Kung Fu Panda trilogy

Good news everyone: I finally got to see “Kung Fu Panda 3” tonight. It was one of my most anticipated movies that I was dying to see, and now I’ve finally seen it. So tonight, I will be reviewing the movie, but first, I have to share what I thought about the first two before I get to the third one. First was “Kung Fu Panda,” released in 2008, another movie that I saw with my cousin after he rented it from RedBox.

“Kung Fu Panda” is a story that almost self-tells it in the title. When you think about it, you can’t even imagine a panda doing martial-arts encounters that you get the impression (and you will be right) that the panda stars in the against-every-possibility tale, which makes him successful. Roger Ebert mentioned, “For the panda's target audience, children and younger teens, that will be just fine, and the film presents his adventures in wonderfully drawn Cinemascope animation. (It will also be showing in some IMAX venues.)”

The film’s hero is a panda named Po, voiced by Jack Black, who is so fat he can’t even get out of bed. He works for his father, Mr. Ping, voiced by James Hong, in a noodle restaurant, which has Ping’s legendary Secret Ingredient. How Ping, who appears to be a member of the avian family, have become a father to a panda is a mystery, not at all to Po, but then the movie has a wide variety of animals who don’t really notice their differences.

They live in the beautiful Valley of Peace with an ancient temple overlooking them, up so many steps, which Po can’t even climb. However, he does climb them, dragging a noodle wagon, because everyone from the village has congregated there to witness the choosing of the Dragon Warrior, who will fight the evil Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane, in a kung-fu match. Five contenders have been selected, the “Furious Five:” Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (the hot Angelina Jolie), Mantis (the hilarious Seth Rogen), Viper (the hot Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). Tigress looks like she might be able to do some serious damage, but the others are less than impressive. Mantis in particular looks like he, at most, weighs a pound. Every five member has been trained (Ebert speculates, “For nearly forever, I gather”) by the wise Shifu, voiced by Dustin Hoffman, who is one of the more dimensional characters in a story that doesn’t give the others a lot of depth. The final decision is given to the temple master Oogway, voiced by Randall Duk Kim, an ancient turtle, and he chooses…you guessed it, Po.

The story then really becomes a series of action fights, sort of damaged by the fighters who are unable to get hurt, even if they fall from large heights and crack stones open with their heads. There’s a prolonged fight with Tai Lung on a collapsing suspension bridge (we’ve seen that before), hand-to-hand-to-tail combat with Po and Tai Lung, and upstaging everything, an active fight over one dumpling.

Roger Ebert admitted, “"Kung Fu Panda" is not one of the great recent animated films. The story is way too predictable, and truth to tell, Po himself didn't overwhelm me with his charisma.” However, it’s beautifully drawn, the action scenes are filled with energy, and the runtime is short that adults will be forgiving. Obviously, all of this is enough for the kids, and here they go again.

The sequel, “Kung Fu Panda 2,” released in 2011 (which we saw on Netflix), is exactly what you looked for, and more. The animation is stylish, the story is much more involving than the first one, and there’s unlimited energy. Ebert admitted, “I enjoyed it as fully as I possibly could, given the horror of its 3-D. The original film, in 2-D wide-screen, was just fine. But never mind. Hollywood has brainwashed us (or itself) that 3-D is an improvement and not an annoyance.”

What’s best about this sequel is that it’s not a respectful retelling of the original, but a motivated extension. Of the handful of new elements, the one solution to the mystery of how Mr. Ping, a goose, could be the biological father of Po, a panda. Ebert said, “In the original film, as nearly as I can recall, every character represented a different species, so I thought perhaps inscrutable reproductive processes were being employed.” However, Po’s parenthood is explained here, and it has a huge deal to do with new developments in the story.

As we reunite the occurrences in this amazing Chinese kingdom, Po, having gained the status of Dragon Warrior in the first movie, still leads the Furious Five: Tigress, Mantis, Monkey, Viper and Crane. From everyone, Tigress is evidently the most difficult, and Mantis stays the mystery. Even though he sounds like Seth Rogen, how does he get past the weight?

The kingdom now has to deal with the vision that it will be taken over and ruled by the evil peacock Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, whose henchmen have created a new weapon that makes him to search the country for scrap iron. This Shen is an evil enemy, carrying sharp, pointed feathers from his tail like a circus knife-thrower. In actuality, the mystery of Po’s parents is explained by Lord Shen’s obsession after a soothsayer, voiced by the great Michelle Yeoh, tells him to look out for the pandas, so their destines are linked more closely than Po can imagine.

