Critique: Kung Fu Panda 3 (Film) 1/2

Water buffalo Kai escapes from the Spirit Realm to the Mortal Realm by collecting the qi of all dead kung fu masters, including Oogway. He collects the qi of living masters, turning all in his collection to ‘jombies’ (zombies made of jade). It’s all up the panda Po to stop Kai from enacting revenge and gaining power.

 

*****SPOILERS*****

 

 

Animation Problems

 

I have a lot to say positively about the animation/general finish of this film. There were some glaring issues, however.

The sound levels are all over the place. It’s annoying: I shouldn’t be playing with the sound remote every five minutes.

Li Shan’s head is attached to the front of the neck. All other panda’s heads are on top of their necks. It doesn’t even look nice so I don’t see the justification.

This first one isn’t a complaint about the film but its title screen. The dots that show which item the viewer has selected blends into the background, meaning it can’t be seen unless you really look for it.

The physical details of the jombies are hard to make out when the room is remotely dark or remotely sunny. When the ambient light is just right, the jombies are clear and the detail can be appreciated. But the light of the room has to be perfect for the animation to not be bad. None of the other animation in the film has this issue.

In the final scene of Kung Fu Panda 2, we see pandas in a terraced farm. This isn’t seen in Kung Fu Panda 3. Yes, seeing every part of the village isn’t feasible, however as the audience’s first impression of the village was that terrace, it’s an odd choice not to show that terrace in the third film.

 

 

Story Problems

 

A lot of what happened simply didn’t make sense.

After Po ‘breaks up’ with Li, Ping says, “I can’t even enjoy being right about everything.” But how does he know what Li just said to Po? The bridge, and either side of it, were clear so we know Ping couldn’t have overheard it. Also, Mr Ping runs from off screen up to Po, so we know Po didn’t tell Ping off screen because why would Ping hear what happened, run off and then return?

When Po demonstrates the Wushi Finger Hold, Kai says, “Did Oogway teach you that?” Po looks shocked, wondering how Kai knew that. But Po only saw Shifu do it, and already knew it existed. Plus Oogway died early on, so there was no chance for Oogway to teach Po such an advanced technique, especially as Po’s training was abysmal even after Oogway died.

Po teaches whole Valley of Peace how to master qi. But saw how dangerous it was for kai to learn qi because almost unlimited power. Hell of a risk. Po’s responsible for protecting the Valley of Peace so he shouldn’t be doing this.

 

The secret panda village itself is problematic for me.

As Li Shan is at the secret panda village, one can assume that all other panda refugees from Shen’s genocide are in this village. It being secret would make sense because they would want to hide from Shen.

However, Kai took Oogway to a secret panda village five hundred years ago. Yes, the refugees could have joined an already-existing panda village. But why was this already-existing panda village secret?

Furthermore, the film does everything to suggest that the secret panda village Oogway went to is the same one Po goes to. If it is a continuation, then why don’t they know qi? The only explanation would be that they aren’t the same panda villages.

Finding solutions leads back to problems that you already tried to explain away, creating circular arguments.

 

 

Other Issues

 

There are three issues that should have been cut out.

Shifu makes Po the teacher of the Furious Five, but the Furious Five having a teacher makes no sense. Teachers instruct and supervise their students. However, the Furious Five are masters. Surely masters don’t need instruction or supervision? Also, discipline is necessary to become a master so they have the discipline to practice without needing a watchful eye.

As Mei Mei is ribbon dancing, she keeps on complementing herself but acting like they come from Po. The way it’s angled is towards humour but it doesn’t hit the mark. It’s cringey and doesn’t feel organic.

Po constructs a dragon to defeat Kai. It’s Asian and yet it breathes fire? The creators keep on mixing mythology.

Grand Master Oogway tells Po, “The first time we met, I saw the future and past of kung fu, both sides of yin yang.” Not, the future/past have nothing to do with yin yang so this was a weird comment from Oogway. One could argue that these two were separate items on a list, but a third unrelated item would have showed us this without confusing the audience. An easy fix.

 

 

Questions

 

There are some questions. Their solutions aren’t freely apparently but justifications can be created with effort.

Kai somehow knows Po is in the secret panda village. Maybe he absorbed the memories of Mantis and Crane when he turned them into jombies? Kai did know that Po was the Dragon Warrior and I doubt people would have spoken to him because he’s scary.

Oogway is blotted out by glowing petals. Po says, “No, don’t go,” a reference of how Oogway died in the first film. The thing is, Po didn’t see this happen to Oogway in the first film. There’s no reason why Shifu couldn’t have told the Furious Five and Po. Also, as Po turned into petals when he went to the Spirit Realm, maybe this is a known occurrence for kung fu masters and po, would have to know considering 1 he’s obsessed with kung fu and 2 he’s a kung fu master.

Tigress, Ping and the pandas use qi to heal Po, even the toddler. But qi is a difficult technique. One might say that maybe pandas have a natural nack for it, and Tigress is a kung fu master so unsurprising she would know it, but how could mr ping know it?