Kidzworld reviews Kung Fu Panda 3. Is Kung Fu master Po still at the top of his game or will he need some help from his dad and a village full of pandas to defeat a scary dude from the Spirit World?
By: Lynn Barker
When Master Shifu (voice of Dustin Hoffman) decides that Po (Jack Black) can’t progress as a Dragon Master until he finds his true self, he makes Po a teacher of the other Masters. He’s horrible at it but has to buck up bigtime when a ticked-off bull named Kai (J.K. Simmons) banished years ago to the Spirit Realm by Po’s mentor Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) returns and starts terrorizing Po’s Valley friends. Can Po summon the Chi (spirit within himself) to beat the new enemy?
Fun in the panda villageCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Enter the Teacher
Dragon Master Po is busy with the Furious Five (Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross)) protecting and inspiring the Valley of Peace from their home in the Jade Palace. Master Shifu decides that in order for Po to be complete as Dragon Master, he must become the Kung Fu teacher to the Valley-ites and his fellow masters. He is horrible at it.
Ribbon dancer Mei Mei performsCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Enter the Daddy
Suddenly Po’s long lost father Li (voice of Bryan Cranston) appears in the village saying he was summoned there by “the Universe” to finally meet his son. Po is delighted but his restaurant owning goose daddy Mr. Ping (James Hong) is both jealous and afraid he will lose his adopted son to his biological dad.
Can't you tell we're related?Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Enter the Baddie
Big bull Kai (voice of J.K. Simmons), a spirit warrior always in battle with Po’s mentor tortoise Oogway, has been in the spirit realm stealing the Chi (spirit energy) from tons of Kung Fu masters over the years and turning them into his super-powered Jade Zombie army. Now he is ready to re-enter the mortal world to vanquish Po and the Five and get even with Oogway by destroying everything he has built.
Kai threatens to destroy Po's worldCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Enter the Village
Po finds out that he will have to learn to control Chi in order to defeat Kai but he has no idea how. This used to be in the hands (literally) of the hidden village of pandas high in the mountains. Thrilled that there are other pandas he can meet and learn from, Po goes with his dad and adoptive daddy Mr. Ping stows away with them.
Gee, we look just alike!Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Wacky New Family
While Kai fights the Five and gathers them and Shifu up as Jade Zombie warriors for his cause, only Tigress escapes, goes to the panda village and finds Po learning how to be a true panda; how to eat way too many dumplings, roll and bounce down hills rather than walking and the all-important sleeping in late. Po is also the love target of flirty ribbon-dancer panda Mei Mei (voice of Kate Hudson). These laid back but hardly warrior-like panda inhabitants have forgotten over the years how to control and use Chi. While the lives of the Five and those in the Valley of Peace hang in the balance, can Po be his true self, control the power of Chi and finally be the teacher who can give the pandas back their power?
Li meets his son PoCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Kung Fu Panda 3 Trailer
Wrapping Up
Kung Fu Panda 3 is just beautiful to look at with bight, magical colors and new, creative animation along with the more familiar styles. Jack Black is as enthusiastic as ever as Po and Bryan Cranston as daddy Li is just great as is J.K. Simmons as the evil bull Kai. Kate Hudson is charming as the voice of flirty Mei Mei as well.
Jack Black returns as PoCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
The inhabitants of the panda village are so adorable you will want to reach out and hug them and the basic story of the film is more “personal” to our characters as well as full of beautiful martial arts animated action. When Po and his dad grow close you might shed a tear and there are plenty of Furious Five, Po and fellow panda antics to pull out a chuckle or two. Many worthy themes are obvious in the film; families can consist of friends, two dads, etc., you need to find your true self to be successful, etc.
Angelina Jolie has fun as TigressCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Po seems to advance about as far as he can go; to an ultimate Dragon Master warrior who controls great power so, although he has a whole village of new pals as well as his long lost dad with him, we wonder if this is “it” for the Kung Fu Panda movie franchise. Where will they go from here? We go four stars.
Kung Fu Panda 3 Movie Rating:
The Kung Fun Panda 3 posterCourtesy of 20th Century Fox
Kung Fu Panda 3 is in theaters now!
Have Your Say
Are you a big Kung Fu Panda fan? Are you looking forward to as many of these films as they can make or are you all “Panda’d out”? Leave your comment below.
