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Kung Fu Panda 3 |OT| How to Train Your Dragon Warriors

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The motif that plays whenever Kai is on screen is legit one of my favorite movie character "Themes" in a long, long time. I'd listen to it on its own easily.
 
wrestleman said:
The motif that plays whenever Kai is on screen is legit one of my favorite movie character "Themes" in a long, long time. I'd listen to it on its own easily.
Click to expand...

Yeah I bought the soundtrack walking out of the theater for that theme and the version of
Kung Fu Fighting at the end that alternates between Chinese and English vocals.

I really enjoyed the movie! It was absolutely beautiful, the stereoscopic presentation was excellent, and it was a worthy entry to the franchise that I feel is Dreamworks most consistently excellent. Definitely going to need the art book.
 
Boss Doggie said:
so how's the villain, is he psychologically scarred too like Lord Shen and Tai Lung?
Click to expand...

I definitely liked him a lot more than I expected to based on the trailers. The animation on him is really impressive, both in fighting, the style and poses presented are very strong and distinct, and in the subtle nods in movement to his more animalistic side, (breathing patterns, weight shifts, stances and gaits) as with the other villains.

I thought I would be distracted by J.K. Simmons voice, based on the trailers, but thought he actually gave a good performance and for the most part didn't sound so clearly like himself. His screen presences is rounded out by a strong contrasting color pallete and a striking musical theme (more distinct aurally from the past two villains).

Personally though, I think Lord Shen is still my favorite. Gary Oldman knocked it out of the park, and the unhinged nature of his performance was amplified by some great character animation. Plus, the technical achievement of just animating his tail still amazes me. He's a fun character to watch, visually striking. That's absolutely no knock against the other villains though.

Edit: And without going into spoilers, I'd say his motivation/backstory are more in line with Tai Lung from the first movie than Lord Shen.
 
Immediately after seeing Kung Fu Panda 3, I thought I had seen a truly great film. Unfortunately, two hours later and now writing a review, I realize just how forgettable a lot of this was. The action is still great, and the Eastern influences are always pleasant. I definitely appreciated this installment's look at the more spiritual side of things too. It's just... very been-there-done-that. I'm happy I saw it, don't get me wrong. It's just Kung Fu Panda 2 is legitimately a fantastic animated film; Kung Fu Panda 3 is a letdown in comparison. The score is lesser than usual (although there is a great theme for Kai, J.K. Simmons' villain), and it feels like a lot is missing. I did like the stylized visuals, which you only really get in this CGI franchise, and the characters are still lovable. Kai is a fantastic villain, voiced with vigor by Simmons, but he doesn't beat Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2. Bryan Cranston is alright as Po's biological dad, but the smartest decision the film makes is keeping Po's adopted father, Ping, around for a big role. He's always been the heart and soul of this franchise. Kung Fu Panda 3 is worth seeing if you're a fan of the franchise, but it's unfortunately more in line with the average original film than the emotional and action-packed second film.
 
Just finished it. Kinda disappointed. It was funnier than the first two, and CGI was amazing. But less action was the major disappointment. They try to cover it up with fancy CGI, perhaps someone would prefer this, but I don't.
It's still worth watching though, just for the laughs.
 
Watched it with friends today.

Unfortunately, definitely the weaker of the three. Still enjoyable and worth a watch. But in their mission to introduce all of these new characters, all of the ones we've known and loved get REALLY shafted in screen time.

Also extremely disappointed in the lack of Po's
Kung Fu. There wasn't a proper fight of him against the baddie. All so they could have scenes of the pandas training and shit.

Should you watch it? Yeah, it still is visually gorgeous. But it lacked the charm of the other films, the action and introduced too many characters so others get little screen time. Humor was great though
 
Admiral Woofington said:
Watched it with friends today.

Unfortunately, definitely the weaker of the three. Still enjoyable and worth a watch. But in their mission to introduce all of these new characters, all of the ones we've known and loved get REALLY shafted in screen time.

Also extremely disappointed in the lack of Po's
Kung Fu. There wasn't a proper fight of him against the baddie. All so they could have scenes of the pandas training and shit.

