Weekend Watch - Kung Fu Panda 4

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest from Dreamworks animation, Kung Fu Panda 4, the latest in the Jack Black-led franchise about anthropomorphic animals doing kung fu in a stylized version of ancient China. This one sees Po, the titular panda, being thrust into a new role as the “Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace”, meaning that he has to choose a successor to be the new Dragon Warrior. His hesitation to embrace this change in titles leads him to seek one last adventure as the Dragon Warrior, bringing him into conflict with this film’s antagonist, the sorceress known as The Chameleon. This installment features the returning voice talents of Jack Black as Po, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Bryan Cranston as Po’s father Li, James Hong as his adoptive father Mr. Ping, and Ian McShane as Tai Lung, joined this time by newcomers Awkwafina as Zhen the gray fox, Ke Huy Quan as Han the pangolin criminal, and Viola Davis as The Chameleon. The film opened in theaters this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: D+, this is a film that’s trying to do too much all in the same movie, sacrificing quality in the process.

Should you Watch This Film? If you’ve got a kid who’s a big Kung Fu Panda fan or is really into seeing animated movies in theaters right now, this isn’t the worst option for you, but this isn’t a film that anyone really needs to seek out in theaters otherwise. It’s definitely a streamer at best in my book.

Why?

                Kung Fu Panda 4 is definitely the weakest entry in the franchise so far, missing out on so many of the pieces that make the others successful for not just kids, but adults as well. The voice acting and animation remain the highlights of the film by far with a weak story, intentionally unoriginal villain, and action pieces that don’t quite live up to the rest of the films. The ideas of the film are pretty cool – a villain who can shapeshift into past villains, a new big city for Po to visit, having Po take on a more mature role, and building on the past films’ themes of knowing yourself by exploring the concept of change. Somewhere along the way, though, the film becomes overstuffed with concepts and understuffed with execution.

                It does still justify its existence with some beautiful animation and solid voice performances, but I don’t know that they make it worth seeing in theaters. The film’s best action sequence is probably a chase through the big city, but that happens early in the film’s second act, so the rest of the film doesn’t really deliver on those big action set pieces that we’ve become so familiar with in the franchise. The final fight with The Chameleon was fairly underwhelming and the cool silhouetted fight sequence teased in the film’s trailer has too many cuts to make it look as cool as it could have. The actual settings are richly crafted by the animators, though, and the requisite mix of animation styles in the flashbacks remains solid.

                Jack Black’s vocal performance stays consistently solid, and Bryan Cranston and James Hong get some really fun buddy comedy dad moments that highlight the range of the two actors that we don’t always get to see. Awkwafina is definitely still Awkwafina in her portrayal of the enigmatic street hustler Zhen, but it works really well when she gets to do some vocal sparring with Black’s Po that give us some decently funny moments. In the more emotional moments, both of their performances come up a bit short, but I think that has more to do with the film’s story than it does with either of the actors because Jack Black has hit some phenomenal emotional beats in the past films in the franchise, and Awkwafina isn’t incapable of giving a strong performance, as showcased in The Farewell. The highlight of the voice cast, though, is by far Viola Davis, turning in yet another chillingly villainous performance as The Chameleon. She gives weight and intimidation to the villain that perfectly sets her up to be the film’s big bad, even if the actual story and execution don’t fully deliver.

                The film’s story is really where it falls apart. Most of the story beats feel even more contrived than those of the past films, with developments forced on the characters or just written into the dialogue without much lead-up, making most of the character moments feel shoehorned. While The Chameleon’s character design is really cool and an example of the film’s strong animation, her motivations are just an amalgamation of the motivations of the series’ other villains – she feels that she deserves to know the secrets of kung fu (Tai Lung), she wants to conquer China (Shen), and she’s going to do it by collecting the powers of past kung fu practitioners (Kai). While her shapeshifting goes along with the film’s theme of grappling with internal and external change just when you are starting to get comfortable with how things are, she ultimately feels like the least original of the villains, and it’s quite disappointing.

