The old magic seems missing in the latest instalment. Despite all the frills, the humour and the lead cast in its element, Kung Fu Panda 4 works only sparingly
Film franchises often tend to do obligatory stuff to keep the machine running. With each passing iteration, the novelty diminishes and so do the expectations, but nothing works better than a sense of familiarity at the movies. Now, a film like Kung Fu Panda 4 is particularly interesting because one finds themselves divided about the existence of a project such as this. On the one hand, you want to see Po, Master Shifu, the Furious Five, Mister Ping and so many others in their rollicking routine. On the other, you want an upgrade as far as the overall experience is concerned. Yes, the familiar must exist like always but there must be a strong lure to visit the cinema hall again, isn’t it?
Right off the bat, it could be said that director Mike Mitchell and his co-director Stephanie Ma Stine don’t create that lure. They have everything in place, don’t worry — the banter, the repartees, the stunts, the cuddliness, the drama. But what’s lacking is the drive to supplant our expectations and throw something at us that we don’t ever imagine could be thrown at us. Much like Po’s new challenge often stems from the unlikeliest of places, the audience too must be summoned for a completely new and delicious contest. What the film instead does is restrict itself to old tropes and a wishy-washy narrative that’s middling at best.
The writing comes off as ‘hasty’
That’s not to say that Kung Fu Panda 4 isn’t fun. Jack Black is here in his element and he is joined by an equally effervescent Awkwafina as Zhen, the foxiest of foxes who oscillates between being a friend and a foe for Po. If Po is the congenial do-gooder, Zhen is the ultimate street-smart thief who will con you before you can spell the word. A proper clash of personalities, but we know that’s where the entertainment lies.
The humour hits the mark almost instantly and to set a context, the writers tell us that Po will have to give up being the Dragon Warrior for a promotion he didn’t ask for. Instead, he has been chosen by the Grand Master Oogway to be the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace and that triggers an audition for his successor. But wait. What if the biggest hurdle to date, the nemesis of all nemeses, the shapeshifting sorceress named The Chameleon (voiced by Viola Davis) has just shown up and Po must take on her first?
A bit hurried and not-so-inventive, don’t you think? For starters, the whole contrivance to make Po the spiritual leader comes off as a hasty call from the makers to inject a sense of spirituality or growth that’s not completely organic. It wasn’t all that long ago that he was asked to be the teacher by Master Shifu and the sudden decision to make him the spiritual leader evokes surprise and laughs, no doubt, but only fleetingly. A small sequence for the audition for the next dragon warrior is thrown in and just when we are warming to this narrative development, the film abruptly steers itself in a completely new direction.
I gathered that this change might have emerged to enable Po to fully come of age, perhaps to indicate that his journey has come full circle. Having begun many years ago as the ill-fitted, wide-eyed kid whose biggest enemy was possibly a flight of stairs (not much has changed here, one supposes!), Po showed the Valley at Peace and the universe at large that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. And when that unassuming hero was to go on and become the spiritual leader of his people, wouldn’t that be the fitting end to his rite of passage?
What’s the point of the new supervillain?
While this bit of the character arc seems perfectly justified, what’s underwhelming is that the stakes remain the same as ever. The main problem emerges from the fact that the archvillain this time around isn’t juicy or compelling enough and nor do the writers make any effort to up the ante. The Chameleon is initially propped up with gusto by some splendid animation work and we get the impression that we are reckoning with the evil of all evils here.
And quite literally, that’s what the deal is. The Chameleon wants access to the spirit realm just so that she can summon all the masters of Kung Fu — the Tai Lung, General Kai, Fire Breathing Croc Scott, Lord Shen himself and many more — and absorb all their martial arts powers. If Po has had to face one eccentric villain after the other in the past, The Chameleon is all-evil-combined and wants to conquer everything, including the Valley of Peace and beyond.
The rivalry between the two almost entirely unfolds through a barrage of action sequences that are fun while they last, but not engaging enough to remain memorable. The charm of Kung Fu Panda movies has always been in the tiny details and the ridiculous, equally unnecessary, gags that made everything worthwhile. In the latest film, we get all that and also a new lot of interesting bit characters but the crux remains so ordinary all along that you aren’t all that mesmerized by the subpar storyline. Remember the mystique surrounding Tai Lung in the first part and how that got you hooked? That ‘magic’ is missing here.
With the makers of the series announcing not very long ago that there are two more sequels in the offing, one now sincerely hopes that the creative team finds its mojo back. Kung Fu Panda 4 works sparingly and that is only because of some witty lines and the camaraderie between Jack Black and Awkwafina, who imbue their characters with some panache. The best part of a film like this cannot be Tenacious D’s recreation of Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time, can it be now?
