Whether it's from the films, series, or other KFP media, we all probably have at least one character we could do without. Who might they be? List / discuss it here.
Well, nothing all that new seemed to be in that podcast, at least concerning KFP... I guess it's not surprising though.
I think Nelson has talent and has definitely contributed to KFP, and it is a nice surprise that she says "No" to TiPo. But I just don't agree with some of her opinions and decisions. I still prefer the director team of Stevenson and Osborne.
Oh great, cue the TiPo shipper brigade...
Come on, people. It's just a funny little vlog with Po and Mei Mei. Enough with the defensive TiPo freak outs.
If they do make a 4th movie.. I hope Crane gets a bigger role since I feel like he is shrinking more in role in each passing movie.. Maybe the 4th will give some focus on him about since after all the things that happened to him in the 3 movies and Legends of Awesomeness(if they decide to deem it canon, I hope..), especially in the 3rd, he lost all of his confidence(which was a big part in his past, and this will be worse that the time in Legends of Awesomeness) and he felt jealousy in his heart(he might forgive Po since he is the dragon warrior.. but Tigress on the other hand..) That's all I have in thoughts for now..
I actually thought Crane's role took a slight step up in KFP 3, at least from the second movie where his most memorable moments were very fleeting (Wings of Justice, dropping his jaw). In KFP 3, he actually got to confront the main villain and had to put up a fight without Po or the others to back him up. I appreciated that scene.
The MeiPo hope still lives. lol
I'm kind of surprised they'd still be releasing clips after KFP 3, but I wouldn't mind seeing more.
^There are probably LoA characters I dislike more than Shen, but he's still one of my least favorites.
And yeah, Tigress is my top least favorite. And even if I liked her, I think I'd find the fandom's obsessive bias towards her annoying.
^"Least favorite" doesn't have to mean "trashing" a character, but OK. I'm definitely not that neutral though.
My top worst:
Whether it's from the films, series, or other KFP media, we all probably have at least one character we could do without. Who might they be? List / discuss it here.
To Kai's credit, he did:
Technically, I think the reason he ultimately lost was because he was outnumbered. In terms of power/strength, he's still probably the highest of the film villains. But you can only go so far with the believability of skill levels and all that in KFP. How long did it take Po to become a kung fu warrior and beat Tai Lung?... Exactly.
I think the idea of Kai, as Guillermo del Toro said, was a cool idea. A villain coming back from the dead and collecting chi, using kung fu masters as zombie minions; that's smarter than using lame-brained wolves and gorillas. I don't mind the idea of a more comedic villain either (though tbh I didn't find him that funny). I appreciate they didn't try to go same "sympathetic villain" route they did with Tai Lung and tried to repeat with Shen, though there are bits that allude to how he felt wronged by Oogway.
Still, his story could've had more to it to help connect the dots. Like, what if he first discovered chi? When Oogway was injured, what if it was Kai who healed him and then taught him to use chi instead of the pandas? And seeing this power, Kai later sought to use chi in unnatural ways, like resurrecting the dead or becoming immortal. Oogway disagreed, they fought, he banished him to the Spirit Realm. Kai had been the one to discover chi and even used it to save Oogway's life, and Oogway had used it against him.
I dunno, maybe not the greatest idea, but just something like that might've shed more light on why Kai felt so inclined to steal chi and erase Oogway's memory.
Cool theme though, yes. Kai has the best theme of the KFP villains, IMO.
Despite all the criticism towards it, LoA did have some good stuff. "Crane on a Wire" has to be my favorite episode. "The Secret Museum of Kung Fu" was also pretty good.
But, I don't plan on watching the final episodes, since I'm just not that interested in LoA anymore, and my opinions about it has grown more negative as it's dragged on. It also didn't help that "Shifu's Ex" was the start of the final season (least favorite episode ever, though the follow-up "Crazy Little Ling Called Love" might be even worse judging by the summary).
Still, I actually like some LoA episodes more than KFP 2, and maybe a few more than KFP 3. And if both Madagascar and HTTYD can have two shows, who knows what's in store for the franchise? I'd be open to DreamWorks having another shot at a show, just not with Nickelodeon.
^ Do you have the DVD or Blu-Ray? I ordered mine on BR, but I probably won't get it for a couple of days.
I guess I'm just not on the KFP 2 bandwagon, or the "darker and sadder is better" reasoning for that matter. But, opinions.
First KFP still feels the the most balanced and well-done overall. Action, comedy, story, characterization, drama-- it was handled the best, IMO. It feels like it had the most genuine message and was the broadest in tone, whereas both sequels feel like they shift to cater to certain audiences more.
Also, people really don't give enough credit to the original film's directors. They really put a lot of thought and care into Kung Fu Panda, a concept that sounded so understandably dumb and ready to become a project for another DreamWorks spoof -- before those two guys decided otherwise.
^ I got it from Amazon. I guess it serves me right, since the Amazon description didn't mention the bonus features. Though I'm not sure if any of the digital retailers from that site did...
OK, so I caved in and bought the digital version, and I can confirm that there are bonus features included. It's just the movie. And it was only available in standard definition for my computer.
So, yeah. Disappointment.
^ @Spottedstar
I was going to wait for the physical release too. I don't know if that'll be a problem, both of us trying to be spoiler-free until then.
I don't get why they'd hold back on the DVD / Blu-ray over a after this... KFP 3 seems to be a magnet for weird release dates.
My "top three":
My two favorite secondaries:
First film is still my favorite. But yeah, KFP 3 has problems, but I think it's still an improvement over KFP 2.
Well, Li could've mentioned his wife's name, but I think it's how he describes her that added a bit about her personality. And I appreciate world-building and research and realism and all, but when it comes to the KFP films, I think some things aren't worth overthinking or questioning too much. But that's just me. Like I said, I don't mind the lack of "proper" names.
It doesn't really mean anything insightful about her (that I know of), but I like the name Wenling.
It could've been nice if they added a name to her, but I actually don't mind in general how some characters don't have "proper" names in KFP. It's a unique little trait about its world that I like.
Would definitely like to see some focus and development for others in the Five, especially Crane. But I'd take anyone besides Tigress at this point.