Should you watch it? Yeah, it still is visually gorgeous. But it lacked the charm of the other films, the action and introduced too many characters so others get little screen time. Humor was great though
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This sounds like the story was too thin for the characters so they had to introduce new ones to fill in :/
Maybe the series will drop a bit of quality from now on.
 
Damn it Facebook:

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Anyway was going to be really hard to top Kung Fu Panda 2 heh. Still enjoyed it a lot, but it felt like it could have been longer. They did some really neat stuff with the visuals through. The spirit realm especially was beautiful and I like that there were a couple motion comic like scenes too.
 
Saw it over the weekend. It was very beautiful, and the music made me tear up a bit in the first scene (I really liked Kai's theme), but I feel like it was definitely the weakest of the three.
 
Finally saw it, Po's growth as a character and martial artist in 2 felt like a natural progression for him. Having Shen there to connect his past to his current growth was really fantastic. In 3 everything felt really forced. You don't ever expect Po & Company to lose, but the journey to the resolution should feel natural. It really felt like they went down the exact same path as the first and second films, but unlike the 2nd movie where they upped the ante and Po had a legitimate and tragic reason for his growth being stunted, here, it felt like they had to force the whole "I STILL don't know who I am" down our throats again while dragging a bunch of random quirky panda characters along for the ride.

The thing I felt really killed the movie for me was the villain. Kai was a fun villain but didn't compare to Lord Shen, hell he barely compared to Tai Lung. Just cards on the table here. Tai Lung felt he deserved the power of the Dragon Scroll, he was practically raised from birth to believe this, was denied and snapped as a result, went nuts in the valley and people were killed as a result. 20 years later he killed most of the prison guards and came for the scroll again and was killed by Poe(Or banished to spirit realm, according to KFP3) after confronting his former master who taught Po. Decent backstory, good all around-fights(Tai Lung vs Shi-fu had alot of feels), pretty good ending.

Lord Shen commited genocide(or at least attempted to), because a prophecy told him a Warrior of black and white would ruin his plans for conquest one day. He was banished by his family as a result, raised an army, came back with a weaponized version of his family's legacy, reclaimed his city, killed a master, blew up his old palace, murdered his wolf captain and died never understanding why he was wrong, while tormenting Po throughout the film due to his igonrance. Lord Shen was a fantastic villain.

Kai ummm, tried to save Oogway's life, succeeded, then wanted Chi, Oogway stopped him before he could take a lot of people's Chi, which probably saved the few lives of the people's who's Chi he did collect before this happened(Ie he killed no one), banished him for 500 years, he returns, nobody knows who the hell he is, nobody has any sort of connection to him, and he decides to collect more Chi. He's stopped(again nobody dies) and...yeah. That's it. Kai sucked lol.

So yeah that's my thoughts, it was a fun movie, it got a chuckle on occasion, but even the fights are pretty forgettable compared to the first 2. I remember The Five vs Tai Lung. I remember Tai Lung's escape, I remember Tai Lung vs Shi-Fu and Tai Lung vs Po, all great stuff. I remember Shen's return to Gongmen City and fight with the Council. Po's duel with the wolf on the cart, Po & the Five vs the Wolves, and them climbing up a collapsing building, even Tigeress/Po's mini-scrap. From 3 man I just watched it and I can't really recall to you any of the fights that I'd like to see again, hell I might go back and watch the first 2 films again. =/
 
Boss Doggie said:
Man I hope this isn't the sign of decline.
Click to expand...

Not every sequel can be as great as 2 was. 3 was the weakest of the 3 but still really enjoyable as it is. None of these have gone the animated sequel route of "add in a couple new characters and fuck any actual interesting plot". They're taking it seriously like with HTTYD. And if they make another one I'm sure they'll polish it as much as they can.

I mean, Kai's theme, that art direction,
Oogway's
return. I loved it.
 
So saw 3, great animation but the story and villain were lacking. 2 is my favorite so far, Lord Shen is just a much better villain and the fights were more entertaining in 2, also the music is better in 2.
But 3's looks damn good.
 
Personally, I loved it. I liked it more than Part 1, and it's just under Part 2. Part 2 is nearly flawless, though, so I'm not disappointed it didn't match it.

But I loved the animation, loved the humor, and loved the drama with Po's father(s). It really resonated with me.

