When we last took a look at Kung Fu Panda 3, Po had met his father, Li, and neither of them had known it. Well, it looks like someone woke up and smelled the pork dumplings, as the trailer below shows that not only does Li know who his son is, he knows his Star Wars lore:
DreamWorks TV dropped the latest look at Kung Fu Panda 3, which is hoping to reap some box office gold next January. Predictably enough, Li knows that he's Po's father, and that labored breathing you hear in the trailer isn't a certain Sith lord's respirator, it's that of an out-of-shape panda at the top of a set of stairs that he had no idea he could climb. Thankfully, the trailer still remains to be somewhat funny, as Bryan Cranston and Jack Black have a wonderful father/son rapport.
Along with the new trailer, we also have a quick update on what the second sequel in the Kung Fu Panda franchise will be about.
When Po's long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!
While the trailer isn't particularly original in its approach at Star Wars humor, it does make us wonder – why hasn't the film marketed its villain yet? Sure, Bryan Cranston is a hell of a strong foot to lead off on when selling your movie, and if you're going to use him in your film you'd better get your money's worth. But considering the rest of the cast that's in Kung Fu Panda 3's arsenal, especially with fellow beloved thespian, and 2015's winner for Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons on the roster, you'd think there'd be more of a push to showcase the film as a whole. Then again, the one time we caught a quick glimpse of the villain, the video was pulled just as quickly – so maybe there's some more surprises in store for the Dreamworks Animation film.
Then again, it's only August, and seeing as it's a January release, there's plenty of time and family friendly films to release the trailer against in the coming months. In fact, there's a good chance that by time Kung Fu Panda 3's release date comes up, there will be at least two more trailers in theaters. And you can bet that one of them will probably run in front of the film that can claim itself as the reason Dreamworks Animation pulled their film out of the December 2015 timeframe, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Kung Fu Panda 3 will chop its way into theaters on January 29, 2016.
