Review of Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) by Achilles D — 01 Apr 2016

I've rarely seen a trilogy that manages to dole out its character arc in such consistent and satisfying manner. The first film established Po's rise to greatness, the second revealed his backstory, and this one ties the two together. I wish the same could be said for the overall plot of each film. As seems to be a tendency with trilogies the third film ignores the main plot of the second film and tries to tie everything in to the issues established in the first one. This has the effect of making the plot of the second film a complete tangent and giving the viewer a bit of whiplash as they try to remember where the first film left off. In this case that means the return of the dragon warrior prophecy, Master Oogway, and a kung fu threat to all China. None of this is bad exactly, but it does make the film reliant on people having seen the first one.

Since the films' plots don't build off each other the way the character development does each film falls into a fairly predictable sequence of events where a tyrant reappears after years away and Po has to go confront him. The tyrant this time is a bull called Kai. The film doesn't do much with him. He's voiced by the excellent J.K. Simmons, who does the best he can with what he's been given, but apart from an amusing resentment that nobody remembers him he doesn't have much personality. Simmons might not have been the best actor for this part, much as I love him, since an actor with a more stereotypically tough voice would have made him seem more convincing as a threat and make his bouts of petty irritation even funnier. He is, at least, a significant threat, having just come back from the afterlife after having defeated Master Oogway and stolen his chi. Rather better is Bryan Cranston as Po's birth father Li.

As said before, the character development is first rate. Po is given more than enough to come to terms with here, from having to get to grips with having feet in two different worlds (cleverly connected to the main plot by making him need to find his true self in order to use his chi), to overcoming his fears of teaching and reconciling his relationship with his two fathers. That's a lot to get through in one film, especially for one aimed at children, and it's to the film's credit that it only feels slightly rushed and that only towards the end. This time spent on character development comes at the expense of the main plot. I think this is probably my least favorite of the three films, but the other two were so consistently good that this isn't a major criticism. Po's character arc is handled perfectly, and the development of the dragon warrior prophecy is resolved in about as satisfying a way as it can be given that we thought it had already been completed.