Variety
Maybe it’s just the “Star Wars” overload talking, but in hindsight, it’s hard not to see “Kung Fu Panda 2” (2011) as “The Empire Strikes Back” of animated mammals-and-martial-arts epics: Darker and scarier than the 2008 original, it took the winsome tale of a bouncy black-and-white furball, added traumatic layers of backstory, and climaxed with a startling revelation of parental identity. Despite a long-overdue family reunion that at times nudges the story into borderline-Ewok territory, it’s a pleasure to report that “Kung Fu Panda 3” is much more than the mere franchise equivalent of “Return of the Jedi.”
