KUNG FU PANDA 4 (2024)
Featuring the voices of Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Lori Tan Chinn, Ronny Chieng, Seth Rogen, James Murray, James Sie, Cedric Yarbrough, Vic Chao, Audrey Brooke, Lincoln Nakamura, Cece Valentina, April Hong, Suzanne Buirgy, Logan Kim, Reyn Doi, Mick Wingert and MrBeast.
Screenplay by Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger and Darren Lemke.
Directed by Mike Mitchell.
Distributed by Universal Pictures. 94 minutes. Rated PG.
When walking into another sequel from a long running movie franchise, I try to hold a certain expectation. Usually the expectation is that a new unforeseen villain just appears without much rhythm or reason. There have not been many times that I have seen this pulled off in a way that is cohesive to the overarching story. However, I was pleasantly surprised this week by the newest chapter in the Kung Fu Panda series. While I have a couple of notes of things I would like to have seen done differently, I found the concepts interesting.
The newest villain, The Chameleon (Viola Davis), was wonderful from a design standpoint, but unfortunately bland from a characteristic standpoint. I had hoped to see more of a story or motive behind her actions. In the film it was stated that she was rejected by mentors, and she grew bitter from that as a result.
What the villain lacked in a strong motive; she made up for in plan execution. Personally, I was excited to see the former villains of the past movies brought back for this story. As this movie served as the passing of the torch in our main character Po's (Jack Black) journey, it was fulfilling to see him display his growth for his past foes. I was especially glad to see the role of Tai Lung being reprised by Ian McShane.
With this being said, I wished that there was more interaction between Po and Tai Lung. The rivalry they had in the first movie was memorable enough for me to suddenly think about it, even after not having seen a movie from this franchise for a very long time. Considering that Tai Lung's exit from the movie was the moment that he gave Po his respect, I hoped that it would have been more sincere than it came across.
This goes for the entire final battle of the movie as well. The concept of bringing back the spirits of the past villains could have made an incredible battle sequence that tied up loose ends between our hero and his former foes. Since Po has truly embodied the importance of forgiveness and striving to do the right thing, it would have been a great moment of character growth for him to make up with the villains he once fought.
However, despite the faults in the story's execution, this was a nice watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the art style and performances given by the cast. Overall this was another high-quality movie from DreamWorks, and I look forward to the next chapter.
Jordan Wagner
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: March 8, 2024.