- Released: May 26, 2011
- Directed by: Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Allesandro Carloni
- Running time: 1 h 35 min
- Rating 3.5/5
Synopsis
My Thoughts
Okay, with Kung Fu Panda movies one and two being so amazing, this has a whole lot to live up to. The first movie is fantastic, the second literally one of the best movies I've ever seen. How does this one hold up?
It's good. Not bad, not great. Just good. Perfect 7/10. So, yes, obviously it doesn't really live up to the first two. But it's still a good movie in its own right. I totally get why people think this one is the least good out of the trilogy: I obviously agree. But it still has the same heart, humor, epic fight scenes and artsy sequences we've grown to love from the last two. Just not executed as brilliantly as before.
Po's character development is furthering again as he has to master the art of qi and find his panda heritage. By the end of this movie, you truly see him as not "just" the Dragon Warrior, but also a kung fu master, like a possible future Shifu. With his usual Po-charm of course. But he does become his best self by teaching others how to be their best selves. Heck, he doesn't even learn how to use qi first, it's actually his family and friends who do so in hopes of helping him. Only after that (and being in the Spirit Realm, long story) does Po learn how to master qi in order to defeat Kai.
Kai as a villain is definitely the weakest of the trilogy. Tai Lung was fantastic and has easily one of the best jailbreak scenes ever put to film. And Shen...there really is no other villain like him. He's pretty much perfect as a villain in every respect.
Kai, meanwhile, feels much more like a generic big bad. He comes close to being similar to Tai Lung in his mannerisms and big bombastic presence, however, Tai Lung had a really powerful fighting style and emotional backstory, with him being Shifu's son. Kai does have some cool elements to him, such as an evil use of qi and his cool chain-sword weapons, but overall he just feels like a less well-thought out version of Tai Lung with some different abilities. His backstory is also really bland, with him just being an old friend of Oogway's who went rogue. Nothing more to him than that. So while I don't consider him a bad villain, I do think he's very weak by Kung Fu Panda standards.
As for the conflict with Po now having two dads, one biological and one adopted, I think it was executed decently. Li very obviously loves Po so much, but he does use quite a major lie in order to keep Po out of danger that he really should be facing as the Dragon Warrior. You get Li's motivation, but at the same time it does lead to yet another cliché liar revealed moment where they break apart and Po is angry with him.
Mr. Ping of course isn't fond of Li at first, thinking he'll take Po away from him permanently, but luckily this element is kind of underplayed. Mr. Ping never turns into a downright asshole towards Li, he's mostly just annoyed, and they even have a very heartfelt moment of reconciliation where they realize they both have to be there for Po, not just one or the other. So that's pretty wholesome and I like the execution. Also, yes, Po's mother is 100% confirmed to be dead in this movie.
Overall this is not a fantastic movie, and by the standard of the other two Kung Fu Panda films it of course isn't that good. But it's still good in its own right. It could've ended a whole lot worse, so I'm honestly glad with what we got. And hey, the first two movie are still as good as they'll ever be. The fact that the trilogy doesn't have a very strong conclusion doesn't break them in the slightest for me.
Edit: This review was written before a fourth movie was announced, making this no longer the last in the trilogy. Just figured I'd quickly update you on this.
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