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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Snack Time! - 10 things the Parents Learned in the First Week of Kindergarten

Last week was the first week of junior kindergarten for the minions.  All things considered, for such a huge change in their lives, they are doing great.  I'm sure they learned a lot, but I'm convinced that maybe, just maybe, the parents learned more this past week.  You be the judge.

10 Things the Parents Learned in the First Week of Jr. Kindergarten

1. There is a fine balance between the size of the backpack, the size of the lunch bag and the size of the child.  If any of these ratios are slightly off, there will chaos including: left behind lunch bags, smushed class calendars or complaints that your child simply expects others to carry their bag for them, like they're royalty (or in that famous shopping bag scene in Pretty Woman).
2. Apparently, touching numerous garbage cans and then sticking your hands in your mouth is an awesome game to play on the walk from before and after care to school.  Thankfully our child care providers assure us that it is now understood that this isn't acceptable behaviour.  There has also been a newly developed appreciation for saying the word "disgusting" in our household this week, coincidence? Thankfully garbage day is only once a week!
3. Stories about a child's day at school can sound surprisingly similar to the movie Kung Fu Panda and The Lion King.  I'm pretty sure that someone's "bad" uncle didn't show up on the playground and steal a red ball from the entire kindergarten class.  Even if he did show up, I think we'd have been notified and he'd be in police custody by now.
4. The teachers have assured us via email that all children have been wonderful at school and are saving up all of the grouch for the evenings.  Thanks for that.
5. I previously thought there was nothing more disgusting than the remnants of pudding in an opened reusable container in a lunch bag....(litterless lunch has become the bane of my existence)
6. That is until I discovered what a banana peel can do to the insides of a lunch bag (seriously, it's like a banana crapped everywhere).
7. Neither of my children will accept a spork as a multi-functional form of cutlery and keep telling me how "silly" I am for packing your a fork with apple sauce.  
8. The homework is for the parents.  I spent over an hour and a half on paperwork and forms on the first night of school.
9. It will rain, a lot, but only during the fifteen minute time period when school children are walking to and from school.  The rest of the time they will refuse to wear their rain coats, attempt to fit them into their backpacks, but sadly the coats just won't fit because of all of the other random objects from the house that have been jammed into said backpack for no particular reason.
10. Uncertainty surrounding whether or not one of my children has become a sarcastic genius in recent weeks because they've either come up with a clever pun for their teacher's name, or simply can't pronounce it.

What did you learn as a parent during the first week of school?

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