海角大神

Animated panda Po found himself on top of the box office this past weekend, while the sea-set drama 鈥淭he Finest Hours鈥� had trouble setting sail.

The animated movie 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 3鈥� starring Jack Black came in first at the domestic box office, grossing $41 million.聽

By contrast, 鈥淔inest鈥� opened in fourth place in its first week, taking in only more than $10 million. The film stars Chris Pine as a member of the Coast Guard who was involved in a rescue mission in the 1950s and co-stars Casey Affleck and Holliday Grainger.聽

Monitor film critic Peter Rainer gave the movie a C+ grade, writing, 鈥淒irector Craig Gillespie and his screenwriters, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson, have crafted a movie that could have been made, except for the CGI effects, in 1952. The same retroness was rampant in 鈥業n the Heart of the Sea.鈥� What聽is聽it about seafaring movies that compels their directors to go all stiff and stalwart on us?鈥澛�

Like 鈥淗ours,鈥� 鈥淪ea,鈥� another story about a sea disaster near Cape Cod, did not succeed at the box office when it was released this past December.

The awards season favorite 鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, came in second place, grossing more than $24 million this past weekend, while 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens,鈥� which is now the highest-grossing film of all time domestically without adjusting for inflation, placed third, taking in more than $10 million.

The comedy 鈥淩ide Along 2,鈥� which stars Kevin Hart and Ice Cube and opened earlier this month, placed fifth, grossing more than $8 million.聽

鈥淜ung Fu Panda鈥� has proven to be a strong franchise for its studio, DreamWorks. The studio releases animated movies in a marketplace dominated by films created by Disney and Pixar.

DreamWorks hit it big early in its history with the 2001 animated movie 鈥淪hrek,鈥� which became a box office hit and was also liked by critics.聽

Its other big successes came in recent years with the 鈥淜ung Fu Panda鈥� series and the 鈥淗ow to Train Your Dragon鈥� series, entries in which are the highest-grossing DreamWorks Animation movies after 鈥淪hrek鈥� along with an entry in the 鈥淢adagascar鈥� animated series.聽

While both studios have stumbled, Disney and Pixar鈥檚 strengths have been releasing movies that have been hailed as some of the best animated films of all time. (Pixar in particular has had only one or two critical misfires in its history.)

Before "Kung Fu Panda," the only DreamWorks movie besides "Shrek" to have done well enough financially to spawn a sequel was the movie "Madagascar," but those films haven't been as positively reviewed.

However, reviewers have seemed to enjoy both the 鈥淧anda鈥� and 鈥淒ragon鈥� series. With these franchises, DreamWorks has movies that were box office hits and were well-received by critics.

Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press wrote that 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 3鈥� has 鈥渏ust enough heart, witty dialogue, and kid-friendly humor鈥� to make this an all-around extremely satisfying third installment,鈥� while Mr. Rainer gave the latest 鈥淒ragon鈥� installment, 2014鈥檚 鈥淗ow to Train Your Dragon 2,鈥� a B+ grade, writing that the movie is 鈥渙verlong and overly busy but more emotionally powerful聽than its predecessor鈥� the dragons in this movie are expertly brought to life.鈥