Tag: dreamworks

Top 15 Best DreamWorks Animation Movies (Updated w/The Bad Guys 2)

AdamLeave a comment

Last year mark the 30th anniversary of when DreamWorks Pictures and DreamWorks Animation was first founded.

If you were ask me what major studio out there acts as major competition towards Disney, the answer you would likely get more times than not is DreamWorks. When comparing to two, it’s like comparing Marvel to DC. While the former have be more consistent in quality and have a lot more good movies under their belt, the latter on the other hand tends to have both higher highs and lower lows than their competition. However, when they nail a movie, they really, REALLY nail it!

While their inconsistent through their three decade long history is frustrating, there has been PLENTY of greatness to come from DreamWorks Animation throughout their history. And I decided to make a top 15 list to celebrate that greatness.

First off, here’s some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions:

  • The Road To El Dorado

The Road of El Dorado deserved a much better reputation than it got back when it came out in 2000. This is basically Moana meets Uncharted meets The Mummy meets The Emperor’s New Groove. It’s got beautiful animation, fun main characters, plenty of witty humor and catch songs, and a charismatic voice cast to carry the entire picture through. It’s not the very best of the best from DreamWorks and does follow most of the “animated road trip movies” cliches to a T but this is still a very enjoyable animated film that deserves recognition.

  • Chicken Run

DreamWorks’s first ever stop-motion feature film is known more for it’s reputation as oppose to it’s quality but it’s quality is still quite good regardless. The animation, character, humor, and voice work are all good here if not a bit dated. Maybe it’s because it’s not a movie that I grew up with or have much nostalgia that’s holding it back from being in the main top 15 list but Chicken Run is certainly worth a spot on this list due to it being one of the first memorable works to come from DreamWorks Animation.

  • Shrek Forever After

The (to-date) final entry of the Shrek series did not get much love when it came out back in 2010 (even I talked down to it a few times on here) but time has certainly been kind to Shrek Forever After. It takes a page from the book of It’s A Wonderful Life to make this a culmination of the entire Shrek franchise up to this point, which we see a universe where Shrek never exists and how it impacted those he has grown attached to. The animation is stellar, Rumpelstiltskin is one of the better antagonists in the series, and it has a handful of pay-off moments that might just satisfy long-time fans who grew up with the series. Unfortunately, it’s held back by Shrek’s overall arc, which is mostly just a repeat of his arc from the last one (Shrek is not satisfied with his current life and wants to go back to the old one) and that infamous outburst scene that set this arc in motion feels WAY too out of character for our beloved ogre. Still, it is at least able to act as a better series capper than say, Shrek the Third.

  • Kung Fu Panda 3

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a film that is easy to dismiss when looking at it on the surface. From its familiar plot beats to its toned down humor, it almost feels as if it’s falling into the traps that the franchise has been avoiding up to this point and that it’s starting to become a shadow of it’s former self. However, with seeing how Po’s journey concludes by the end of the movie and at the end of this trilogy, there is something to chew upon greatly here. It really feels like Po has fully 100% lived up to the Dragon Warrior name, just as Oogway hoped he would the moment he chose him in the first movie. It’s a step down from the first two movies but still solid overall.

  • Dog Man

This is about as fun, chaotic, and scatterbrained as the source material it’s based on. There was clearly a lot of love and care put into the colorful animation, creative humor, and translating the charming character of Dog Man properly to the big screen. While not quite on the level of something like Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Dog Man makes for a perfectly enjoyable film for kids and family that I’m sure fans of the book will fall high over heels for.

Now, here we go with the top 15! Enjoy!

15.) The Madagascar Trilogy

When it comes to comparing all the successful DreamWorks franchises out there, Madagascar is a series that sits comfortably in the middle-of-the-road for me, and I mean that in a respectful way. It doesn’t reach the highs with the likes of Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How To Train Your Dragon but it’s certainly no Shark Tale, The Boss Baby, or Trolls either. It first perfectly as being solid, enjoyable animated flicks about a bunch of misfits animals that are trying to do everything in their power to get back home to New York. They are about to as creative, funny, and energetic as you can possibly expect for these kind of movies. with no deviation from that quality whatsoever. It’s hard to distance themselves as individuals films, which is why I decided to put the entire trilogy together in order to find a spot for them on this list. While far from the greatest from DreamWorks Animation, the Madagascar trilogy does it’s job to be as hilarious and entertaining as they can possibly be.

You might want to also check out The Penguins of Madagascar tv series, that is really great!

14.) The Bad Guys 2

For as all over the place DreamWorks Animation can be in terms of quality, if there is one thing they know how to do consistently, it’s making a darn good sequel, particularly a darn good Part Two. And The Bad Guys 2 is certainly no exception to that. This is able to continue the story of our beloved misfit animals, as they try to take their next step into society to be better people, even if they live in a society that just won’t let them do that. When they see them getting into action when an all-female squad known as The Bad Girls, the crew comes out of retirement to doing what they are good at, just being plain bad. Everything you love about the original from an animated, comedic, and dramatic standpoint is still present throughout The Bad Guys 2, being able to capture the charm of the original while also able to blaze it’s own path from a narrative standpoint, setting the table for an even better Part Three. It may not feel as “fresh” as the original Bad Guys and I would be lying if I said I was completely surprised by everything happening on screen but The Bad Guys 2 is still able to deliver the Part Two goods when it counts the most. Don’t let the fact that this is only #14 prevent you from giving this a watch when it comes out in theaters! There just happens to be 13 more films that I enjoy more than this!

13.) Captain Underpants

That’s right, I got Captain Underpants on here! Sue me! What might just be the most CRIMINALLY underrated/overlooked movie that DreamWorks has ever released, Captain Underpants: The Epic Movie is an absolute gem that is not just a perfect adaption of it’s source material but it’s a great animated film in it’s own right. It’s a bright, colorful, charming, and EXTREMELY silly movie about two troublemakers living out their childhood fantasies and facing the potential consequences for doing so. Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch have great chemistry with one another and helps make the film standout as a laugh out loud riot. The film’s toilet and slapstick humor will certainly not appeal to everyone but then again, this is literally a movie called CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS for crying out loud! If you never seen or heard of Captain Underpants: The Epic Movie, check it out as it’s pretty darn great.

