The series follows Po as he must leave his home behind and embark on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight known as the Wandering Blade
Po seems to be living a peaceful life with his noddle-slinging dad Mr. Ping (James Hong), and he’s preparing to go on a food tour of China, eating noodles and dumplings and greeting his fans. His goal is to get to a village with a “fat gobs” restaurant run by a woman named Pei Pei (Amy Hill). When he gets there, he’s greeted by a throng of fans, so many that he can’t get to Pei Pei’s restaurant and he’s starving.
When he finally gets there, he’s waiting for his fat gobs when a ruckus occurs outside. Two weasels, Veruca and Klaus Dumont (Della Saba, Chris Geere), are determined to steal a powerful glove called “The Gauntlet”. Po eventually hears the ruckus and bounds out to defend the village, but misjudges the power of the Gauntlet and accidentally destroys the village when he captures it in the battle, and even though he chases the weasels, all he’s able to come away with is the thumb. But, by then, not only is the village destroyed, but so is his reputation. When he returns home, Mr. Ping tells him that his Dragon Master title is being revoked.
During his battle with the Dumonts, Po encounters a mysterious-looking knight he thinks is helping them. But when the knight comes looking for the Dragon Knight she heard about, he finds out that Wandering Blade (Rita Ora) came all the way from England to battle against the Dumonts; they will wreak havoc on the world if they use the Gauntlet and other dangerous jewels. Po wants to join her in her quest, but all she can see is the bumbling panda; Po so wants to get his reputation back, he’ll do anything to convince her he’s worthy.
With the return of Jack Black, who is also an executive producer along with Peter Hastings and Shaunt Nigoghossian, the Kung Fu Panda franchise gets back to much of what made the original 2008 film so appealing. Even though Po is no longer the underdog he was in the original film, he’s now been humbled by what happened when he battled the Dumonts, and it looks like he’s going to try to rebuild his reputation from scratch, with the help of the Wandering Blade.
While Mick Wingert did an admirable job as Po in the other two series, Black brings a degree of anarchic energy to the rotund warrior that was hard to duplicate. He’s adept at giving Po that degree of confidence that shines through despite his stumbles and fumbles, all the while staying relatively down to earth — and always focused on his next meal.
The Dragon Knight is a back to basics story for Po, which makes the fact that Black is back doing his voice all the better, and is a must watch.
click below to watch the trailer.