If Kung Fu Panda 1 is a B+ to me, and Kung Fu Panda 2 was an A+, this is a very solid A-.

This is one of those great movie trilogies where every film is still great and I think the Kung Fu Panda franchise is still the most pleasant surprise I've seen in decades. I adored this movie, even if it didn't quite reach KFP2's heights, and I had a very good time with it.

I already am awesomely proud...
 
Definitely the worst of the 3. Really felt the like the humor overshadowed the drama and action. The first 2 always managed to balance the comedy in a way that ensured the plot never lost focus. Here they were trying too hard to make the movie funny. And yeah, as others have said Kai was definitely the most shallow villain of the franchise.
 
Saw it yesterday and loved it!

Thought it was waaaay more fun than the latest Pixar movies.

And damn, the CGI quality was fantastic. FAAAANTAAASTIC.

The mini pandas were the cutest.

Loved the Main Theme of the evil guy.
 
I don't agree with many of you, I think the third is the best of the three, and that's after watching one and two immediately preceding three.

I don't think Kai
is too shallow,
his story just had more to do with
Oogway
than any of the other characters. That's why
Oogway is in the movie so much. He's necessary to give Kai his depth.
If anything, Kai is CLICHE, as
"Good Guy Gets Power And Turns Bad Because of It"
is pretty cliche, but Lord Shen and
"Villain Kills Every Last One of GROUP because GROUP Is Foretold To Destroy Him, But Whoops He Forgot One"
is just as lifted as Kai is. Cliche doesn't mean shallow.
 
I think Lord Shen is a bit more poignant because he goes beyond that. He is psychologically traumatized/scarred and he can't comprehend why
Po could let go of his dark past and recover from it while he couldn't, that he realized his death is his only way to find himself peace
.
 
Whoever decided terrible actress Kate Hudson doing a terrible Kristen Wiig impression was a solid foundation for a character should be shot out of a cannon.

Other than that I dug the movie a lot even if the stakes never seemed too high. The visualization of the Spirit Realm was really great and there was some really fantastic color direction throughout.
 
Just saw this. I liked it, but it was kind of underwhelming. Fight scenes in particular were less hype compared to the first two. Second one is still the best in balancing humor, heart, and action imo. That said, it's a really gorgeous movie, and they do some really cool stuff in the final act that ties the trilogy together. Gonna miss this series.
 
Agree with those who found it enjoyable but disappointing/underwhelming. I loved KFP and KPF2. This one is lighter and less satisfying that those. The only emotional connection scenes were flashbacks that were also in KFP2.

Action and production values are great. Several characters are not given enough to do. Po's dad Li , and of course Mr. Ping, were great however. Alas, the spark was absent from this one - but still an enjoyable film.

I did love the pre-film Dreamworks introduction with Po climbing many STAIRS trying to get to the crescent moon though. HAW HAW HAW
 
I thought the story on this one was the weakest out of the three but it's a good conclusion to everything the first two set up.

I loved the vibrant colors though. To me this series is Dreamworks' best. It boggles my mind how the same studio could make this and then make the Trolls movie. That trailer was terrible.
 
Finally, movie is out here.

Goddamn it GAF, you told me this would be a terrible movie.

It was amazing! Not as good as 2 of course, since it has all of the aspects right, but I think this movie is on part with 1, if sometimes better. What 1 has is being "new", but I think 3 managed to once again, do a sequel that involves making the character remain relevant/updated without turning him into shit.

With that said, I can definitely understand why people will rate this lower. This movie isn't very emotional. It has its moments (definitely the silent moments in Panda Village), but it's not on par with the first and DEFINITELY the second movies.

The movie is mostly going for a mystical element of kung fu. And well, I can see why people will be turned off by that, due to how common that is with anime. But I'd argue there's a reason why it's common - because it's the usual path of an Eastern storytelling towards someone involved in martial arts, attaining enlightenment and transcendence.

The action is really good, especially the spirit realm fights. Oh boy, you have no idea how much I love action in animated media (which is why I enjoyed Avatar TLA), and this movie continues on delivering. And the visuals are a spectacle, especially the colors and the changing of animation. And no one mentioned about the jade zombies looking really cool. And come on, the funny lines are funny. "There is so much wisdom I can't find it!" still cracks me up.