12.) Megamind

Yes, the sequel that came out recently was absolutely terrible. That does NOT change the fact that the original Megamind was just awesome. Able to subvert the standards and cliches of most superhero flicks to create something more interesting and layer, this is able to act as a massively entertaining destruction of the sub genre that has dominated Hollywood blockbusters for the majority of the 21st century. Will Ferrell is perfect as the title character and has great chemistry with David Cross’s Minion, Jonah Hill makes for a super fun bad guy as Titan, and Tina Fey is able to make Roxanne Ritchi stand out as one of the better superhero news report ladies out there. We also can’t forget the superb animation, awesome set pieces, and song choices and needle drops that all fit perfectly. Do not let the awful sequel or recent tv series distract you from the fact that the original Megamind is one of the better and most creative DreamWorks animated movies they have ever made.

11.) The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys is the DreamWorks equivalent of Zootopia and Suicide Squad and it could not be better for it. A fun, beautifully animated flick about the joys of being well the bad guys, with exciting and energetic set pieces to boot. The characters are all likable, the animation style is unique and works perfectly with it’s art style, and even for a film technically made for kids, there’s a bunch a fun little nods and gags for adults to enjoy, the kind of ones that kids won’t recognize until they rewatch this movie a decade or two later. It’s not quite as clever or subversive as other DreamWorks properties out there such as Megamind but it definitely makes for one gloriously entertaining watch and has great potential to be DreamWorks’s next big franchise going forward. Also, Diane Foxington! Just…………Diane Foxington!

10.) How To Train Your Dragon 2

Fulfilling it’s role as the dark middle chapter of DreamWorks’s most critically acclaimed film series, How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a strong example as to why DreamWorks themselves can be counted on to deliver strong middle chapters for stories when they count the most. Taking the next level in terms of animation and technical achievements, this sequel is able to exceed for the same reasons that the very best sequels out there are able to do. It takes the characters to the next step of their development by putting them on a journey which makes them challenges who they are and why they do what they do. The voice work is particularly strong here, especially with Cate Blanchett acting as Hiccup’s long lost mother, delivering in the most powerful dramatic moments of the film. Not to mention, the surprising fate with one of the characters stands as one of the most bold moves that any DreamWorks film has every made. While the antagonist himself is a weak line and it lacks the freshness and novelty the first film had, How To Train Your Dragon 2 is still a very impressive animated sequel that is worthy of praise.

9.) Shrek

Enter the iconic character that acts as DreamWorks most popular franchise, the original Shrek still holds up gracefully! Being able to bring together the traditional fairytale characters and tropes while also doing something incredibly fresh, funny, and subversive with them. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz all fit their roles like a glove and help make their characters of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona more iconic than they have any right to be. The song choices are inspired, the pop culture references actually work very well, and it has an overall nice moral of never judging someone solely on their appearance. It’s a shame that certain folks out there only recognize this movie for it’s memes and not for the actual top quality of this motion picture. Even when taking away the memes and self-aware jokes, Shrek is still a genuine classic that has stood the test of time as being one of DreamWorks’s greats.

8.) Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The second feature film from both Aardman and Nick Park, coming off the pretty good Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is proof that the duo could in fact make lightning strike twice. This is a hilarious stop-motion picture with unique animation, great jokes, and likable characters that are able to pull the hold thing through. Not to mention, Gromit might be the cutest and most wholesome dog in movie history. The villain is quite flat here and I admittedly don’t know how this will appeal to those that aren’t the fondest of stop-motion animated films. However, looking at it objectively and being among the most inventive DreamWorks films throughout it’s history, there’s not much you can pick apart about Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. This vegetable caper is definitely entertaining and a cracking good film to watch whenever you need a good laugh. And thankfully, the most recent animated sequel (Which was NOT distributed by DreamWorks btw) is able to be no exception to that either.

7.) Kung Fu Panda

If there is one movie out there that is basically the textbook definition of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!”, that would be Kung Fu Panda. On paper, this sounds like the dumbest idea ever. A big fat panda voiced by Jack Black learning Kung Fu?! That feels like an idea that came from the same person that thought The Emoji Movie would be a great hit! However, once the movie came out during the summer of 2008, we all could not have been wrong about Kung Fu Panda. It’s able to use that “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” mindset that not only acts what most folks thought of Kung Fu Panda when watching it but use that as the central theme throughout the film. And it’s that theme that makes for the perfect way to tell the story of the main character of Po, the titled panda that learns kung fu. We also got terrific animation, superb fight sequences, a wonderful supporting cast of characters, a riveting musical score and amazing character development all the way through. It’s those exact reasons and much more that makes Kung Fu Panda as good as it is. This is a film that doesn’t in spite of it’s delightfully silly premise, it works BECAUSE of it! And it could NOT be any better for it!

6.) The Prince of Egypt

The Prince of Egypt is one of the most beloved animated films ever made and you can certainly understand why. The animation is stellar, the music is great, the tone feels just right, the art style works, it’s religious aspects are interesting and very well explored, and it’s an overall moving story about two brothers that start out being together until the end of time but then later becomes bitter rivals to their last dying breath. Some of the songs aren’t the greatest and don’t fit (especially the Priests song) and it’s something you definitely have to be in the right “mood” to enjoy but for what it’s worth, The Prince of the Egypt is still a very impressive animated film and perhaps the best depiction of the Moses story that’s been seen on film to date, animation or otherwise. Even if you aren’t a religious person or dread having any ties to any known religion, this is one of the few movies of it’s own kind that I could recommend to just about anybody. It’s that darn good!

