Kung-Fu Panda 3

What plagues most action movies, superhero, spy, or otherwise, is how to escalate threats with each segment. Say for example, in your first film, you have an arrogant warrior trained by the man who trained you. Then the next film should have a fairly competent kung-fu practitioner who not only committed genocide but also mastered the power of industrialization and firearms. So now, with the third installment, the most logical choice would be...an airbending master water buffalo who wants pictures of Spiderman and has the same schtick as Mewtwo from the first Pokemon movie.
...
Sounds right to me.

"Kung-fu Panda 3" manages to be almost the opposite of the 2nd installment with all the dark themes overturned by a greater emphasis on the comedy and the focus being on side characters that aren't the Furious Five. With the great Dragon Warrior getting complacent in his role, he learns that he must step up and be a teacher to others. On top of this challenge, an ancient evil is awoken with power to capture his opponents in little jade trinkets, and then being able to call them back as mindless jade statue minions. And furthermore, our hero has to unlearn his lessons from last time about being ok with his adopted status when his real father comes back, and introduces him to his real extended family. When all three obstacles come to a head though, Po has to train his nonthreatening bear-kin in the ways of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts (sorry, but Po's officially a better in training helpless villagers than Ip Man.)
The continuing quest of Jack Black achieving kung-fu master status gives us the most character development for him in this film, with surprisingly more given to James Hong as his adoptive duck father, playing him at the supreme level of Asian parenting and adoptive parent worries. And while we spend almost no time with the kung fu masters we've been hanging around with the past two movies, we get to experience the antics of the pandas, who are literally in the culture of creative time-wasting. Further props to newcomers Bryan Cranston, having a joyful energy to his voice coupled with the sadness of losing his family (So no Heisenberg here guys. Sorry), and JK Simmons, being an absolute ferocious beast while still being good for a laugh.And then they cap it off with a big dance party number, like they used to do with the Shrek movies. Overall, not as good, but not too shabby either.

Creative folks who know how to trailer without giving away anything at all.

Kung-fu Panda 2

Despite my dislike of Jack Black, I suppose it really boils down to my distaste of his obnoxious performances in his movies.  However, with "Kung-fu Panda 2" I've come to realize that it's really not the man, but the kinds of films he chooses to partake in; if the story is amazing, no amount of Jack Black ridiculousness will ruin the overall experience.
Instead of a ferocious, daddy-issues-prone, ultimate warrior snow leopard, the main villain is Gary Oldman's best villainous voice in an albino peacock bent on taking over China. Not only is this bird an accomplished martial artist in his own right, but he has mastered the art of the cheap-shot fireballs from Street Fighter and Dragonball. Instead of chi however, he makes due with fireworks and a giant iron cannon. Oh and he might have massacred all of our main protagonist's hometown.
Thus begins a grand adventure of restoring justice in ye old kung-fu film style with a panda, a tiger, a crane, a praying mantis, and a monkey. Aside from the wacky hi-jinks, beautiful animated choreography despite animal physiology, and jokes thrown faster than ninja stars, there is also a surprising amount of character development and relationship-building for both the titular kung-fu panda and Angelina Jolie's Tigress.
Overall, a film full of humor, action, golden storytelling, and heart with a simple Aesop of overcoming the past and looking forward to the future.

Final battle with the evil peacock and his firing squad went a little like this and a little bit of this mixed in.

Father's Day 2011

Do you ever think about how often it is in films where it is the father which has the most positive impact on a main character and thus spurs on the plot? (father figures are not included since the list would be freakishly long) 

• Luke Skywalker seeks to walk in his father’s Jedi shoes in “Star Wars” but then has doubts when he finds out who his daddy really is. Cue famous Skywalker family “NOOOOOOOO!”
• The first “Superman” movie had young Clark finally begin his hero journey once his foster-Pa inexplicably got a heart attack.
• Marty McFly in “Back to the Future,” while a bit ashamed of his father, is still willing to befriend the younger version of him and get him to try and fall in love with his not-yet-mother. Turns out he didn’t need that much help.
• The most famous line from “The Princess Bride” is when Inigo Montoya tells the six-fingered man who he is, what happened, and what the creep should prepare for.
• Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” showed us a girl who loved her dear stumpy little dad enough to spend (maybe) an eternity with a hideous beast and his castle full of sentient furniture. Would you do the same?
• Peter Pan finally gets his groove back in “Hook” when he realizes his new happy thoughts are his thoughts of his children and what he needs to do to protect them.
• The great Mufasa in “the Lion King” came back from the dead to roar some sense into his wayward son.
• Mel Gibson’s “Maverick” had the tendency to “misquote” his pappy when the situation arose. Not to mention that his dad plays a big part in the film itself.
• “Rush Hour 2” has Jackie Chan’s character trying to tie up his father’s last case…Chris Tucker kind of helps. ^~^
• Austin Powers in “Goldmember” is willing to put his daddy issues aside to try and find him again. When your dad is Michael Caine why wouldn’t you?
• Hooo boy. If you’ve seen the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, you’ll know the main three characters are all either inspired by, motivated by, seeking revenge for, or trying to save their fathers.
• “Finding Nemo” gave us a single father as the main character who, over the course of his journey, truly learns when to stop babying his son and so, grows as a father and a man (erm fish).
• “Kung-fu Panda” had the titular character find his true strength with wise words from his duck dad (the sequel has something to do with finding his true roots too).
• Liam Neeson in "Taken" shows us just how ferocious the paternal instinct can get.
• “Star Trek (2009)” gives us a young James Tiberius Kirk who was challenged to be better man than his father, which saved dozens of lives. He kind of succeeded with a little help from his new crew.
• Gru from "Despicable Me" finds out the joys of fatherhood from 3 lovable gals. And it is when those kiddos are threatened, that Gru shows us the audience why he's a dangerous man.
• “Tron Legacy” shows us the Dude’s kid seeking him out in cyberspace so he can bring him back home. Turns out Mr. Bridges’ exile there turned him into a pretty cool guy as well.
• “True Grit” revolves around the young daughter going to extreme lengths to execute justice for her departed dad.

So Hollywood likes to use dads as the an impetus for their stories to really take flight. Guess that makes them crazy about dads. I'm crazy about mine too. Happy Father's day!

Some sources say that Bruce got the idea of being a bat-man because he remembers his father dressing up as one for a Halloween party. Sadly no film recognizes this.