Animated film franchises have a way of making you feel old. When you watch live-action movie series featuring your favorite stars over a period of many years, the actors at least have the grace to age along with their audiences. But the characters in animated movies tend to always look the same, as demonstrated by Po, the hero of, he’s exactly the same big, furry lug that he was in the original film, which came out in, gulp, 2008.
, sounding more gravelly than ever), orders him to relinquish his title and assume the role of Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. Po, who’s preoccupied with starting his own noodle restaurant, resists at first, but ultimately complies with the directive that also requires him to find and train his successor.
Some fans will be disappointed by the absence of the Furious Five, but The Chameleon makes for a pretty strong villain. Not to mention that she provides the opportunity for the animators to get a workout providing the many creatures into which she morphs.
This humor in this edition doesn’t seem as broad as usual, with the mostly low-key laughs coming from amusing visual gags like a very careful chase through a jade shop and such throwaway lines as Po plaintively asking, “Are my adventures really that regional?” when no one in Juniper City recognizes him. Many of the gags are either derivative or homages, depending on your perspective, including the vicious killer bunnies that bring to mind. But that doesn’t make them any less funny.