5.) Shrek 2

If you want to talk about the perfect sequel, look no further than Shrek 2, along with the other sequels on this list of course. The story is more engaging, the characters are more lovable and charming, the animation is more gorgeous, the voice work is more stellar, the set pieces are more creative, the fairytale/pop culture references are even better utilized, and the humor is much more funny this time around. Add in the wonderful presence of Antonino Bandera’s Puss in Boots, the Fairy Godmother as the main villain, and one of the best climaxes arguably in film history with an AMAZING usage of I Need A Hero and you got one beautifully done animated sequel. There are a handful of logic issues (Like how it takes forever for Shrek and company to get to Far Far Away but only takes Gingy, Pinnochio, and others like a couple of hours to get there) but when a sequel is this well-made, heartfelt, and absolutely HILARIOUS (The C.O.P.S. gag gets me EVERY time!), it’s impossible to care. Great comedy sequels are really hard to come by and Shrek 2 stands out as one of the very best in that regard!

4.) How To Train Your Dragon

On paper, How To Train Your Dragon movie seems like every traditional hero journey and human-animal bonding flick you have ever seen. However, not only does it do just about all of those traditions so well, it’s done in an extraordinary way that it feels like you are watching this story on fold for the very first time before your very eyes. Hiccup makes for a very likeable protagonist that’s easy to root for and his relationship between his pet dragon, Toothless, and his soon-to-be lover/partner in Astrid are so engaging, acting as the beating heart of the film. And don’t get me started on it’s stellar animation and flying sequences that blew my mind when seeing it in theaters back in 2010 and still blows my mind to this day. How To Train Your Dragon is prove that just because you are telling a familiar story does NOT mean you have to tell it in a familiar way. If you add enough freshness and novelty to it where it feels like you are seeing this story being told for the first time ever, then you have succeeded entirely and have one big animated classic on your hands. While I may not known how faithfully this is from an adaption standpoint (Yes, this is based off a book), as a film, the original How To Train Your Dragon was pretty much perfect.

3.) Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of the rare sequels that not only is as good as the original Kung Fu Panda, it’s even better. It does EVERYTHING you want a sequel to do. Instead of doing the same old same old, it actually does something new and different. It takes the characters into exciting and new directions, it expands upon it’s story and lore in the most logically way possible, the action and animation are taken to the next level, the villain of Lord Shen is given more focus and is used perfectly, and it’s able to act as the best possible next step for the journey of Po as oppose to do just retreating steps from his first go around. Also, the scene where Po discovers inner peace is the series true definite moment up to this point, as well as just being one of the most beautifully done sequences in animation film history! (You are a robot if you did not cry during that scene!) Kung Fu Panda 2 is not only the best Kung Fu Panda movie thus far but it’s possibly one of the best animated film sequels ever made period. It’s so good that there’s a good argument to be made that this is where the series officially peaked.

2.) Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Acting as perhaps the most surprising film that DreamWorks Animation has ever done, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an exciting, triumphing Part Two to go along with the other great Part Twos that DreamWorks Animation has created with their filmography. The animation is spectacular, the characters are engaging, the set pieces are fun and inventive, the story goes into dark places you wouldn’t think a simple “kids” movie would go, and it teaches a very valuable lesson on how we should live our life to the fullest with the ones we love before it’s too late. This also has perhaps the most entertaining bad guy in DreamWorks with Jack Horner and the most scary and intimating villain in possibly all of DreamWorks with The Killer Wolf, A.K.A. Death. For a 11-year long sequel that no one was really asking for, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish acted as a near perfect animated film, with phenomenal animation, writing, and voice acting to justify it’s own existence completely. Never in a million years would I guess that it would be frigging Puss in Boots of all characters that could be in the conversation of best DreamWorks Animation film ever made but I guess anything is possible.

1.) The Wild Robot

This may be recency bias but I honestly can’t think of a DreamWorks animated picture that is as complex, layered, and impressive as The Wild Robot. It represents the pinnacle of DreamWorks Animation, delivering one last final triumph before they have to rely on tools and resources from other studios for the immediate future. The animation is jaw droppingly gorgeous, the characters are all engaging, endearing, and wonderful to follow, the voice cast is all terrific with everyone being 100% committed to their role, the musical score is mesmerizing and carries the film on it’s own on several occasions, there’s is plenty of funny gags and emotional beats that work greatly, and the way it tackles the themes surrounding survival, parenthood, kindness, purpose, and coexistence is nothing short of marvelous. The amount of plates is able to spend in the air at once and how many hoops it dares to jump through is able to make the film stand out in ways that it had no business of doing so. This is animation and multilayered storytelling at it’s finest and The Wild Robot might just be the next prime example for that. Thank you to all the folks at DreamWorks who worked in-house for the company and I hope the very best awaits you in the future!

The Wild Robot (2024) Movie Review- DreamWorks’s Odyssey

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DreamWorks Animation has had quite a history and reputation throughout it’s existence. They are probably the most hit-and-miss major animation studio out there. Whenever they have a hit, it’s up there with among the best animated features out there, rivaling the very best of other big animation studios out there such as Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli. Whenever they have a miss, it’s down there with some of the very worst animated features out there, rivaling the very worst of infamous animation studios such as Sony Animation (the Spider-Verse movies and the original Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs aside) and Illumination (the Super Mario Bros Movie and the original Despicable Me aside). Regardless of what you think of DreamWorks personally, they are certainly…..an interesting company to say the least.

However, things are changing MASSIVELY for the company with the release of The Wild Robot. It’s set to be the final film to be animated entirely in-house by DreamWorks, with every future animated release moving forward being operated heavily with outside animation studios. They also got an animation legend in Chris Sanders to helm this picture, the man who directed animated classics such as Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon and has writing credits for many beloved Disney classics from the 90s such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan. Putting those two important, distinct factors side-by-side, you would think that DreamWorks and everyone involved with The Wild Robot will want to end this wild, uneven in-house run of theirs with an absolute bang! Well, I’m proud to claim that they did all of that and more!

