Not Tenorm

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a great film. It's not my favourite Dreamworks franchise, that honor goes to How to Train Your Dragon, closely followed by Shrek BUT Kung Fu Panda is still a good franchise in its own right. Kung Fu Panda 3 was a real surprise to me, usually 3rd movies in animated series are quick cash grabs and lacking the excitement of the previous films - Not so with this movie. Infact, it may have converted me to be a Kung Fu Panda fan! It's improved in all areas - story, animation, 3D effects, script etc. etc. The other thing I liked is Jack Black/Po is very mellow and not crazy (or AS crazy) as Jack Black can usually be - Po grated on me a bit in the other movies but not this one. The story revolves around an ancient evil warrior who is collecting the chi of all the grand masters in the spirit world so he can escape to the mortal realm, and then he starts collecting the chi of the living masters so he has enough power to beat The Dragon Warrior and rule all of China. It's not a 5-star review as the story did feel slow at times and I don't believe the other original characters - Viper, Mantis, Crane, Tigress, Monkey - got as much focus as I was hoping, it's very much about Po and his new family. The opening scene completely sucked me in with the battle between Kai and Oogway in the the spirit realm - it felt very Dragonball Z (which I love). Final Verdict: It could be considered the best Kung Fu Panda film of the whole franchise. The animation is beautiful, the story is well written, the fight scenes are cool and not overly violent and most importantly, it felt fun! Highly recommended.