I love doing marathons like this, because they really give me the chance to watch movies that I have had on my watchlist for far too long. I have seen both of the first two Kung Fu Panda movies before, but I never did get around to watching the third one, and it has been on my watchlist for far too long. I have always wondered how they were going to follow up such a fantastic movie as Kung Fu Panda 2, that is a sentence I never thought I would string together unironically. Kung Fu Panda 2 was a movie I feared any sequel would die by comparison to, and it also is one of those movies that I feel wouldn't need a follow up, like you already reached higher than many others would have, why go further? It is attitudes like this which is why I talk about movies instead of making them. I will not say that Kung Fu Panda 3 is better than 2, or even that it is on the same level, but I'll be damned if it ain't close.
Once again, the story feels like a natural progression from the last, the writer's asking "Where do we go from here?". The answer ended up being quite simple... they never did answer who Po actually is in the last movie, they defined his past, but now they have to define him. Po discovers that his birth father, and a whole society of pandas, are still alive but his excitement is held back by the news that an old adversary of Master Oogway's, by name of Kai, has returned from the spirit realm, and only a master of chi can stop him. Po returns to the Panda village to learn how to be a panda and master his chi. The writers of these movies really knew where to go from the previous ones, and some people have noted that the three movies, specifically their villains, represent Body, Mind and Spirit. In a sense, these are the journey's Po takes throughout the trilogy, learning Kung Fu, learning to accept his trauma and learning to master his Chi; Body, Mind, Spirit. I will say, it does go into some predictable places this time around, I mean you hear enough stories you can tell where some stories are going to go, but ultimately I think this movie is just as strong with the story and theme as the last two.
Then we also have the characters and relationships, rather than look at Po's relationship with the Furious Five, this movie examines Po's relationship with his father, both his fathers, but more especially his adoptive father, Mr. Ping. I don't want to give away too much, but Mr. Ping actually might have my favourite scene in the entire trilogy. I do think Kai is a bit of a step-down villain wise, not that he is a bad villain, in fact as a villain I think he is the best threat in the series, but that came at the sacrifice of what made the other villains great. Tai Lung was a great villain because of his ties to Shifu, his pride and ego made him the perfect foil to Po, while Lord Shen's ties to Po laid out the tragedy in Po's journey. What made both the villains great was that their connections, and Kai's connection is predominately to a character who isn't even in the movie that much. It's kind of weird to think about, but the greatest villain in these movies is actually the one I kind of like the least. I like Po's father fine enough, he definitely has that Della Duck energy of someone who is trying to be a good parent but is really out of their depth. I do genuinely believe that he feels hurt when he hurts Po, and I love the scene with him and Ping, I think he's a fine character at the end of the day.
You know, I haven't really talked much about the actors in these movies, outside of Jack Black and the villains. It's a shame because, J.K. Simmons genuinely is one of my favourite voice actors ever, and he does a great performance as Kai, and Bryan Cranston is practically perfect casting for Po's father. However, the one actor I really want to give credit to is James Hong as Mr. Ping. James Hong has a decades long career in Movies, TV and even Video Games, and it is a disservice to only talk about the few movies I know him from, I mostly know him from Mulan and I also recognized him in Wendell & Wild and Everything Everywhere All at Once, but that is barely scratching the tip of his career. I mention that because, Mr. Ping is the first role of his where I really got to hear how good of an actor he can be, I mean you don't have a decades long career if you aren't a good actor, he gives genuine resentment, concern, vulnerability, truthfully I don't think Mr. Ping's arc would be half as good in these movies is anyone else was in the role, and James Hong kind of falls into the Vincent Prince category where I just can't picture him the voice recording booth, his performance is really good. I said Jack Black was perfectly cast as Po, and I still stand by that, but I can still picture him in the booth, when I think of James Hong's performance as Mr. Ping, I just think of Mr. Ping.
As for the animation, genuinely I think this is the best looking movie out of the three. Two looked stunning, but this movie's colour palettes and choreography go beyond that. I called Kung Fu Panda 2 a "gilded lily", well Kung Fu Panda 3 is trying to gild a gilded lily, and it succeeded in the visual department. The opening fight scene with Oogway and Kai immediately drew me into the movie and all the action scenes were just as good. I mean, I really can't explain just how amazing the animation of this movie is, and it isn't just that the movie looks good either. The writing of this movie deserves as much credit as the visuals do, because I think this movie might actually be the funniest of the three. Kung Fu Panda 1 definitely was a cheesy kung fu movie for kids, and while the comedy of this one definitely has a similar vibe at times, I dunno, I think the writing and performances gave me some genuinely good laughs beyond the genre.
I'm glad I finally got the chance to watch Kung Fu Panda 3. There always is a slight worry when going into any movie I think, and it is kind of worse when you're going into a sequel, especially a sequel to an already fantastic movie. At the end of the day, I can't think of a finer trilogy of animated movies, sure Toy Story is a good trilogy, but I think I'd put the Kung Fu Panda movies over the Toy Story movies. If I had to end a trilogy, I would try to end it like Kung Fu Panda 3, it was beautifully animated, thematically fit with the previous movies, had great characters, performances and genuinely good choreography, it's funny, charming, exciting, emotional, it's everything we love about the Kung Fu Panda movies. I think two is still my favourite, but three is definitely up there, and I can't think of a trilogy more deserving a perfects across the board. This is another High Recommendation, and honestly... I have some concerns, but I am mostly excited for the upcoming fourth movie.
And hey, this was my ninety-ninth movie review, and boy do I have something special for review number one-hundred.
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