The Wild Robot is my favorite film of the year and is easily one of the best DreamWorks films ever made. It represents the pinnacle of DreamWorks Animation, delivering one last final triumph before they have to rely on other tools and resources for the immediate future. The animation is jaw droppingly gorgeous, the characters are all engaging, endearing, and wonderful to follow, the voice cast is all terrific with everyone being 100% committed to their role, the musical score is mesmerizing and carries the film on it’s own on several occasions, and the way it tackles the themes surrounding survival, parenthood, kindness, purpose, and coexistence is nothing short of marvelous. If you are looking for an animated film that is manages to cross that fine line between being fun and entertaining for kids and smart and engaging for adults, look no further than with DreamWorks’s latest masterwork, The Wild Robot.

Plot Synopsis: We find a robot known as ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), A.K.A. Roz, that has been abandoned on a deserted island full of wild animals, with no memory of who she is or where she came from. These wild animals don’t take too kindly to Roz’s arrival, believing her to be some sort of monster that was sent to exterminate them. As she learns to adapt to the wilderness with these other estranged animals that don’t seem to like her or even each other, Roz finds herself having to take care for a little gosling (Boone Storme), due to the death of his parents, which Roz may or may not have been responsible for. All the while she casually meets a mischievous red fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal), who, despite his sneaky and snarky attitude, helps the two of them with their battle of nature vs nurture among the other animal presence on the island.

Roz makes it her mission and purpose to be the mother of this goose, which is named Brightbill (Kit Connor), and raise him to be one with the other birds before she can return to where she originated from. However, the more that Roz spends time on the island with her batch of furry friends, family, and foes, the more she begins to realize she might just be more than just a soulless mindless A.I. robot that she was initially programmed to be. It’s then Roz must decide where her true home lies! In the wild forest with the animals or back with Universal Dynamics, the production company where she was created from?!

On the surface, you can probably guess all the impressive achievement that The Wild Robot is able to accomplish! Yes, the animation is BEYOND gorgeous with perfect artwork, character models, and texture to boost! Yes, there is plenty of funny gags and emotional beats that both kids and adults will react the way they are intended to! Yes, the voice cast and score is incredibly strong and should get numerous nominations for every award show out there! And yes, they manage to make another film about A.I. but never EVER feeling like it was written by one! But the most impressive achievement of The Wild Robot for me is how complex, multilayered and thematically packed it is for a story that, if we are being honest, has been told many times before!

There definitely are story elements throughout The Wild Robot that contains DNA of earlier animated pictures such as The Iron Giant, Fly Away Home, Ice Age, Wall-E, and even Chris Sanders’s own How To Train Your Dragon. However, it’s these themes and layers that The Wild Robot presents that helps make this story stand out as it’s own unique thing. So much so that it feels like we are seeing this story being told for the first time ever despite it being told several times before. Instead of borrowing plot elements from other beloved animated films and doing nothing else with it, it’s CONSTNATLY throwing curveballs at you with the way it goes about these traditional tropes and story beats. This is makes certain predictable story beats actually feel unpredictable in the way that it’s actually done and told throughout the film. This is something that Sanders himself did greatly in How To Train Your Dragon and he perhaps has done it even better here with The Wild Robot.

The Wild Robot is a story of many things! This is a story about the means of natural survival in an estranged, nurtured wilderness. This is a story about discovering our own purpose while helping others discover theirs along the way. This is a story about technology and animals co-existing with one another in a more futuristic Earth. This is a story about how the pros of A.I. can outweighs the cons of A.I. if we allow it. This is a story about unexpected parenthood and how your child grows up fast right before your eyes. This is a story about the needs to come together in a time of crisis or else all will be lost. And at it’s heart, this is a story about the odyssey that DreamWorks Animation has created throughout it’s history and how it will never be the same after this movie.

There’s not a single theme here that feels half baked or put together, there’s not a single setup that doesn’t have a proper payoff, there’s not a single plot thread that doesn’t have a connective tissue, and there’s not a single character arc that gets lost in the shuffle. It’s able to juggle so much while somehow not managing to feel disjointed or loose. Regardless of what overall story arc you like the most, you should no doubt be satisfied with the way that specific arc wraps up by the end. Even if at times I did question a story direction or two, it later on answered it in a satisfying and logical away that it wiped out any mild concerns. The amount of plates is able to spend in the air at once and how many hoops it dares to jump through is able to make the film stand out in ways that it had no business of doing so. This is animation and multilayered storytelling at it’s finest and The Wild Robot might just be the next prime example for that.

For as much development that Roz herself is giving throughout the film, it simply wouldn’t work without the excellent vocal performance from Lupita Nyong’o herself. She is able to evaluate every sequence of the film where she is required to. It’s that perfect sense of optimism and joy she brings on display that bring that extra two dimensions to the character, especially when Roz becomes more human and less mechanical as the film progresses. You just know the exact moments when Roz is still in her “A.I.” form as she was initially programmed and the moments where she grows beyond that while living among the wilderness with the other animals. All of that is thanks to Lupita Nyong’o, that is able to provide heart and soul to a character that by designed is not suppose to have a heart and soul, at least until she actually does. If the Academy Awards didn’t have a such a hate boner for animated films, I could definitely see her be nominated for Best Actress come next Spring.

The rest of the voice cast is genuinely terrific as well. Pedro Pascal brings plenty of energy and levity to the character of Fink, a fox that believes himself to be selfish at the start but then becomes more selfless as he evolves with Roz, Brightbill, and the others. Kit Connor as Brightbill is able to share the beating heart of the story with Nyong’o’s Roz, a young goose who, like Roz herself, is trying to adapt with the others as someone more “special”. Boone Strome also does good as the younger, more joyful version of Brightbill. Catherine O’Hara fits well in her role as Pinktail, the mother figure that Roz needs to learn to fit into in order to complete her mission. Bill Nighy as Longneck and Ving Rhames work well as the wise elder goose and falcon who helps Roz teach Brightbill how to fly high in the sky. Stephanie Hsu’s Vontra is incredibly suited as basically the closest thing that this film has to a main antagonist, even if she really only plays a major factor in the third act. And while Mark Hamill and Matt Berry’s characters of Thorn and Paddler aren’t in the film nearly as much as you would expect with big name actors, they blend together just well and even unrecognizably with the rest of the cast whenever they appear on screen.

