75
Just complicated enough to reward steady viewers and just simple enough for parent escorts to enjoy without much prior knowledge.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
The movie undercuts its own undercutting.
80
It’s cohesive and cathartic enough to make a fourth entry unnecessary, but at the same time, it’s entertaining and gorgeous enough to make the prospect of same something to welcome.
63
The movie's story and cute characters are geared toward the younger crowd, per usual. But while it lacks the wonder and nuance of earlier Pandas, there are enough new faces and wowing, Asian-influenced style to also keep parents amused for an hour and a half.
80
Emotionally, dramatically and perhaps most of all visually (it’s worth seeing in 3D), this delightful trilogy capper is almost as generously proportioned as its cuddly warrior hero, restoring a winning lightness of touch to the saga while bringing its long-running themes of perseverance and self-knowledge to satisfying fruition.
67
Austin Chronicle by Kimberley Jones
This is a visually stunning picture, a rhapsody of saturated color and contrasting texture, from the painstaking detail of coarse panda fur to the painterly dreamscape that is the spirit world.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
While the storyline, in which Jack Black’s dumpling-downing Dragon Warrior is reunited with his biological father, doesn’t quite fulfill its prophecies, dramatically speaking, visually speaking it’s all quite impressive — one of those very rare animated features that completely justifies its 3D glasses.
75
It finds a benefit in its genre affiliation, evenly distributing its action in quick bursts of fluidly animated fight choreography.
91
Tampa Bay Times by Steve Persall
A singular look, an exemplary vocal cast, and a narrative arc like a caress. That'll be the Kung Fu Panda franchise's legacy, the idea that shouldn't have worked but did, beautifully and with its own chi.
60
Screen International by Tim Grierson
Fitfully amusing and certainly heartfelt, this latest chapter in the likeable animated saga will work best with younger viewers, but its life lessons and emotional beats feel slathered on rather than deftly woven into the storyline.