Kung Fu Panda 4 RealD 3D Review

MOVIE REVIEW

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a 2024 animated film that takes us back to the story of Po as the Dragon Warrior. Now, he's just learned that his destiny is become a spiritual leader, which means finding someone to become the next Dragon Warrior. At first, he gets a bit reluctant to give up his position. But he soon realizes he might just have to keep up that mantle for one last mission when he ends up coming across a slick, thieving fox named Zhen who informs him about a shapeshifting sorceress named Chameleonul who plans to steal the essence of Kung Fu from the great masters currently in the spirit realm. Po then sets out to Juniper City with Zhen by his side to stop her once and for all.

The first two Kung Fu Panda movies are two well-crafted and surprisingly mature animated films with a surplus of fun to be had. It's been a good while since I've seen number 3, but I also remember enjoying it well. Now, we have yet another entry in this long-to-be-thought-concluded franchise. It's no surprise or anything, especially considering we now live in the age where everything is a prequel, sequel, or remake, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have any concern that it wouldn't live up to the greatness the first two films because honestly, they really did have something truly amazing going on. But as we've seen with Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate, all some people will out of that greatness is just an opportunity for more money, with art not being an object. Everything is quite corporate today in the entertainment industry, so I don't think the question to ask ourselves is if Kung Fu Panda 4 will work as the ultimate conclusion to the franchise, but whether or not it will do justice to the previous films while still being an entertaining venture overall. In that regard, I'm happy to say that this film fits the bill.

When we plop right back into the world of Kung Fu Panda, it seems like hardly anything has changed, in a good way. Po is still the dumpling-loving, kind-hearted, butt-kicking Dragon Warrior, and Master Shifu is once again training Po to become wise in the ways of Kung Fu while visibly trying to keep his patience at times, Po's adoptive dad, Ping, and his real dad, Li Shan, give off some fun comedic energy. From a humor standpoint, this film doesn't lose its sense of situational comedy that helped make the first two movies fun. There is the occasional forced joke. But on the whole, most of them land, and a few even made me laugh pretty hard. The only thing really missing from the group is the Furious Five. But then again, the story doesn't require much from them. And even the new characters stand out in their own right. Chameleonul is a cunning, intimidating villain in the same vein as Lord Shen from the second film, only now able to misdirect her foes with her shapeshifting abilities. I'm personally not a fan of Awkwafina, but she does pretty alright in most of her voice acting roles. And here with Zhen, she gives off a degree of charm as the clever fox who keeps us on our toes of whether or not to trust her.

The story here seems to be a bit of a mix between the second and third films, featuring Po going to a city to stop an evil ruler from taking over while also having that villain try going into the spirit realm to steal Kung Fu from the previous masters. It's not exactly original. But with a focus on its themes surrounding trust, change, and doing what's right, there's still enough freshness in it to pull it through. The action sequences, of course, are what this franchise is most known for. And you'll be glad to know on that front, this film still delivers. While the choreography and overall flair aren't quite on par with the first two films, the action is still chaotic, energized, and at times, stylized. And with a shapeshifting chameleon, you can bet the climax has quite a bit to offer.

Now, do the themes of Kung Fu Panda 4 transcend the ones the other films laid before us? I'd say no. It does still have a pretty good message about learning to accept change and make yourself even better than who you were, and the message does come across organically and originally. But compared to some of the emotional beats from the first film and especially the second, this film seems to have eased off the gas pedal a little bit. I wouldn't say that necessarily hurts the movie. I just wish that for a film about Po learning to take the role of spiritual leader and leave being the Dragon Warrior behind that it would be a little bit stronger on the whole.

Still, as far as most movies go in today's often bleak cinematic landscape, Kung Fu Panda 4 is still one of the better ones (besides Dune: Part Two, of course). It goes back to what made the original films so memorable, just being fun. We live in an age where we're starting to get sick of an over-reliance of familiarity. But with how KFP 4 tries to keep the energy and atmosphere of the previous movies going while adding a new spin on it to justify another outing, I'd say this is the right kind of familiar. Is the film unnecessary? Maybe a little. But on the whole, though not flawless, it's still action-packed, funny, and engaging story-wise. In other words, Po is still Kung Fu fighting.

