Po is gearing up to become the spiritual leader of his Valley of Peace, but also needs someone to take his place as Dragon Warrior. As such, he will train a new kung fu practitioner for the spot an...
Kung Fu Panda has to be one of the biggest and most unexpected illustrations behind the “Don’t judge a book by its cover” adage to have ever existed. One of my favorite animated films ever and one of DreamWorks’s best series’s returns with “Kung Fu Panda 4” as Po looks to find his successor to become the new Dragon Warrior.
Any doubts and worries, excitement and anticipation I certainly had going into this…..canceled each other out. God, I feel so disappointed.
Everything about the animation is reminiscent of, again, a Studio Ghibli film evoking the feeling of realism while striking that contemporary balance between zany and otherworldly that only animation can pull off. The decrease in budget compared to the previous films is barely noticeable despite its glossy exterior; I deeply missed this enriching atmosphere it provided me and when the film does take that moment to slow down, it is beautiful to look at. But that’s to be expected.
Some of the lighting somehow feels both cheaply and exquisitely rendered at once, Hans Zimmer’s musical score is still a wonder to listen to, the feature is briskly paced to complement for its runtime and similar to Shrek, Madagascar and its previous films, it takes full advantage of how exaggerated it’s own animation is, giving leeway to some decent action set-pieces and choreography. I love how this movie continues the KFP trend of having a great sense of character physicality that lends itself to both humor and action.
Most of the humor this time around though is either derivative or blatant homages and the dialogue is fairly clunky. At least the characters have personality and the acting is still solid.
As a duel effort, Stephanie Ma Stine and Mike Mitchell work very light on their feet together, making the most of a micro-scale presentation but even their best feels like a case of going through the motions.
The biggest departure KFP4 has compared to its predecessors is unfortunately the aspect I feared would get half-assed the most: its storyline. Both on the surface and depressingly, underneath it, this is essentially your standard animated buddy-cop adventure wearing the Kung Fu Panda skin less like a Chameleon and more like the bug wearing Edgar’s skin from Men in Black. I can accept it wants to add another chapter to Po’s story while simultaneously marking another beginning to Zhen’s and it’s far from the worst place to take Po’s story next. Change is the core theme tying most of the events of this story together, and it can definitely be interpreted through contrasting Zhen's edgy, morally gray personality with Po's ethical, selfless character; how they’re both complacent in their places in the universe and don’t look to alter their station and how they come from unusual places and are the last people anybody expected to be a competent warrior.
Ingredients are there to make a dinner plate worth salivating over. However, the problem is the emotional crux meant to drive that forward is either superficial at best or just completely absent and with the story being all but telegraphed long in advance, it renders the obtuse sequence of events that follow threadbare.
None of these changes feel earned Its stakes are nowhere near as grand or weighty as what came before and that’s highly reflective in how frantic and loud every scene feels. The entire plot feels like it’s grasping at straws for a reason, ANY REASON to exist beyond the demands of its parent company. Oh, and that’s not even going into how the film utterly wastes the Chameleon as an antagonist, especially in stark contrast to who came before her. Her visual design is a phenomenal work of art and Viola Davis is clearly having a ball with her role but dudes…..c’mon. WHERE’S THE SKADOOSH?
As a person who loves any kind of philosophy, meditation and the deeper messages behind martial arts, this movie’s lack of exploration on more of those intricate Chinese, martial art philosophies effectively harshens the series' Zen-like qualities and caters the film more towards children as opposed to a hearty balance between young and older. Also, any uses of foreshadowing to make me appreciate the importance and delicacy of hidden exposition while letting me in on the intricacies of Chinese and martial arts culture are not as well-hidden or deeply interwoven as before.
For a franchise that proved that underneath dumb titles can be incredibly inspiring, heartfelt, deeply funny and whimsical adventures, this fourth dumpling serving might have finally got me stuffed. There’s still some shred of value and credibility here to supply a passable finishing blow but I don’t think the KFP series will have much staying power if this is how they’re going forward.
