Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Directed by Alessandro Carloni & Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Starring Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, J. K. Simmons, James Hong, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Randall Duk Kim, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Kate Hudson, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu. [PG]

Second sequel is more of the same. Rather inconsequential plot shows a vengeful spirit warrior (Simmons) returning to the mortal realm to defeat all the kung fu masters he can find; meanwhile, the Dragon Warrior (still voiced by Black) bonds with his birth papa (Cranston) and travels to a panda village to master the use of chi. Fans of the last two will probably get what they’re looking for, in spite of a thin and predictable story, and a tendency to become overly “cutesy” at times. Though the action and visuals don’t push the form past what the series previously delivered, the animation is still satisfyingly smooth, swift and stylish. New characters don’t leave much of an impression (after the foes voiced by Ian McShane and Gary Oldman in the last two chapters, Simmons’ baddie borders on the generic), and most of the Furious Five don’t rate much better than a glorified cameo—Liu probably gets two lines, tops. For this outing, Hans Zimmer composed the score without John Powell’s contributions.

63/100