This is a film from DreamWorks, which is in complete competition with Pixar, and is reaching for the skies. The animation is far superior to the everyday 3D movies about cute little animals, although the twist caused by 3D effects does no favors. The story gets a lot of humor out of Po. Roger Ebert described, “The story gets a lot of humor out of Po; Jack Black's voicing invests him with more personality than you'd expect from a character who resembles a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.” (“Kung Fu Panda 3” has the possibility to start with Po working out with a personal trainer, who could be Tigress.) The director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, widens the range of the animation to include more styles than your average cartoon animals, and the imaginary scenes which has Po’s history are actually beautiful.

Doing voiceover work must now count as an important part of every actor’s repertory, and that has created a demand for actors who have typical voices. Among the talent here, Dustin Hoffman is especially successful as the wise Shifu. Roger Ebert credited, “As he grows older, Hoffman is mastering more and more the timing and inflection of a smart stand-up comic. It's a gift.”

Ebert speculated, “Speaking of "Panda 3," I wonder if the relationship between Po and Tigress will advance from its current status as what might be called a warm friendship. Tigress seems to occupy a favored position in Po's heart, reopening the possibility of cross-species pollination.”

Now with all that out of the way, let’s get to “Kung Fu Panda 3,” released in January. Of every DreamWorks Animation franchise protagonist – not that there are a plethora of them – Po, the often hilarious miserable but undeniable strong protagonist Kung Fu Panda voiced by Jack Black is the most clearly and shamelessly lovable. So, “Kung Fu Panda 3” has that going for it from the start. The bright metrics of the believe-in-yourself belief the character gives – as interesting a combination as pandas and martial arts are, they’re not exactly supposed to go together, which in every movie is precisely the point – are suitably strong that the films don’t need to make in obvious humor (Glenn Kenny stated in his review, “as the “Shrek” pictures tend to, which I myself tend to find needy and irritating”). They’re more about a warm, cheerful, we’re-in-this-together belief.

That is great. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” despite every rich action – and for every interspecies combination, this is as much an action-adventure animated movie as it is a funny-animal animated movie – is a pretty relaxing experience for the adult watcher. The colors are beautiful, the design of the endless realms is creative and pleasing, the animation flowing and stylish. Kenny mentions, “This panda doesn’t pander—there are scant, if any, nudging pop-culture references soliciting laughter from knowing grown-ups.” “Be the best you can be” is this movie’s message, and writers Jonathan Aible & Glenn Berger, and directors Alessandro Carlone & Jennifer Yuh take their own advice throughout this quick dance.

The movie starts with Po’s former master Oogway at peace in the spirit realm, where he’s suddenly encountered by bullish warrior Kai, voiced by J.K. Simmons, who wants to rule every being and non-being by stealing the “chi” (life force) of an array of masters. His journey will end, he declares, when he conquers the last earthly master of chi, who happens to be the protagonist Po.

When we see him on Earth, Po is having trouble now being the teacher of the martial arts school from supposedly retiring Master Shifu. After some martial-arts-equipment-destroy rounds with the Furious Five (Tigress, Mantis, Viper, Crane and Monkey) Po has fallen back into the identity crisis that’s once in a while worried the so-called Dragon Warrior throughout the series. The story comes together when Po’s biological father (series experts know that Po was adopted by a crane) Li, voiced by Bryan Cranston (Walter White from “Breaking Bad,” Hal in “Malcolm in the Middle” and Dr. Tim Whatley in “Seinfeld”), arrives to bring Po back to the Secret Panda Village. Apparently, Li’s on a mission that was shown to him in the form of a letter from the universe.

Kenny admits, “None of this makes a whole lot of sense even in a world in which cranes adopt pandas and raise them as their own, and a lot of the plot points and catchphrases made me suspect the screenwriters just picked a lot of Sun Ra and Return to Forever song titles at random and dumped them into a Final Draft edit function.” In a way, none of it matters though, because the moves inevitably to a climax where Po faces his fears and doubts, embraces the awesome, and with the help of friends and family – everyone being voiced with the highest likable sincerity by the best cast in the animated field – realizes his potential and saves the day. Kenny ends his review by saying, “It’s as simple and as satisfying as that. And not just because pandas are critic-proof.”

I honestly think this series got better and better with each installment. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that this series will have three more sequels, bringing it to a six-film series. I would really like that. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen these movies yet, I highly suggest that everyone goes out and see these movies. Especially since I don’t think the third one will be in theaters for that much longer.

Hopefully everyone liked my long review. Check in next Friday for the next installment in “Alvin & the Chipmunks Month.”