Weekend Watch - Kung Fu Panda 4
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.
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 - Bullet Train
Bullet Train is a wildly well-cast action comedy that delivers on those two promises without much story to hold them up.
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television that recently released and give it a rating, review, and recommendation for watching. This week, as selected by the Instagram followers, we are taking a look at Bullet Train, the new action comedy from Deadpool 2 director David Leitch, starring Brad Pitt, Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz and Sandra Bullock. It’s a really good time, so let’s get into it.
Letter Grade: B, this film won’t win any awards, but that doesn’t make it unwatchable
Should you Watch This Film? Mostly yes, some younger viewers should maybe wait on this one, but it’s a good time otherwise.
Why?
Bullet Train falls in the same category of film as basically every R-rated action comedy that has released since the year 2000. It’s got strong language, fast-paced witty dialogue, intense gory violence, and homages to other action genres – everything that Edgar Wright, Matthew Vaughn, and Guy Ritchie have seemingly perfected. Bullet Train has all of that in spades and does most of it in what can only be described as entertaining fashion. With all of that eye-popping action and aesthetic, the film’s story takes a major backseat. I don’t mean this as a knock against watching the film, just if you’re looking for “real cinema” or “a Film”, this is definitely not going to be what you are looking for – I honestly don’t know what the overall message was, and the plot twists weren’t overly surprising. At the same time, the rest of the film is great! The cast works perfectly with the quick dialogue and the action, delivering their witticisms and intimate action sequences with equal skill. Brian Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s duo is the highlight of the film, as both are incredible actors working in really fun roles. Their back and forth carries large portions of the film when the action briefly slows down. Joey King is perfectly cast as the villain (at least for me). She has the worst vibes of just about any actress I’ve ever seen, and that comes through well for the audience as she is tricking the different men of the film to do her dirty work for her – it’s like watching a less talented, younger Cersei Lannister go to work. Brad Pitt has all the charisma that you want from an action movie lead, but he also brings enough dad energy in his older age to make the hesitant killer act believable. Even Bad Bunny, Zazie Beetz, and Logan Lerman bring their own flair to the small roles that they have to play. Bad Bunny makes the most of his limited lines of dialogue by communicating most of his character with the facial expressions and body language of an actor well beyond his experience, and then he sells the action sequence with Brad Pitt just as naturally. Zazie Beetz works well in her brief, unhinged role bringing a combination of humor and menace to her four minutes of screen time. Lerman continues to distance himself from Percy Jackson, this time by playing the incredibly useless son of the White Death crime lord and being enough of a jerk to make his death feel warranted. All told, Bullet Train is a wildly well-cast action comedy that delivers on those two promises without much story to hold them up – worth the watch but not necessarily a place among the greatest films ever made.