Editor’s Notes: Kung Fu Panda 3 is currently out in wide theatrical release.
It’s rare that a sequel is better than the original, even rarer that the third installment in a series is better not only than the original but the first sequel as well. Yet, that is what the good folks at DreamWorks have done with Kung Fu Panda 3, quite against the odds. The first film, released in 2008, was a really good action/comedy with something for everyone, including a very touching story. The sequel, arriving in 2011, was even better with Jack Black’s Po stepping into his role as the Dragon Warrior and learning that he may be the last panda, all with a lot of humor and action. Somehow, the third installment ups the ante again with just as compelling a story and lots of laugh-out-loud gags and some eye-popping action.
Somehow, the third installment ups the ante again with just as compelling a story and lots of laugh-out-loud gags and some eye-popping action.
The story starts with Po being tasked to take over as the instructor from Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman, reprising his role from the first two), as he is the Dragon Warrior. Po is reluctant and proves to be ineffectual to the point of incompetent in teaching The Furious Five, made up of Tigress (Angelina Joile), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Crane (David Cross) and Mantis (Seth Rogan). The group discover that an ancient enemy of Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), who was the master in the first film that Shifu replaced when Oogway floated off to the spirit realm, Kai (J. K. Simmons), has returned from the spirit realm by stealing the chi from warriors there and now in the physical realm as well. And if this wasn’t enough, Po meets his biological father, Li (Bryan Cranston) and discovers that he isn’t the last panda after and there is a secret village filled with them.
Po sets off to the panda village to become a Master of Chi, something that pandas were hundreds of years ago and even taught Oogway in this art, which is the only way to beat Kai. Meanwhile, the Five and Shifu try to keep everyone else safe.
As complicated as that may seem for a first act, writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (who together wrote the first two films in the series and also the recent The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and two Alvin and the Chipmunks sequels) skillfully blend the complicated plot elements with humor so it is easily translatable for kids. Granted, the kids won’t understand the intricacies of Eastern philosophy and the theories regarding chi and the balance of nature (yin and yang), but they will understand that Po needs to learn a new skill/power to defeat Kai and that’s all they need. Their seamless blend of humor and pathos is really quite remarkable, especially for a kids movie. Their screenplay doesn’t shy away from serious issues like Po’s adoptive father Mr. Ping (James Hong) feeling like he’ll be forgotten by Po because Li has now entered his life, but they deal with it with humor, making Mr. Ping amusingly try to undercut Li at every turn until he makes a very beautiful realization later in the film. Aibel and Berger also do a lot to grow their characters instead of keeping them where the audiences know them from prior films. They are clearly not concerned with a cash grab of a sequel, focusing on an over-arching story that perfectly blends with the prior two films making it an emotional journey that really never missteps. They also work to include the Furious Five more in this film, as they were mostly marginalized in the prior films. While they were key components in the first two, they are allowed more interaction with each other here, giving us a clearer picture of how close they really are. The story is still primarily about Po, as with the rest of the series, but at least the Five are given a chance to shine a little more brightly here.
Kung Fu Panda 3 is a shining example of what DreamWorks Animation is capable of, joining Shrek, the first two Kung Fu Panda films and the How to Train Your Dragon films as the crown jewels of their company…
Working from the great script to bring it to life, directors Alessandro Carloni (making his debut after being in the animation department for the prior two films) and Jennifer Yuh (director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and head of story for Kung Fu Panda) worked with the immeasurably talented animators at DreamWorks to blend some top-notch computer-generated animation and at points blend it with the sketch-style animation that is used in the credit sequences for all of the films creating an amazing look to the film. The detail on the animals is impressive, making them look as realistic as anthropomorphic animals can. They also use their camera in inventive ways to intensify the action and turn up the emotional sequences and don’t shy away from longer sequences that are just two characters talking, trying to understand their emotions in a given circumstance. This helps to keep the focus on the characters instead of taking the easy way out and focus on the action scenes instead.
As with most animated films, the voice casting can make or break it, no matter how good the script or direction or animation is. Casting Jack Black as Po may have originally been a marketing decision to get a popular actor in the film to drive attendance, but it really was the best casting choice. Black is obviously adept at comedic asides and quick one-liners, but in these films he has given us a more dramatic side to his humor. Po always deals with weighty emotional situations with humor but the way Black delivers those lines, you can hear the turmoil infused into his jokes. He gives us the hint that we should consider him for dramatic roles as well as his comedies (because it has been proven over many decades that comedians are often powerful dramatists when given the opportunity, yet we are always inexplicably amazed when one turns in a remarkable dramatic performance). Back again are all of the original voices from the first and second films and all sound like they’re having fun, none more so than Dustin Hoffman reprising his role as the ever-suffering Shifu. While by this point Shifu has accepted how talented Po is and that he is the true Dragon Warrior, he never stops testing Po, though now it is to expand his potential instead of doubting it.
If there is not a Kung Fu Panda 4, this film will be an excellent end point for the series. It brings the story to a fulfilling and satisfying ending, growing all of the characters well beyond anything we would have thought possible at the beginning of the first film. Kung Fu Panda 3 is a shining example of what DreamWorks Animation is capable of, joining Shrek, the first two Kung Fu Panda films and the How to Train Your Dragon films as the crown jewels of their company and the only ones that can compete with the bulk of Pixar’s films.
If there is not a Kung Fu Panda 4, this film will be an excellent end point for the series. It brings the story to a fulfilling and satisfying ending, growing all of the characters well beyond anything we would have thought possible at the beginning of the first film. Kung Fu Panda 3 is a shining example of what DreamWorks Animation is capable of, joining Shrek, the first two Kung Fu Panda films and the How to Train Your Dragon films as the crown jewels of their company and the only ones that can compete with the bulk of Pixar’s films.
