice-acting (they sometimes do have rather bland voices), the Panda films so far have gotten it right. His name is Kai and he has the deep growl of J.K. Simmons and the deep animosity of someone who has been waiting centuries in the Spirit Realm for revenge.
He has since proven his martial-arts mastery and been proclaimed a prodigy as the Dragon Warrior, a protector of his community, but the new film finds Po having to prove himself all over again.
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The movie, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, also promotes the ideas of cooperation and stepping outside your comfort zone. It’s hard to say anyone doesn’t get their money’s worth, even as the story strains under the weight of it all. At times, “Kung Fu Panda 3” feels like watching a 95-minute movie trailer. “When the idea was pitched to us, he was already attached to play Po, so we’ve never thought about Po without thinking about Jack Black”, Berger said.
