‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ REVIEW: How a cinematic universe stagnates
‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ REVIEW: How a cinematic universe stagnates
Zhen and Po in Kung Fu Panda 4. Taken from the Official Trailer.
DreamWorks’ anticlimactic promotion and release of Kung Fu Panda 4 are gists of what to expect for the movie itself. We follow Po’s journey in becoming a spiritual leader for the Valley of Peace which requires him to pass the torch and find a new Dragon Warrior. It gives us several parallels to the first two installments of the franchise where he is unprepared to take on the role, making for an interesting concept in theory, but feels poorly executed because of such a shallow character arc.
What pains me the most about this movie is the absence of the Furious Five. Po being a somewhat more mature character after four installments means two things: that he is less childish and that he has a better grasp of his identity now. Tigress, Viper, Cane, Monkey, and Mantis all being absent led to significantly less drive for the story.
Po doing things without them does make a bit of sense considering the antagonist, The Chameleon, doesn’t seem that intimidating to require the entire squad, but to remove them as a whole felt less of a creative decision and more like a budgeting strategy. Not to mention, the movie opening with a monologue on how all his friends are busy with their own lives wasn’t a very hooking start and felt very on-the-nose.
All of this is concerning. We are four movies into a franchise said to have six parts — with the fourth totally ignoring everything that happened in the third movie. It’s unclear where we are heading from here considering the franchise seems to have lost direction. Perhaps we might start following the new Dragon Warrior (me trying to avoid spoiling you), but this would ultimately make this film contribute no more than being a transition to the next two films.
What Dreamworks was consistent with, however, was the incredible soundtrack that had a great mix of catchiness, fun, and energy. With the first and third movies covering ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, nobody expected a cover of Britney Spears’ ‘...Baby One More Time’ to fit perfectly into the film — but it did just that.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is now showing in theaters worldwide.
