The second new character is Li (warmly voiced by Bryan Cranston), Po’s long-lost biological father.
Advertisement
Po is deeply conflicted when his natural father convinces him to travel to the secret mountain village where fellow members of their rare species have retreated – saving themselves from the awful slaughter of pandas revealed in the last film.
It’s important to point out, however, in the midst of all the drama and stimulating kung fu fighting and seemingly impossible aerial acrobatics, “Kung Fu Panda 3” is one heck of a very amusing movie. Finding himself among his kind for the first time, Po’s first reaction is untrammeled joy as he goes around to the villagers saying, “You look like me, but you’re a baby!”
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.
Po knows kung fu. It is there that Po graduates from student to teacher as he has to prepare this troupe of ill-prepared pandas to become warriors in the cause against the villainous Kai (J.K. Simmons), who has been sweeping across the Orient defeating kung fu masters. Kung Fu Panda 3, which is a co-production with the state-run China Film Group, will have an English and a Mandarin-language version where the characters are voiced by a cast of Chinese movie stars in the latter.
Are you going to check out Kung Fu Panda 3 in theaters?
KFP3 ups the ante with the aforementioned Oscar-winner Simmons, and with Oscar-contender Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li. Attacking Oogway allows Kai to return to the mortal realm to continue his attempt at world domination, leaving only Po to stop him.
First-time directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne offer visual inventiveness, striking landscapes, and considerable giggles for young and old, compliments of the witty, upbeat script by third-timers Jonathan Aibel and Glen Bergeras that combines energetic action and goofy humor in a winning way, and that is serious-minded without taking itself overly seriously.
By Tim Lammers, Direct Conversations.com Jack Black is back in, well, black – and white – as Po the martial arts-gifted panda bear in “Kung Fu Panda 3”, the hotly anticipated third tale in the smash computer-animated trilogy that kicked off in 2008. Kate Hudson’s ridiculous Mei Mei is an unnecessary distraction. Why did Shifu want Po to teach the others?
While he struggles with his new role, putting his friends Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan) through the paces, there are other changes afoot in Po’s life.
Advertisement
“Kung Fu Panda” has served admirably on the front lines of family entertainment for the better part of a decade, but now is probably the time for it to retire to that great dojo in the sky.
