While Kung Fu Panda 3 shakes you off its fuzzy tail a little to begin with, taking the series in a slightly spiritual direction, it doesn’t take it long to win you over to deliver yet another high-kicking dumpling of animated family fun. It’s got more pandas than ever before (hopefully the real world will catch up in the not too distant future), great visuals, a solid story, brilliant characters and enough good humour to cheer up any negative chi you might have tucked under the lower portion of your dragon robe.
The DVD release arrived on the 11th July 2016 and it’s an instant must-see for any fans of the series, or if you’re just keen on the idea of pandas fighting back a little. It’s easily the kind of film that will pick up a number of plays over the years, whether it’s for the kids or your own collection.
Having had two installments of the series already, it was never going to be a simple job for the third film to come up with a new direction and make it stick, but that’s what it does. The story about Po’s father arriving out of nowhere just as a new threat rises from the ashes in China works very well to set things up for another heartfelt and action-packed adventure, as well as bringing in some great new characters to Kung Fu Panda 3.
Jack Black makes the perfect Po, and he’s on good form in the film, with the confines of the belly-busting panda to work within. The rest of the cast is just as funny and emotive, with great deadpan humour from Dustin Hoffman (Little Fockers) as Master Shifu, serious intent from Angelina Jolie (The Tourist) as Tigress and quick quips from Seth Rogan (The Interview) as Mantis. Jackie Chan (Rush Hour) delivers some funny lines as Monkey, James Hong (Wayne’s World 2) is as ridiculous and paternal as ever as Po’s adoptive dad Mr. Ping, Kate Hudson (Deepwater Horizon) is hilarious as his over-eagre admirer Mei Mei and Randall Duk Kim (John Wick) is tranquility incarnate as the spirit of Grand Master Oogway. There’s even a cameo from Jean-Claude Van Damme (Universal Soldier: Regeneration) as Master Croc.
The new additions to the cast are just as effective with great tones from both Brian Cranston (Trumbo) as Po’s dad Li and J.K. Simmons (Zootropolis) as the big bad Kai. While we were initially a little underwhelmed by the look of Kai, an ancient Yak who resurfaces from the spirit realm after defeating the spirit of Grand Master Oogway, he’s actually pretty impressive as a baddy for Po and the other Kung Fu masters to face. A significant part of this is the strength of J.K. Simmons’ voice acting skills, but when you add some dramatic animation and effects into the mix he becomes a formidable beast with epic moves.
In addition to the slapstick comedy and more obvious one-liners, there are a good amount of subtle jokes to keep an ear out for. It gives the film a little maturity to go along with all of the fun, action and visual style.
The Kung Fu Panda 3 DVD is a massive contender for a new addition to the home entertainment collection. It looks totally awesome all the way through, skerdooshes like a high speed noodle and delivers a double chain scimitar of attack thanks to a solid storyline, great dialogue and chi-powered comedy.
Kung Fu Panda 3 DVD: 4.2/5