My only gripe is that the comedy can kill some of the pacing but I thought they build up a lot (the Jade Palace gang for instance shows Po/Shang bonding). We never get much on Kai, but I think that's the point. He's you're usual wuxia villain Jackie Chan beats up in his film, and we all know despite their paper-thin-ness they are still a spectacle to watch. The
everyone in the village does the chi thing
is definitely a problem, though I guess it's the "in hour of need" thing.

I really hope this "finalizes" the series. The movie wraps up the trilogy perfectly.

and if you ask my ranking, it's 2 > 3 >= 1
 
Saw this a while back. Thought it was great. I love this franchise so much. I was a little sad that
we didn't see tai lung in the spirit world since he got the wooshi finger hold and should've been there just chilling.
 
Maddness said:
Saw this a while back. Thought it was great. I love this franchise so much. I was a little sad that
we didn't see tai lung in the spirit world since he got the wooshi finger hold and should've been there just chilling.
Click to expand...

Maybe Kai absorbed him
 
Wow I did not expect this movie to be soo good. I saw BvS yesterday and left the theater disappointed and angry. I got back home and decided to find a lighthearted fluffy movie to relieve my bitterness. I have been watching classic Kung Fu movies on Netflix so while flipping through my recommendations I stumbled on Kung Fu Panda and decided to give it a go, assuming that I'd fall asleep midway through. Instead I ended up watching both Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2 way past midnight and could barely wait until evening to now see 3 in theaters. Very heartwarming series (and funny too). Nobody told me Dreamworks was putting out good stuff, I should have paid attention earlier.
 
I really think their only legitimate bad movies are Shrek 3, Shark Tale, and Home. And I got the feeling Trolls too.
 
Boss Doggie said:
I really think their only legitimate bad movies are Shrek 3, Shark Tale, and Home. And I got the feeling Trolls too.
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I haven't watched any Dreamworks film since... Shrek 2 I think? The studio just has such a bad reputation especially in comparison with Ghibli and Pixar (and I don't even hold Pixar in that high of an esteem). On the surface Kung Fu Panda seems to share the same warning signs with an anthropomorphic cliche concept stuffed with lots of celebrity voices (presumably voicing 'themselves' instead of actual characters). But honestly I couldn't identify any of the actors, aside for James Wong, until credits rolled and instead found myself deeply immersed in the story.

What about the Kung Fu Panda TV show and specials? Are those worth watching?
 
Specials? Good. Carries the spirit of the movie properly. They are also well-animated. TV series? Crap. Very few instances of it being good.

Most of the bad reputation did come from what I call the "dark era" but even then it's mostly okay-mediocre stuff with enjoyable moments in them. And like I said the only really bad stuff from the dark era were Shark Tale and Shrek 3. Over the Hedge I think was funny and Bee Movie was decent if you get over the stupid "how do bees fly?" and mosquito shit.
 
Honestly, as a fan of the two, I was pretty disappointed. This felt really childish, lazy and underdeveloped. Very superfluous experience, much more of a toddler-friendly affair than the other two.
 
I really enjoyed this. Fun little movie. Not as funny as 2. The panda angle is sorta a easy one to roll on, but they are cute. I wish Mantis, Viper, Tigress, Crane and Monkey had bigger parts because they are the most fun. Everyone but Tigress barely had any lines:(
 
So yeah, rewatching the film really makes you appreciate this more. While it is definitely not 2 (hands down the best KFP movie and I'd argue, I feel, it surpassed The Prince of Egypt for me), I'd argue this is much better than the first film.

Really, the only glaring weakness this film has is Kai, and even then that's only because we compare him to the older films' villains. As his own though, he is still pretty good. He is comedic, but at the same time menacing. He also had a really ferocious death too.

Lot of visual motifs too that really gives a nod to older films. Like how Oogway passed in the first film is him
activating the Finger Hold on himself, to send himself to the Spirit Realm
.

I'd argue this is the first film done more right. It understands the virtue of the subject without leaning a bit to the "be yourself" motif and at the same time doesn't hang things around. The Finger Hold in the first film, while great and shows Po's mastery, came off a bit of a surprise with no explanation. This one uses all of the motifs and ideas to create a solid story with no holes.

With that said I really hope this is the last film as it closes perfectly.
 
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