Before Li even arrives, Jack Black’s Po is already in the thick of it. Having earned the title of Dragon Warrior, he’s now being pushed into a mentor role by Dustin Hoffman’s Master Shifu, who wishes to quit his teaching post and sit in a cave for thirty years in order to master the mystical powers of chi. Po, of course, makes a complete hash of these new responsibilities in a humorous slapstick sequence early on.  After a familial meet-cute, Li and Po get on like a house on fire. Li’s carefree attitude towards everything is the perfect distraction for Po, and the two share a variety of heart-warming moments as Po shirks his newfound responsibilities in favour of showing his newfound father around. Of course, things can’t stay this cushty for long. Enter J K Simmons as Kai, an ancient villain with a huge chip on his shoulder and a mastery of the chi arts that none of the goodies can match. Kai is just the right blend of scary and silly for a kids’ film, with his frightful ability to entrap individuals in green crystals counterbalanced by his Star-Lord aping annoyance at the fact that nobody seems to remember who he is. Along the way to the inevitable final showdown with Kai, Po learns about his heritage and grows a lot as a person. Li and Mr Ping both take away some important lessons too. But, this stellar character material does come at a cost; Kung Fu Panda 3 doesn’t quite pack in as many chuckles as its predecessors. There’s a memorable dumpling gag for the older viewers, some decent physical humour, and a Rebel Wilson-alike female comic relief character (actually voiced by Kate Hudson because Wilson had to drop out), but the laughs sadly don’t come as thick and fast as they did in parts 1 and 2 of the series. However, there are more than enough positives to outweigh this and make Kung Fu Panda 3 a terrific family treat. There are some important messages about fatherhood lying underneath an engaging quest to take down a powerful villain. The fights are fun without overwhelming everything else, and the addition of chi to the series brings a whole new visual toy box for the animators and directors to play with.  Kung Fu Panda 3 arrives in UK cinemas on March 11th. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.