Third in the Kung Fu Panda series and running at 95 minutes Po (voice of jack Black), now the established Dragon Warrior has to yet prove his metier as a teacher whilst facing the wrath of Kai (J K Simmons) a powerful and vicious spirit warrior.
The film delights, entertains and is cosily cuddly with older characters that consolidate the essence of it all, whilst new characters add another dimension.
Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) needs more time to meditate and he passes the mantle of ‘teacher’ to the ever-so-clumsy Po who as usual is disaster written backwards and forwards; especially when he has to supervise the training sessions of the Furious Five: Tigress (Angelia Jolie), Master Monkey (Jackie Chang), Master Mantis (Seth Rogen), Master Crane (David Cross) and Master Viper (Lucy Liu).
This is not all the miseries that the cuddly, overweight panda has to contend with. A stranger, Li (Bryan Cranston), makes an appearance and turns out to be the biological father of Po!
The action starts when, Kai,l the yak, is back from the spirit world and with his supernatural ability to trap the ‘chi’ of any master who dares to confront him. He seems to become more powerful by the minute.
Po has to go on with his father to the secret village of the pandas, where, according to Li, Po will be taught the art of ‘chi’.
With Po gone, the peaceful village is attacked and even Master Shifu is not spared. The Tigress makes a quick escape in search of Po and to warn him of the dangers that follow.
In the meanwhile, the little chap seems to be getting on rather well in his village, but there is something amiss. With the arrival of Master Tigress, the village of pandas in put on red alert, more so when Po discovers that Li had lied to him, he does not know how to master the art of ‘chi’. He merely wanted to get his son back home.
Po, now understands the actual mission Master Shifu set him out on- to teach the rest of the panda clan the art of self-defence and ward off any evil which may come by their way. Of course the training is no mean feat- just like his personal training was and Po soon realises that each panda is unique with a distinct style to her/himself.
KFP 3 message is clear and loud, in the words of Master Shifu, “I am not teaching you to be me- I am teaching you to be you.” Amidst the hustle, bustle and the zigzags of life we often forget the same and here is some ancient wisdom that reminds us- you and me, that all we need to be is ourselves.
With warmly created characters, living and emotional, KFP 3 is sure not to be missed, even as our clowning Dragon Warrior is the winner all along the way.
4/5