Skip to main content

A Review of “Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)”

 

image

I love the Kung Fu Panda trilogy! The 3rd movie felt like a nice wrap-up for the series. However, modern movie studios just can’t give up on milking a franchise. Now we have a 4th entry in the series. Is this movie justified, or is it just another cash grab?

image

Jack Black is still great as Po. He still hasn’t lost his charm and continues to deliver a hilarious and charismatic, vocal performance. I also love that his character Po is still a badass dragon warrior. He is always the most skilled fighter in the room and I am glad they didn’t make him weaker for the sake of it. Awkwafina is again voicing another sidekick character. She is fine but that is mostly because her character isn’t written to be unbearable and that makes Awkwafina bearable. Their characters do have a fun buddy dynamic throughout. Speaking of buddy dynamics, it was nice to see James Hong and Bryan Cranston return as Ping the Geese and Shan the Panda again. Po’s fathers have their own, fun mini-adventure in the movie.

image

The animation is beautiful. Not to the extent of other dreamwork animated movies such as How to Train Your Dragon or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. However, it looks very appealing for the most part. The action scenes are still very entertaining with its well choreographed Kung-fu scenes. It was also nice to see Ian McShane return as Tai Lung even though it was clearly done for nostalgia bait.

image

Unfortunately, the story is predictable and boring. Po is required by Master Shifu to pick the next Dragon Warrior but Po doesn’t want to and wants to remain the Dragon Warrior. This idea in itself, can be very interesting as he could potentially have to choose between his friends, The Furious Five. Sadly, they are not even in this movie so instead we get a new character in Zhen played by Awkwafina. Oh wow, I wonder who Po will pick…

image

Po and his dynamic with The Furious Five have always been a highlight but removing that, makes this less interesting. The villain, The Chameleon, is also extremely underwhelming. She can steal the Kung-Fu of martial artists, including previous movie villains. Her motives are weak and her presence is just not menacing enough. They try to say throughout that Po might finally meet his match but they don’t do a good job of convincing us that this is true. If anything, the big final battle feels like the easiest fight that Po has ever had so far. How is The Chameleon a threat if the Furious Five weren’t even needed?! Ke Huy Quan is also in the movie but his character has no depth at all so it feels like a glorified cameo. Additionally, many of the jokes didn’t land. I hate that they leave awkward pauses cause they clearly thought we the audience would laugh.

image

Overall, this 4th movie had no reason to exist. The story is not meaningful enough to justify its existence. This will be the start of the second trilogy but the ending itself doesn’t do much to make me interested in more. The ending is a fine ending to wrap up the series (again). Hopefully, the 5th entry is a lot better and this time, make sure The Furious Five are actually in the movie!


 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A “QUICK!” Review of “Spy × Family Code: White (2024)“

  This movie is two hours of Spy X Family goodness! Everything you love from the show is in here: the fun family slice-of-life dynamic, the ridiculously fun comedy with wacky goofiness from lovable daughter Anya, the suave spy action from Loid, and badass fight action set pieces from Yor. The animation is mostly similar to the show, but there are moments in the final act where the animation is glorious! However, the story isn’t really much to write home about and the villain is very "underbaked” (pun intended). Overall, this is a very fun movie set in the Spy X Family universe. If you love the show, you’ll love the movie.
Post a Comment
Read more

A Review of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)”

  Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the best and most surprising things to come out of the MCU. They were an unknown group with heroes that were even more unknown than Iron Man (at the time). However, thanks to director James Gunn, he made them one of the most popular Marvel characters and team. I loved the first one and it is still up there in one of my favourite Marvel films. The second one is a great movie but not as good as the first one. There is a joke that the 3rd movie is always the worst which did occur with Ant-Man recently. Does Guardians of the Galaxy fall into this or does it deliver an epic trilogy? One of the core themes in the Guardian of the Galaxy movies is family and loss. This is still prevalent here and still as powerful. We see the Guardians feel closer as a family than ever but also argue a lot like family too. In terms of character arcs, Peter is still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Yondu and even his mother which is making him go to the bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

A “QUICK!” Review of “Until Dawn (2025)”

  It’s disappointing that this film is “Until Dawn” in name only and doesn’t truly adapt the game. However, the time loop element is intriguing, and I did enjoy the group’s camaraderie. Unfortunately, the horror is generic and uninspired, and the visuals are equally dull, marked by flat cinematography. Overall, it’s a shallow film that delivers a lackluster execution of what could have been an interesting concept.
Post a Comment
Read more