Kung Fu Fighting: Movie Review Kung Fu Panda 3

The minions have been fans of Kung Fu Panda, Po, and The Furious Five for as long as they've been watching TV (so for about two years now).  They were so little when they first fell for the movie that Jack professed his love for the movie by telling me about how he wanted to learn "Kung Food" when he was older.  Despite us feeling pretty lukewarm about Kung Fu Panda 2, we decided to head out to the theatre to check out the third movie in the trilogy after the kids excitedly clamoured about the movie posters all over the city featuring Po.

Kung Fu Panda image courtesy of Forbes.

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 3

What's in it for the Kids?
This movie seems to be aiming at getting the laughs and attention from the kids instead of trying to reach out to the adults by offering dual level comedy.  There are wonderful family related themes in the trilogy's messaging surrounding parental roles when Po discovers he has two dads.  Also, there are super cute, cuddly pandas everywhere!  Parental warning, this is a Kung Fu movie, so there is a lot of fighting, as well as some exploration into life and death in "the spirit realm".

What's in it for the Adults?
Like all Kung Fu Panda movies adults can appreciate interesting fight scenes and alluring animation depicting the nature, landscapes, and cityscapes in this imaginary version of an ancient China based universe.  The voice work of Kate Hudson as Mei Mei, the raucous and over-confident, ribbon dancing panda is a solid and entertaining addition.  Celebrity favourites Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and Dustin Hoffman all reprise their beloved roles, and Bryan Cranston joins the cast as Po's long lost father Li.

Best Parts of the Movie
This movie got a lot of laughs from the kids.  I saw this movie with children aged four to nine and they were all thoroughly chuckling and jumping out of their seats during particular scenes. It was nice to see a focus on the lighter side of Tigress (Molly's favourite character) and having her work alongside Po, being forced to take a less active role in strategy, yet remaining a solid ally, strong, and confident, female role model.

Worst Parts of the Movie
I love JK Simmons (AKA the dad from Juno, and Vernon Schillinger from Oz), but he really seemed to phone in the villain role of Kai.  It felt like he couldn't decide on playing the bad guy a little bit funny or totally bad ass, and it really took away from the impact of his role.  There was a pretty significant dip in the plot about half way through the movie, and I nearly nodded off for about ten minutes, but then it clicked back in full throttle for the rest of the movie.

Overall Rating
I would rate this movie 3.5/5.  It's a lot better than Kung Fu Panda 2, and almost as good as the original film if you're a kid,   When asked about the best parts of the movie Molly said "everything" (as she's prone to do) and Jack said he liked Kai best (so maybe my thoughts on JK Simmons as Kai are off base from a child's perspective). I asked the minions if they wanted to own the movie they both provided a definitive yes.  Worth watching, particularly for the kids.

To read about villains and the ways they fit into a child's moral development of black and white issues click here.

To read my review of Inside Out click here.

To read my review of the 2015 Cinderella click here.


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I Want to Be a Bear

Chris often calls me "Mama Bear" particularly when I get overly protective of him, Molly, Jack or anyone who's made my inner circle.  Normally this title is something that I take as a compliment, like how the minions call Tigress from Kung Foo Panda "Mama Tiger".  She's strong, loyal, protective (albeit a little bit bitchy), but I take the association of strength and motherhood as a sign that I'm doing something right...most of the time.

The other day we went holiday shopping with my folks and the minions.  After Molly and Jack had picked out their Christmas gifts from Nana and Papa we went out to Swiss Chalet together for dinner. About half way through our meal a young man, about 15 or 16 years old approached our table.  He was wearing a white button down shirt and a pair of black pants and I assumed that he was a junior staff member or busboy.  He asked me if I was I was the mom, to which I said yes.  Next he asked me how old the minions were, what Molly and Jack's names were and then how to spell them.  I suspected this was for their dessert or something that came with their kids meal.  Next he turned to me and said, "Does he have a syndrome?  Because he really looks like he has a syndrome."

Jack poses with Barney the Bear at Grandma and Grandpas.

"Mama Bear" came with her claws out and paws a swinging.  I very curtly, and loudly, said no and asked him, "Could you please leave our table right now?".  I was incensed, I was furious.  He said okay and walked back to his table where his mom was sitting, he was holding a doll, that I hadn't seen previously.  It was then clear to me that he did not work there and that perhaps the a-hole had been me.  His mom had either not noticed "the incident" or was pretending that she had not noticed.

My parents turned to me, asked me what was wrong with me, told me to lighten up and calm down. Although everyone else at the table had also assumed the boy was restaurant staff, they figured out that he was a person with a learning disability around the same time that I got angry.  It finally dawned on me after I had asked the boy to leave,  that he sought Jack out and was trying to connect with him because he thought they had something in common and I had shut him down because of my own insecurities about Jack and his language and social development. Jack was unphased and continued eating his chicken and fries and my family continued to "poke the bear" asking me why I am so mean.  I debated going over to the table to apologize, but the boy seemed unbothered by my response so I decided to just let it lie.

Almost every time I fill out a form for Jack about his speech therapy and our new learning goals I have to fill out a question about what concerns me most.  Lately I've been putting in things like, Jack being left out, Jack not being included with other kids, Jack not being able to relate to other kids.  Basically, I want him to make friends, be happy and feel included.  I'm coming to realize that while Jack definitely needs speech therapy  to increase his social skills and better interact with his peers, the person who's most stressed out over his inclusion in "all the reindeer games" is me, not Jack.  These are my issues, not his.

One evening a few months ago Molly kept on saying that Jack was dumb and calling him dummy.  I tore a strip off her, big time, in a way that was probably over the top - because of my own "Mama Bear" fears that others will call him names.  Logically I know that Jack is a smart little guy and that, as his sister, it's Molly's given right to give him a hard time.  If my mom went all Grizzly Bear on us every time we teased or called each other names, she'd have spent a heck of a lot of time disciplining us.

I didn't want to write this post, but then Chris talked to me about why it's important for me to share this sort of thing.  Parenting can be an exercise in getting over your own insecurities and even though there are a number of things that I won't and don't share, avoiding this would be inauthentic.

I think I've found my first New Year's resolution: To take a deep breath, assess the situation and keep in mind that most of the time people mean well, no matter how much what they are saying upsets me before I go Kodiak on someone.  That's not to say that "Mama Bear" is in hibernation mode.  Don't mess with her cubs!

To read about some of the important things I've learned in our journey with Jack surrounding speech and language therapy click here.

To read about our first language assessment click here.