Kung Fu Panda 3

Kung Fu Panda 3 is probably the last film you'd expect to get released in January. And it originally wasn't: it was supposed to come out last month until Fox/Dreamworks realized that opening anywhere near Star Wars was financial suicide. Fortunately, Po is here to provide some quality for the month best known for sub-par releases.

Po the Panda (Jack Black) still defends China from the forces of evil. Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) retires and promotes Po to Kung Fu Master. His first day of teaching Kung Fu goes hilariously awry. And then a fellow Panda, Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), shows up. Po and Li Shan slowly catch on that they're father and son, while everyone else gets it right away. Meanwhile, Mr. Ping (James Hong), the goose who raised Po as his own son, doesn't like this development.

The evil warrior buffalo Kai (J. K. Simmons) comes back to life on a mission for chi (life force). He already defeated Shifu's Shifu Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) in the spirit realm and he's now hunting for the chi of China's Kung Fu Masters. Li Shan takes Po back to their Secret Panda Village to learn chi control. They'll have to do it quick, for Kai's and his army of "Jombies" (Jade Zombies) are coming closer.

This threequel keeps up the franchise's artistic standards. The animated cinematography and production design is just as grand as the previous two entries. The use of color, especially its use of green and gold, is striking. Its fight scenes mix humor and action quite well. And the character designs are all unique, even the Pandas'.

The characters themselves are adequate. The Kung Fu Panda himself is a delight, never obnoxious or crude. Po's antics are amusing, his endurance and determination are admirable. If they keep it up, the next few movies still won't get tiresome. Li Shan is just as fun-loving as his son and just as good. A new Panda, Mei Mei (Kate Hudson), speaks softly but with dialogue more suited for a "louder" actress. And Kai was a basic bad guy only redeemed by some backstory.

Hans Zimmer shared composer duties with John Powell in Parts 1 and 2. He now has sole duties this time around. His score complements the epicness of its visuals quite nicely. He even arranges two grand versions of Kung Fu Fighting, one of which is a Chinese translation!

Kung Fu Panda 3 feels like the end, even though Dreamworks wants to press on. Po's series-wide character arc is completed satisfactory. China's security is safe in his paws. Its only flaw were that its 95 minutes ran too fast, which deprived some characters of decent screen time. But that was a minor flaw in this animated epic. If the franchise continues, I hope that Dreamworks has a good plan for it.