                Underdeveloped plot and characters and less-than-impressive action sequences leave much to be desired from this good-looking and well-voiced animation sequel, making Kung Fu Panda 4 one to stream later even for die-hard fans of the franchise. It’ll keep kids happy enough if you really want to get out of the house as spring breaks start happening here in the U.S., but I definitely wouldn’t say it’s a must-watch for anyone else. I wish it could’ve been better because I really do think that its ideas are strong, but their execution is just so weak that I can’t recommend it.

Weekend Watch - The Super Mario Bros. Movie

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the latest animated release from Illumination studios. The film is an adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. IP from Nintendo, featuring the voice talents of Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, Toad, Donkey Kong, and Cranky Kong respectively. The film hit theaters on Wednesday and is projected to hit nearly $200 million at the box office in its opening weekend, one of the biggest of the year. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C-; the film provides excellent nostalgia and references to the IP, but that doesn’t mean that it’s free of any other flaws.

Should you Watch This Film? Maybe, if you’ve got kids, this is going to be a solid watch for them, particularly if they struggle with attention spans; if you don’t, I’m not sure that the nostalgia and references do enough for me to recommend it to you.

Why?

                The Super Mario Bros. Movie is one of those films that pours most of its effort into making references and keeping the action moving with very little story to speak of. The nostalgia factor is huge, and they have done a great job capturing the fun of Mario with creative platforming, a race down Rainbow Road, a fight with Donkey Kong, and plenty of musical cues to take you back to your days of playing the games yourself (they do play the “DK Rap”, and I might have ascended to heaven when it came on). Even the majority of the needle drops in the film work to enhance the scene they are part of without taking you out of it too much.

                The voice cast has done a solid job of capturing the characters they play, and no one really feels out of place. Are Mario and Luigi’s accents still of indeterminate Italian origin? Yes, but their less cartoonish nature allows the characters to go through their more emotional beats without feeling too out of place. Anya Taylor-Joy’s Peach is fine, leaning more into the recent iterations of a fully capable Peach who just gets captured due to obligations of her station rather than helplessness. Keegan-Michael Key lends a bit of fun to Toad, blending the memeable vocals with his own to make the character fit in with the story’s other heroes. Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong is really just Seth Rogen in video game form, but that works for what he’s asked to do – be the goofy, overconfident side hero. The film’s true vocal highlight comes in the form of Jack Black’s Bowser, who really takes on the most complex form of the character that we’ve ever seen. Indeed, Black’s portrayal allows the character to be just as menacing as always while still having a sympathetic side that explains why they keep inviting him to things like races and parties for fun.

                Where the film’s entertainment value falters, though, is its story, or lack thereof. The characters are really just thrown from situation to situation, and the only character with any complex motivation is Bowser. Peach, Mario, and Luigi are all given moments of development, but most of those happen in the form of flashbacks or in the middle of fights when they hit that rock-and-a-hard-place moment that pushes them beyond their limits, more out of necessity than out of true growth. Even the film’s plot unfolds in the form of random location jumps and convenient devices that allow them to throw in another video game reference. To quote another review that I read, the film’s plot is “Paper Mario thin”, which is actually not the most accurate statement, since the Paper Mario games actually have some of the most complex plots of any Mario game. In response to defenses of the film’s lack of plot in the name of it being a kids’ movie or not having much to work with in the actual games, I have to point out that there are plenty of great films targeted at children that do have great stories to go along with them. Perhaps one of the best examples is The Lego Movie (2014), which has some of the best innovation of IP with little story to speak of while still being commercially successful and loved by adults and kids alike. I get that kids (and a lot of adults) don’t really ask much of their movies beyond simple entertainment value, but you can ask for more than this particular film gives in terms of story and still come in right around the hour and a half mark.

                The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits the mark with its referential material and its vocal cast but is heavily lacking in the story and message department, leaving it as a mixed bag for moviegoers. If you want to be part of the conversation this week or if you want to scratch that Mario movie itch, this is not the worst thing you could go see in theaters. Otherwise, I’d suggest waiting for it to hit streaming and calling for a better story in the next film (because a sequel is definitely coming).