“Kung fu panda” probably remains the best descriptor of Jack Black’s persona we’ve managed to come up with, and even three movies in, his voice turn as Po is the perfect encapsulation of his buoyant energy: eagerly clumsy, massively delicate, cuddly and cute enough that it’s easy to forget that there’s some bite in those jaws. By the time he’s surrounded by an entire secret panda village, learning the ways of their even-more-prodigious eating, and teaching them some rudimentary kung fu, it’s obvious how much the series relies on his intensity: even Bryan Cranston as his long-lost father can’t capture the awkward energy of a big oaf moving gracefully, let alone a naif facing down the apocalypse with his fists.
In fairness to his fellow pandas, it may just be that they don’t have the backing of the other two movies carrying them over to this one. Though it still has a bit of the snotty silliness of Po’s first pair of adventures, it’s not hard to tell that the chi is fading here, hitting up some pretty familiar beats, and not exactly working through them with the elegance of a master.Read More
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