Kung Fu Panda 3

Panda Po (voiced by Jack Black) meets his long-lost father (Brian Cranston), just as yet another supervillain (J.K. Simmons) rises to conquer the world. The formula of this gaudy franchise is growing stale, and the dialogue by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger bounces back and forth between pompous mumbo-jumbo and fart-poop-and-pee jokes. Still, the movie has its compensations. Like the first two, it’s stylishly pretty to look at, and the over-the-top fight scenes and visual humor (courtesy of directors Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh) are amusing. Also, the minotaur-like villain here is an improvement on the scrawny peacock of the first sequel. Once again, the all-star supporting cast (Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Kate Hudson, etc.) is largely wasted; the only voice we really remember is Black’s. J.L.