There’s not enough great things you can say about the animation in The Wild Robot. It is purely stunning and a treat for the eyes from the beginning to the very end. There are so many beautifully done sequences that will take your breath away from both a visual and emotional standpoint, so many frame shots that you will want hung on the wall in your room, and so much imagery that adds to the pure visual and layered storytelling on display. Sanders has gone on record that he took inspiration from traditional Disney classics and the works of Hayao Miyazaki and he’s able to find that perfect balance to make the animation stand out in it’s own, unique form. Even in an age where just about every animated movie looks good, The Wild Robot shows that there is still plenty of room for animation to grow and push unexpected boundaries. This proves once again why animation is a medium that needs to be taken more seriously. You could not tell a story this good without the stellar animation to back it up every step of the way.

And of course, a special shoutout has to go to the composer Kris Bowers. The Wild Robot has one of the best scores of any film this year and perhaps any animated film in recent memory. It’s able to fit the tone and mood of every single scene, managing to find the right tune that perfectly captures the emotion that the characters and audience are suppose to feel at every given moment. In some ways, the score kinda feels like a character of it’s own, being able to fit right in with Roz, Brightbill, Fink, and the others, as they learn to grow and adapt into something of their own. That is about the best possible compliment you can give a film score and Bowers certainly earns it with his tremendous work here.

For a film where at least 99% of it’s cast is not human, The Wild Robot manages to be the most human feeling film I’ve seen in 2024. That one glimmer of joy and optimism in a world that is filled with sadness and despair. It’s one of those rare films that manages to be about everything but also is able to make room for everything at the same time. Just like with any movie I give a 4 out of 4 star rating to (Yes, that is the rating I’m giving this film!), there are definitely nits you can pick such as certain side characters being too sidelined and the pacing feeling a bit too breakneck at points, but the journey that The Wild Robot takes you will make everything feel completely whole by the end of it.

The most bittersweet part of The Wild Robot is how the overall arc of Roz can be seen as the direction DreamWorks plans to take moving forward. Even when being controlled by a mechanical and soulless corporation like Universal that is taking advantage of them for one distinct purpose (A.K.A. making money) and nothing more, there will still be a heart and soul DreamWorks will find within themselves that will make them continue to stand out in ways that go beyond what Disney, Pixar, Sony, or Illumination are capable off. The lows will still remain but the highs will make it all worth it by the end.

Thank you to all the folks at DreamWorks who worked in-house for the company and I hope the very best awaits you in the future!

Other comments:

  • I STRONGLY recommend staying through the credits. Not only because there is in fact a post credits scene but as a dedication to all the hardworking folks at DreamWorks, as they will now be outsourced by other animation studios overseas. It would mean the world to the animators and artists that worked on this masterpiece!

  • I’m relieved how we can have an animated kids film in 2024 that actually makes jokes about death and isn’t afraid to have characters say “kill” all the time.

  • This feels like the kind of animated film that I would watch with my brother and mom during the summer theater kids/family marathon that would always play at my theaters. I’m sure this film will be replaying CONSTANTLY throughout the next several summers!

  • Lupita Nyong’o has probably the most soothing voice ever!

  • We seriously need to talk more about Chris Sanders and all the amazing things he has contributed to animation. He has been responsible for several of our favorite Disney and DreamWorks movies since we were a child. The man just deserves more respect!

  • Also, one random fact, did you know that Chris Sanders also does the voice of Stitch as well? That is just……remarkable!

Why Animators Need To Go On Strike

AdamLeave a comment

It has been announced that Pixar will be laying off 14% of current employees due to Disney’s cost-cutting measures. This will be the biggest restructuring in Pixar’s history. Even after undergoing similar layoffs last year, which included Galyn Susman, the woman who helped keep Toy Story 2 at bay during production, yet another restructure is occurring at the offices of Pixar. Never mind the fact that last year’s Elemental was able to squeeze a profit after it’s incredibly strong legs or that Inside Out 2 is set to have the biggest opening weekend at the box office in 2024 so far! Neither one of those elements were enough to continue letting talented animators get the hammer!

Unfortunately, this has not been the only layoffs in recent memory within the animation industry. Back in March, shortly after Kung Fu Panda 4 had a strong opening weekend at the box office, DreamWorks had announced massive layoffs with their company as well. Even more so than the ones with Pixars, DreamWorks confirmed that many departments were cut in half and the creative staff on movies were to be reduced at least up to 50%. Yes, around HALF of the creative staff at DreamWorks were laid off a few months ago. Never mind the fact that Kung Fu Panda 4 had a solid opening weekend at the box office and has managed to gross over 530 million worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing Kung Fu Panda sequel domestically and even outgrossing the previous Kung Fu Panda installment. Not to mention, the lower 85 million dollar budget that certainly allowed for higher revenue that perhaps any other Kung Fu Panda movie to date. None of that was enough to save DreamWorks from being forced to clean house and restructure their entire company.

There are multiple reasons why this is all occurring to not only within the animation industry but nearly all forms of entertainment in general. Mediums underperforming or tanking at the box office and/or sales, bloated budgets that makes return outcome nearly impossible, rushed development cycles which artists are constantly overworked and crunched for times, etc.. However, I do think the #1 reason behind all of this has to do with the higher ups of these studios. In the cases I just mentioned, Disney and Universal.

If you have been seeing how technology is becoming more advanced by the day, you likely are familiar with the way A.I. has been playing a bigger role now than before. With artificial intelligence features such as ChatGPT becoming more common in every day use, it’s clear that studios are looking to have that be more incorporated to the way entertainment is made now. Not for the sake of quality but for the sake of quantity. Companies want A.I. to play a big role now because it will save them extra bucks in not having to hire more animators or artists. That way, more and more money can be made that can light their own pockets and NOT be spend on actual content themselves.

