Compassion, Patience and Panda Power
The dialogue, by all but via Jack Black in particular as the charismatic Panda protagonist, Po, who even now in his third outing remains a heart-warming reminder of Black's live performance of comic passion in School of Rock (2003), is always delivered with such superb conviction that even familiar sentiments are received with total engagement from audiences, young or otherwise, as if this animated feature was indeed their source of origin.
The gorgeous imagery is heightened most by the sheer variety of locations, ranging from vicious, snow-covered mountains, to more tranquil, lush green landscapes. At times, the aesthetics and the design of the natural world scream out resemblances with more modern classics. A frozen and fortified dividing line between two settlements, which co-exist at a vast distance apart from one another, provides a clever, fairly amusing reference to Game of Thrones (2011-Present). A gradual emergence of desperately-needed reinforcements through the fog recalls to mind a similar gathering of brave, good individuals against a formidable faction of evil in The Patriot (2000) and a scene depicting a tragic family loss, heretofore completely unknown by Po and the audience observing him, blends possible inspiration from Ice Age (2002) with enough originality to subdue its viewers with teary eyes and swelling hearts. Fortunately, humour and elegant pacing immediately but gracefully relieve the audience of such saddening emotion. Thus, they now hold on to Po for the rest of his quest with amplified eagerness.
The fight sequences are fast, funny and presented with a lilt-like quality. Never crossing the boundaries into untoward territory; they are frequently supported by witty, often last-minute instances of humour, thrown into scenes and particularly the longer conversations through Jack Black, James Hong and Seth Rogen's respective roles especially.
Kung Fu Panda 3 is caught off guard during its commendable fight for the constant engagement of the audience by a nervous and slow opening that for a brief instant looks set to collapse under the weight to too much back-story but quickly picks up with a great pace that goes on to to spread such knowledge more evenly throughout each major act of the tale, ultimately justifying that opening, which turns out to be assertively unhurried rather than sluggish. The comedy rarely results in laughter on the scale of hilarious but the aforementioned excellent pacing of the story means that one soon loses count of the sheer volume of genuine giggles enjoyed by journey's end. Finally, some characters could have had slightly bigger parts to play, most notably Jackie Chan's character. However, to include a great number of parts on the platform where they are able to share out equal portions of significance remains no easy undertaking in film to this day. Chan's level of screen-time clicks well enough within the plot and he no doubt enjoyed a little more dialogue and action in the previous instalments, kindly making way in this one for new additions, such as the characters wonderfully voiced by Bryan Cranston and Kate Hudson.
To dip into an animated China filled with lively animals voiced by a committed, star-drenched cast, most likely for one last time, will be enough to laugh well but not excessively. Eyes shall moisten but tears may not pour from understandably sore eyes. However, ostensibly tired and clichéd elements of animated films, whether they are aimed towards didactic intentions or pure entertainment purposes, are employed with enough novel variations of flavour that the messages presented, principally about self-confidence, persistence, family and love, are more than worthy of and essential for children of all ages.
THE VERDICT: 8/10
