Five years after the last movie of the animated saga of the karate-kicking panda hit the screens, Kung Fu Panda 3 finally arrived and didn’t disappoint. This charming action comedy martial arts film is amusing, heartfelt and seeped with life lessons.

The story has moved on and now Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman), Po’s (Jack Black) dear teacher is retiring and he makes Po take on his responsibilities. But teaching kung fu is not as easy as learning it and Po soon finds this out in his unsuccessful attempts to teach his friends, the Furious Five members Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan).

Soon Po’s long-lost biological father, Li (Bryan Cranston), arrives and Po is pleasantly surprised. After this reunion and Po’s visit to his home in the secret Panda Village, our chubby karate-kicking panda has to fight off danger in the form of Kai (J.K. Simmons), a spirit warrior locked in an ancient battle with Po’s benevolent mentor, the tortoise Oogway (Randall Duk Kim).

The blade-wielding Kai has been doing the unthinkable – stealing collect the chi (energy) of China’s greatest kung fu masters in the Spirit Realm and turning them into fierce zombies. And he now wants Po’s....

The rest of the story depicts Po’s personal evolution into a kung fu master and defeating Kai and freeing the captive chi of the fung ku masters.

Visually, the animation is sophisticated and awesome. The story is simple, with just the right amount of twists. The pace is fast and the fight in the climax between Po and Kai is dazzlingly.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is pretty good for a sequel and is living up to the expectations, at least mine.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 12th, 2015