Review of Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) by Tjaw — 25 Mar 2017
Kung Fu Panda 3 is best described as a delightfully goofy and good-hearted but rather unbalanced jumble of ideas. However, considering how excellent the first two installments were (especially the first one), it's a shame to have to call it that.
The central problem with KFP3 is that it has no sense of discipline, which is ironic given the fact that the art of kung fu requires that. This movie has way too many juvenile jokes, silly side-characters and random scenes that don't fit into the film, and all of this undermines its wholesomely poignant core.
Too often the film jumps from touching and deep to ridiculous, self-parodying nonsense, back and forth. Some jokes in the film are even repeated numerous times. One in particular, a young panda called Lei Lei saying "stripey baby", is overused to such an alarming extent that after a while it starts to hurt.
Am I just nitpicking? Probably, because this a still a decent family film. The animation's great, the music's great, the action scenes are great, Jack Black's vocal performance is once again spot-on, the villain is awesome.
But having said all of this, it's still an overly hectic, uneven disappointment in comparison to the first two films. A fun, lovable romp for kids, though.
This review of Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) was written by Tjaw on 25 Mar 2017.
Kung Fu Panda 3 has generally received positive reviews.
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