OVERALL FILM RATING: 3.5/5

3D REVIEW

I won't start off this review talking about Dreamworks's history of 3D hits, but rather the 3D hits in the KFP franchise, of which there hasn't yet been a miss. The first film was a 2D-to-3D conversion, and the results ended up making for an "excellent" rating, making for, in my opinion, one of the most underrated 3D titles of all time. The second one, despite the lowered brightness levels, amped up the 3D game even more and made for a superb experience. I haven't yet seen the third film in 3D (I don't know why, though), but I've heard from other reviewers the 3D is top-notch there, too. Now, the fourth film pops in and just like the movie itself, it doesn't rise to the heights of the other entries, but it still remains great by default.

The parallax is just about as strong as before, allowing for long, sweeping mountain shots and cityscapes to stun in 3D. Shots that look up to or down from Chameleonul's palace really give you a sense of how big and grand it is. Besides that, though, even smaller locations such as within cities or villages with streets and buildings all have proper depth that let you look into them and feel a part of them. There are some great top-down shots that can make one scared of heights a little freaked out, there's a cylinder tunnel you can look down, a stadium full of cages to behold, some neat shots of stairs seen from top-up and top-down, and some scenes involving cages, grates, and iron bars you can look past that give the moment some memorable 3D composition.

As for action, the chaos and characters moving all around the screen simply work well with the 3D. There's some good pop outs including a dragon made of energy, characters, sparks, duck beaks, Po's staff, a trio of crazed bunnies, and various flying objects. But even in-screen, these objects stand out in their space and lend to some fun 3D eye candy. We get quite a bit of sword fighting, characters getting thrown around, destruction, and some stylized, almost 2D animation. At times, the background will turn into a streak of paint with the characters in front of it, or even have a split-screen effect similar to Spider-Verse. It's stuff like this that proves why Kung Fu Panda is a 3D-ready franchise.

That being said, it seems that unlike what we saw with the earlier installments, Kung Fu Panda 4 may not have been filmed with 3D in mind. Sometimes, this won't be that big a problem, as with the first Kung Fu Panda which happened to work amazingly in 3D despite being post-converted. But there are a lot of moments where it seems like the 3D could've been used to create some mind-blowing shots that just didn't turn out that way. Compare this to the second film which had cannonballs coming for you and near constant pop outs, or the first movie where all the little details put into the fighting sequences and environments are brought to light when converted to 3D such as with the Tai Lung prison break. Here, while the 3D is definitely functional, I wouldn't say it strives to make itself as big of an attraction as the movie itself and offers very fewer moments than before where the 3D offers a great shot you can't get in 2D. And considering this is the Kung Fu Panda franchise we're talking about which had offerings that rival some of the 3D masters, that's a little disappointing to see.

That being said, I would still say the 3D version of Kung Fu Panda 4 is worth the extra few dollars. The depth field is far and wide, and even downright stunning at times, the action sequences are more bright and lively, and the overall feeling of looking into the world of these talking animals is very nice. I will say, though, that if you're used to the 3D masterpieces that are the first three Kung Fu Panda movies (once again, I'm taking other people's words about the third film, not my own experience), you might want to keep your expectations in check as there's not much here that rivals the levels of 3D greatness those previous installments accomplished. But as 3D movies go, it still delivers the goods and makes an already enjoyable movie all the more enjoyable.

3D RATING: GREAT

OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D

None

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don't know how much longer the Kung Fu Panda series can go on before it inevitably runs out of steam. I get that Hollywood is a business, businesses love making money, and sometimes the best way to make money is to give audience what you know they already like, but I'm still waiting for the day when Hollywood collectively wakes up and realizes that some stories are just fine being left alone and concluded (cough, Toy Story, cough). Maybe then, they can movie onto more original stuff like The Wild Robot (which I saw the trailer for in front of this film and it honestly gave me goosebumps). However, this fourth installment of KFP still manages to give off a good enough story worth telling while also retaining the sense of fun and quick-paced atmosphere that made the first three movies memorable. It gives us the same characters we know and love and gives them more Kung Fu fighting to do, which I think might be just what we all, families and franchise fans, need at this point. While it's no game changer, I'll take a lesser Kung Fu Panda movie over something like The Marvels any day. As long as the spirit of the original films is still there, that's good enough for me. The same can also be said similarly about its 3D. The three-dimensional thrills aren't quite on par with what we got earlier. But on its own, it still works to make this bright, large, and action-packed feature even more bright, large, and action-packed. All in all, Kung Fu Panda 4 in 3D is just a fun time.

DID YOU LIKE "KUNG FU PANDA 4" IN 3D?

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