First Movie Review, Third of the Trilogy

Goooooooood morning, Vietnam! Ah, excuse me, I was getting ahead of myself. As it may be evident, I have decided to give it a go at this whole blog movie review thing. Before we kick things off with the very first review, how about a quick overview of what to expect?

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Man, I just can't handle the truth of that movie,” or contemplating just how movies could be the stuff dreams are made of? Perhaps you would like to gain insight on context of A Few Good Men (you better bet your butt I will do a review of it in the near future) or The Maltese Falcon or whatever movie reference is made. Hopefully, with a meticulous blend of recent and classic films, I will provide fair reviews with plenty of trivia or analogies for your enjoyment. By no means will anybody have to agree with me, and frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn either way; but if you were considering watching a film and wanted confirmation on whether or not to see it, I may be able to help.

I was kung fu fighting with everybody over what the first review should be. I decided to start on a contemporary, fresh, and positive foot. Thus, we kick this blog off with Kung Fu Panda 3! If you haven't seen the previous 2, those are also recommended-- especially the second simply for the villainous peacock voiced perfectly by Gary Oldman. The trilogy is known to revolve around the kid-friendly humor of Jack Black as the titular Po. Po is surrounded by the Furious Five with voicing lended from stars like Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, and even Jackie Chan.

If you want to talk about an animated film, perhaps it is fitting to first discuss the visual flair and style. The films have always been eye-poppingly colorful, but this is where the third stands out with one of its highest points. There is an added focus with huge effort put forth into the research behind the Chinese setting, and it pays off tremendously. The viewer is drawn away from what happens during some montage scenes to admire the picturesque landscapes and wonderful use of silhouettes in front of the blazing sun. It's obvious to see the thought behind angles that pay tribute to ancient drawings. This has always been most evident with the flashbacks using 2D animation to grasp the audiences' attention. There was one strange moment in a flashback that suddenly switched from 2D to 3D, however, and it drew away from the moment.

Onwards to the plot! What is a huge aspect forced into any kid's film? A theme, a moral, or a lesson. This story of Kai (J. K. Simmons) being an old friend of Oogway (really, super, wrinkled old turtle) turned bad and wanting revenge is nothing to write home about, but the trilogy continues with a nice warmy feeling of letting kids know that they should only try to be one person: his or her self.

What the plot does allow for is the banding of the characters. And it's quite obvious that the cast and crew were simply having a fun time when making this, not taking anything too seriously and not forcing any idea or character. The addition of the panda village is sure to adore all ages with all the personalities from the ribbon twirler to the dumb, compassionate hugger; if you don't chuckle at the chubby baby pandas attempting to get around, then you are a monster. Sadly, despite special credit to Jackie Chan as Monkey, he continues his tradition of having less than 10 lines to speak throughout the film. C'mon Jackie, bring us some nostalgia.

For the first time, a huge American animated feature film partnered with a Chinese firm for production, and I truly believe that helped the aesthetic of the briskly paced film. This movie works so well as a third installment, but don't be fooled for one second that it will be the last. I'm putting down 5 dumplings that says the next film introduces a love interest to the rotund star.

Expect tomorrow a much more serious film, and one with huge critical acclaim at that. I hope to pour an average of 2 film reviews a week, and any and all suggestions from the good, to the bad, to the ugly are welcome. Hope this was well worth (I'll settle with somewhat worth) your time and will come back for more!