Many people find it blasphemy that big studios and companies are still trying to convert A.I. into their products at the expense of actual human beings after going through at least two major strikes because of that push. However, it just doesn’t matter in the eyes of the higher ups. They don’t know how to shortened the budgets of their content that doesn’t involve laying off a good portion of their employees. They just think A.I. is the big answer to all of their problems. Not because they want to experiment on different ways to make new forms of entertainment but because that will save them a few extra pennies. It’s about as greedy, corporate, and cynical as they come.

All of those reasons and more is why whenever the contract inevitably expires this year between the Animation Guide and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a strike is going to 100% occur. It’s not a WANT per se but an absolute NEED for both sides, if the future of animation is to thrive in the best way it can. Companies need to learn that they can NOT take animators for granted and needs them to provide quality entertainment.

Even if you take out the constant push for A.I., the animation industry has been infamous with it’s troubled production with films in recent memory. You have Across the Spider-Verse which had animators being treated extremely poorly by Phil Lord, causing hundreds of animators to leave the project. You have Kung Fu Panda 4 which had plenty of back and forth between the creatives and being rushed out of door during the multiple strikes to get out by spring. And do I even need to bring up the development history surrounding Frozen 2, which had a Disney Plus documentary in which the people who made it unironically state that they were overworked, crunched, and was basically making the whole movie up as they went along. And I can only imagine the stories we will be hearing about Moana 2, the Disney Plus series turned movie, during the holiday season this year?

Working in the animation industry or any entertainment industry is certainly hard and requires you to be working a TON to get each project out on time. But it should never come at the cost of someone’s mental health, insanity, or skills as a human being. You might be able to get away with that once or twice but to have EVERY production in animation going this way is a big no-no. That’s how you wind up with something like Megamind 2, that was litter with animation errors that became noticeable to anyone once the very first trailer dropped. Not only is the poor treatment for animators along with this constant push for A.I. to take over is affecting the work-life balance of animators but also the quality of animated motion pictures. And once you got so many of those poor quality animated films in a row, eventually people will catch on and your movies will end up bombing at the box office. Just ask Disney with Wish!

Yes, there has been plenty of great animated work as of late, regardless of their production history, but more times than not, these rushed developments cycles, harsh treatment of animators, and wanted to replace them with robots is causing major harm to the animation industry. At some point, you as an animator has to put your foot down and stand up to the studio saying “No! You will just not tolerate any longer! Treat us with the respect we deserve or we go on strike!” While it’s unlikely that will occur on it’s own, the soon-to-be expired contract between the Animation Guide and the AMPTP will certainly make the voices of animators be heard. And there is not better time for them to start speaking up than now!

Just like how actors and writers had every right to go on strike last year, animators deserve that very right! With big companies performing layoffs within the industry in the hopes of avoiding a strike, that is only going to throw more fuel into the fire. Laying off hundreds to thousands of animators in the hopes of giving those extra bucks to those that deserve it is NOT the answer! Replacing those animators with robots is NOT the answer! Putting the animators through hell with every single animation production is also NOT the answer! The only answer is to give them the proper care, treatment, and respect that they deserve to deliver the best quality creative product that they can!

It’s only then that animators may not have to strike. However, in this case and under THESE circumstances right now, they have more than earn their right to do so once they get the chance!

Megamind Vs The Doom Syndicate (2024) Movie Review- A MegaMASTERPIECE!

AdamLeave a comment

After 14 long years, DreamWorks has FINALLY given us a sequel to their legendary masterpiece, Megamind! You guys might have not known that DreamWorks made a sequel to Megamind because for whatever reason, whenever I go to google and type in Megamind 2, the only thing that comes up is that silly Megamind: The Button of Doom short! But rest assured, I’m here to report that Megamind 2 does in fact exist and it’s available on Peacock now for everyone to see!

Sure, Megamind wasn’t a movie that demanded a sequel because everything was resolved perfectly at the end of the movie and these kind of subversive movies really only work one time but since everything has to have a sequel nowadays, we now have Megamind Vs The Doom Syndicate! Or as just about everyone will refer to it as strictly Megamind 2 because they will likely not even remember who the Doom Syndicate even are by the time the credits roll.

A lot of animated sequels tend to suck nowadays such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse! However, every once in a while DreamWorks is able to deliver great Part Twos when it counts the most. Sure, sequels such as Shrek 2, Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, How To Train Your Dragon 2, and Puss in Boots 2 were nothing to write home about but sequels such as The Croods: A New Age, Trolls: World Tour, The Boss Baby: Family Business, and ESPECIALLY Spirit: Untamed were all SPECTACULAR follow-ups to their already SPECTACULAR original counterparts! And now with Megamind 2: Vs Who Gives A Crud, I don’t think it would be crazy to consider DreamWorks to be one of the better animation studios out there when it comes to delivering absolutely banger sequels where other studios tend to fall flat. Take notes, Disney!

I would explain the full plot in details but really, all you have to do is just google the plot of the first movie and you basically get the same thing nearly beat for beat. You have Megamind coming to terms into wanting to be a supervillain again until he suddenly doesn’t! You have him breaking up and getting back together with his best pal Minion (Or as he’s now called Chum!) for absolutely NO REASON at all! You have breaking up and getting back together with his kinda, sort-of girlfriend Roxanne Ritchi because every superhero movie needs one of those! You have new bad guys (and one girl) that used to be best buddies with Megamind who are present in Metro City because of a problem that Megamind unwillingly caused! Heck, you even have a seen where Megamind feels defeated and retires from being a superhero while growing a long, gross depression beard, just like with Metro Man in the first movie! Just take the plot of the first movie and thrown in some more poop and fart jokes and you basically got the same movie all over again!

