Member review

Following in the footsteps of two fantastic movies, “Kung Fu Panda 3” has a lot riding on it. It must continue and complete two films worth of character development and stories whilst introducing new elements to the series before concluding the trilogy.

For the most part, “Kung Fu Panda 3” does this brilliantly.

“Kung Fu Panda 3” is an action-packed, entertaining and thrilling (potential) final chapter to this excellent franchise. It perfectly completes the story that began in 2008 by taking Po’s arc to a natural and satisfying end.

That, in my opinion, is the best aspect of this film. Time and time again a threequel botches the finale, leaving a trilogy on a sour and unfulfilled note. From “X-Men: The Last Stand” to “The Matrix Revolutions”, it’s always so disheartening to see a series that you loved get driven into the ground by the end. But “Kung Fu Panda 3” spectacularly brings everything to a close, so that even if we never see a “Kung Fu Panda 4”, I’m happy that I will always have this phenomenal trilogy to enjoy until the end of time.

“Kung Fu Panda 3” is every bit as hilarious as its predecessors, the best jokes coming from Po, Shifu and Mr Ping. The relationships between each character help add levity to each scene and make each gag funnier.

The action in “Kung Fu Panda 3” is just as breath-taking as you’d expect, each sequence is perfectly constructed, Hans Zimmer’s incredible score enhancing every moment. Every set piece has a sense of grandeur and intensity, the urgency of the movie conveys that our heroes could lose at any point. The destruction of the Jade Palace is nothing short of epic, the action, cinematography and animation are at their best in this explosive sequence. It’s gut-wrenching to see a staple of the franchise get obliterated so effortlessly.

So far, the villains of the “Kung Fu Panda” Series have been formidable and intimidating opponents for Po to overcome. Kai, voiced by J.K Simmons, continues this tradition. Though not as terrifying as Lord Shen, Kai’s ominous shadow looms over the entire movie, his brutal fighting style and booming voice enforces his threatening presence. His awesome music theme makes his dramatic entrances that much more unnerving.

The animation in “Kung Fu Panda 3” is stunning, the highlights being a flashback that uses more traditional visuals and the sequences set in the Spirit Realm.

The main crux of the plot centres on Po reuniting with his biological father and travelling to a panda village. Whilst I do really enjoy the various antics of the pandas, at times it does feel as though Po is side-lined in his own movie. As “Kung Fu Panda 3” cuts between the dire situation that the Furious Five and Master Shifu are trapped in and Po frolicking around with his family, either storyline can suffer when the other takes over. The panda plot is far more enjoyable than that of Kai’s takeover but the Furious Five’s struggles have more momentum.

The only major issue I have with “Kung Fu Panda 3” is that pacing really slows down about half way through the film, which leads to some scenes dragging out the films runtime.

Also, Po’s desire to discover who he is does undoes the finale of “Kung Fu Panda 2”, the whole point of that film was Po coming to terms with his identity, but that journey seems to have been forgotten by the time this film rolled around.

However, these small nit-picks are far outweighed by how much I love watching this movie!

Overall, “Kung Fu Panda 3” is a vastly entertaining and hugely rewarding film that brings one of my favourite trilogies to a close. Whilst it isn’t as outstanding as the previous entries, it offers enough incredible action, witty dialogue and nostalgic throwbacks to earn a place amongst its predecessors.

Even if this is the final adventure we get to go on with Po, the Furious Five and Master Shifu, I’m still so happy to have this perfect trilogy to revisit over and over again. I would not exchange by experiences with the “Kung Fu Panda” trilogy for the world.

SKADOOSH!