Stars (vocally) Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, JK Simmons, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Kate Hudson with James Hong, Randall Duk Kim and Jackie Chan Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni Well, we finally learn what happened to Tai Lung at the end of the first Kung-Fu Panda flick. In hindsight, that’s a pretty dark move for the hero of the story. Even the sequel went to some dark places, and it’s a tribute to the filmmakers and storytellers that they hand;ed the material in an exceptional manner, allowing the main character to grow and mature. We also learn here that Po was 20 years old by that point. How many more years have passed since then is difficult to determine here, although it’s been five years since we last hung with Po (Jack Black) and his friends. This time, Po has to face increasingly difficult tasks. As his own master, Shi-fu (Dustin Hoffman) has decided to retire from teaching in order to further his own training, the Dragon Warrior now has to teach kung-fu. Then, Po’s biological father, Li (Bryan Cranston) turns up, much to the consternation of his adoptive father, Mr Ping (James Hong). Even as Po is coping with that, an old foe of Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) called Kai (JK Simmons) emerges from the spirit realm to absorb the chi of other kung-fu masters. In order to defeat Kai, Po has to learn the ways of chi (it feels very Star Wars at one point). Li offers to teach Po about chi, but first, Po has to learn to be a true panda! To do this, Po has to travel to the hidden panda village high in the mountains. In all, this is Po’s journey of personal self discovery. James Hong steps up in a big way here, given a far meatier role this time as Mr. Ping comes to terms with the return of Po’s true father. His interactions with Jack Black and Bryan Cranston form some of the more beautifully tender moments showing a father’s love for his son, either by supporting Po in his endeavours or advising Li in dealing with his new-found son. Hong and Cranston also pull off and amazing double act by the third act. JK Simmons as Kai also impresses while the rest of the returning cast handle their roles well. Only Lucy Liu seems short-changed this time around while Jackie Cha’s Monkey seems to have slightly more lines than last time. Chan reportedly voiced Li in the Mandarin version of the movie. The animation and design on this is absolutely gorgeous with a heady mix of animation styles and creative editing. Returning director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, assisted by Alessandro Carloni (animation supervisor and story artist over the previous instalments) on this outing, carries on with flair, an impeccable sense of timing in action and comedy, as well as managing the pacing of the film where a whole lot of story happens. The backgrounds and settings are beautiful, making one wish some of these places are real enough to visit, especially the panda village. The spirit realm lends itself to some very successful 3D effects, and the colour palate gives the movie a vibrancy to behold. John Powell is missing from this, leaving Hans Zimmer to take full control of the music this time around. He gives Kai an impressively ominous theme, even if it’s sampled off Imagine Dragons’ "I’m So Sorry". The evolution of Po’s theme is beautifully elegant here, emphasising his emotions very nicely. There were some scenes that appeared in the trailer that were not in the movie. Can't tell if they were created specifically for the trailer or if there were editorial changes during the production process; the pandas learning to fight, for example. Such things happen quite often in animation features. In all, the movie is highly entertaining and merits returning to on occasion. As a trilogy of films, should this prove to be the final one in the series (there were plans for up to six), Po’s journey has been remarkably laid out and beautifully told with design and animation that still holds up through the years. Here’s hoping DreamWorks Animation can maintain the pace and quality in wrapping up How To Train Your Dragon’s third entry too. Rating: ****/5
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