Never mind the fact that Megamind questioning his allegiance to being a hero and breaking up with his best friend yet again goes against his character development in the first one! Never mind the fact that these new bad guys who happened to once be friends with Megamind were never even established in the movie! Never mind the fact we have a new girl added here who just so happened to be insanely popular on social media overnight! And never mind even the fact that this is suppose to take place just two days after the original when it feels more like it takes place at least a decade plus after it! The plot of Megamind 2 is a stroke of art! It’s as if you took away every fun subversive twist that the first one had and went exactly the predictable, conventional route that it was mocking.

Big props have to be given to Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simmon, the writing duo from the first movie who return once again! You have to applaud them for being patience and not waiting to rush out a sequel just two days after the first one came out. They knew it would take time and development for a Megamind 2 to work in the slightest. Thankfully, because of the writers’ strike and DreamWorks not giving them a proper budget, they are able to make a Megamind sequel that’s on par with those straight-to-VHS Disney sequels and somehow make it even worse than that! I sure hope they return for Megamind 3 when that comes out in the year 2038!

The main selling point here is The Doom Syndicate! They are just about the most one-note, generic, and stereotypical baddies you have ever seen! They are as ever bit as funny or entertaining as an episode of Velma! They are so annoying and obnoxious that you will root for Megamind to kill them within the first ten minutes they are onscreen so they would just go away! If that’s not the sign of truly great villains that you want the hero to beat them so badly so they would disappear forever, then I don’t know what is!

The animation is so glaring and distracting that it all feels too real! I lost track of the number of animation errors, inconsistent character movement, and the overall defiance of logic with the animated style of this movie. This movie looks about on part with that Megamind game that came out on the Nintendo DS! It’s to know that DreamWorks have been taking good care of their animators to make sure their highly-anticipated sequel looks as magical as any movie that they have ever made! Take that Sony and Across the Spider-Verse!

We also have to tell about the STELLAR voice cast! Yeah, it’s a shame they couldn’t get Will Ferrell or Tina Fey back likely because they read the script to this mega-rocity and went “nah, fam!” but we have the perfect replacements for them! We have Keith Ferguson, who is able to copy Will Ferrell just as much as he was able to copy Owen Wilson in those Cars Mater short things, even if his voice is annoyingly more high pitched and doesn’t sound like Megamind whatsoever! We also have Laura Post, who is able to copy Tina Fey about as well as………..Tina Fey I guess!

Let’s also not forget Tony Hale, Forky from Toy Story 4, playing a character named Mr. Donut (I’m not even kidding!) Or director Eric Fogel who plays a robot named Polly 227 (Again, not even kidding!). Or Roger Craig Smith, A.K.A. Sonic the Hedgehog, as the cowardly Mayor who steals the show every two seconds he gets! And even Adam Lambert is in this movie as…..some villain! It’s nice to see DreamWorks get all of these well known celebrity voice actors! As we all know, only the greatest movies out there could have this many celebrities for one feature film!

I would say more about Megamind 2 but I don’t want to spoil all the fun and excitement for you all! I can happily say that Megamind 2 lives up to the hype and was certainly worth the 14-year long wait!

The story is lazy, derivative and disregards the original movie at every turn, the animation is so ugly and unfinished that it will make your eyes bleed, the time frame between both movies makes no sense whatsoever, the humor is absolute liquid shit, the voice actors are completely miscast in their roles, and the Doom Syndicate are some of the worst and most unmemorable villains in recent memory! Oh, and that little girl that’s in the movie might be the most pointless side character I’ve seen in any movie!

Don’t listen to these haters who must have given high praise to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or that furry’s wet dream, The Bad Guys! THIS is a true legacy sequel that delivers when it needs to! Maybe now, people will start giving DreamWorks the credit they deserve and not just pure scorn for their missteps. Even so, great sequels to their non well-known franchises have already been made and Megamind vs who gives a crud! joins the list of those with grace!

Oh, and be sure to check out that Megamind TV series! It’s just ever bit as amazing and cringe as this movie is!

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April Fools!

Ranking The Kung Fu Panda Movies

AdamLeave a comment

Kung Fu Panda 4 is now out in theaters and because of that, it’s time to rank all four films in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.

This is a franchise that has always had a special place in my heart. I remember watching the original Kung Fu Panda in theaters and being utterly blown away about how good it was. It really gave you the notion as to why you shouldn’t judge a movie so harshly based off the premise alone. And while this franchise might have a different variation of quality in terms of movies and television shows, that core message still reigns true to this day.

I already did a marathon of the first three Kung Fu Panda movies and a review for Kung Fu Panda 4. I’ll put links to those at the end of the piece. But for now, here are my ranking of the four Kung Fu Panda movies we have gotten thus far.

4.) Kung Fu Panda 4

The worst Kung Fu Panda is unfortunately the one that just came out in theaters. Kung Fu Panda 4 feels like the kind of movie that people were expecting the original Kung Fu Panda to be before seeing it. Relying way too much on water down humor, barebone storytelling, and the most predictable outcomes for the characters imaginable, Kung Fu Panda 4 is a sign that perhaps that this franchise may have ran out of creative gas. Also, The Furious Five being written out to make room for the new player in Zhen certainly doesn’t help either.

For those that come to these movies for the action and some laughs, you might get your money’s worth. It’s competently made with great animation, enjoyable fight scenes, and solid voice work throughout but the clever storytelling and engaging resonate themes that have been a staple for this series is just not there this time around. There are moments where it feels like it’s going to get there and makes this stand proudly with the other three films but it instead chooses to take the quick and easy path every step of the way, which is not how the series was up to this point. It’s odd how for a movie that claims to be about change, Kung Fu Panda 4 does very little of that to the overall narrative of the franchise.

3.) Kung Fu Panda 3

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a film that is easy to dismiss when looking at it on the surface. From its familiar plot beats to its toned down humor, it almost feels as if it’s falling into the traps that the franchise has avoided up to this point. However, with seeing how Po’s journey concludes by the end of the movie and at the end of this trilogy, there is something to chew upon greatly here. It really feels like Po has fully 100% lived up to the Dragon Warrior name, just as Oogway hoped he would the moment he chose him.

Yeah, it’s a step down from the first two movies but I mean that in a respectful way. It still has the same heart and resonate themes that the first two movies have and it’s ultimately cool to see where Po basically was given birth at. Kung Fu Panda 3 is to the first three Kung Fu Panda movies what Return of the Jedi is to the original Star Wars trilogy, a solid B+ wrap-up/follow-up to its A++ predecessors. If this was the true ending to this series, it would certainly not be as definite as other series finales but it would have been satisfying all the same.

2.) Kung Fu Panda

If there is one movie out there that is basically the textbook definition of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!”, that would be Kung Fu Panda. On paper, this sounds like the dumbest idea ever. A big fat panda voiced by Jack Black learning Kung Fu?! That feels like an idea that came from the same person that thought The Emoji Movie would be a great hit! However, once the movie came out during the summer of 2008, we all could not have been wrong about Kung Fu Panda. This is a movie that is greater, smarter, and more interesting than it has any right to be.

It’s able to use that “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” mindset that not only acts what most folks thought of Kung Fu Panda when watching it but use that as the central theme throughout the film. And it’s that theme that makes for the perfect way to tell the story of the main character of Po, the titled panda that learns kung fu. We also got terrific animation, superb fight sequences, a wonderful supporting cast of characters, a riveting musical score and amazing character development all the way through. It’s those exact reasons and much more that makes Kung Fu Panda as good as it is and one that stands strongly as one of DreamWork’s absolute best.

1.) Kung Fu Panda 2

Was there every any doubt? Kung Fu Panda 2 is not only as good as the original Kung Fu Panda, it’s even better. It does EVERYTHING you want a sequel to do. It takes the characters into exciting and new directions, it expands upon it’s story and lore in the most logically way possible, the action and animation are taken to the next level, the villain of Lord Shen is given more focus and is used perfectly, and it’s able to act as the best possible next step for the journey of Po as oppose to do just retreating steps from his first go around. Also, the scene where Po discovers inner peace is the series true definite moment up to this point!

As much as folks were doubtful that the first film could work at all given it’s bizarre premise, I believe there was even more doubt that a sequel could work in any way, shape, or form. Clearly the first movie have to be a magical fluke and there’s no way DreamWorks could make lightning strike twice, right?! Right?! Welp, you would be wrong once again! Kung Fu Panda 2 is not only the best Kung Fu Panda movie thus far but it’s arguably the best DreamWorks movie to date and possibly one of the best film sequels ever made period. It’s so good that there’s a good argument to be made that this is where the series officially peaked.

There’s my list. Feel free to share me yours!

And here are links to my Kung Fu Panda retrospectives and reviews!

Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) Movie Review- Not Enough Skadoosh

Adam1 Comment

If there’s one thing that stuck with me throughout my viewing of Kung Fu Panda 4, it’s how the movie kept reminding me why the initial idea of Kung Fu Panda was mocked to begin with. That premise alone gives the indication that a panda voiced by Jack Black learning kung fu would basically play out as just being a typical slapstick comedy with dumbed down humor made for the littlest of kids, paint-by-numbers storytelling, and the most predictable reveals and morals imaginable. However, the greatest thing about the Kung Fu Panda movies up to this point is how it takes those “judging a book by it’s cover” expectations and cleverly subverted it into something better, smarter, and greater than it had any right to be. While I’m sure there were intentions of that for this latest installment with the Skaddoshinator (I promise that is the only time I will say that!), Kung Fu Panda 4 is basically the exact kind of movie we thought we were getting from this series from the very beginning.

The idea of a Kung Panda 4 was certainly not one that felt necessary but there were plenty of ways that another entry could work. While Kung Fu Panda 3 did bring a satisfying conclusion to Po arc’s in becoming the Dragon Warrior that he had always dreamed of, there was never a feeling throughout the third movie that it was the absolute endgame for the series. A third movie could be a fine stopping point but there was definitely another train coming along the way if anyone wanted to take it. And DreamWorks decided to take that train with Kung Fu Panda 4. I only wish they found an actual reason to want to hop aboard it.

Premise: Time has passed since Kung Fu Panda 3 and Po (Jack Black) finds himself on his last remaining days as The Dragon Warrior. Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is ready to promote his panda apprentice to being the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, the highest ranking of all kung fu mastery. Before he does that, Po must choose a worthy successor to take the mantle of The Dragon Warrior.

However, a new deadly foe has emerged with a new shapeshifting sorceress known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis). The Chameleon is someone that has had her own ambitions of wanting to learn kung fu but never got the proper respect to be able to learn it. Because of that, she wants to take matters into her own hands and copy the kung fu from other notable warriors in the series rose gallery such as Tai Lung (Ian Mcshane), Shen, and Kai to become the kung fu warrior she has always inspired to be.

With the Furious Five not being available due to going on their own personal missions and Shifu supposedly aging, it’s up to Po to stop The Chameleon. However, he can’t find the sinister lizard without the aid of a wanted fox thief named Zhen (Awkwafina), who supposedly knows The Chameleon’s location and promises Po she can lead him right to her front door. Po and Zhen go on a journey together to put the new villain out of commission, where the former comes to the realization this might be his final adventure with The Dragon Warrior title and the latter wondering what side she’s actually fighting for.

Oh, and also Po’s two dads, Mr. Ping (James Hong) and Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), follow their son without him knowing because they are so worried that their son, who had already beaten the biggest named opponents out there up to this point, can’t handle a fight against this newest opponent for some reason.

When reading through that plot synopsis, it basically gives you the indication of where Kung Fu Panda 4 head is at every step of the way. Yes, Po has to learn to take his next step in life. Yes, he realizes he has a lot in common with his new wolf companion and new lizard foe than he initially thought. Yes, he has to learn the true meaning of change. And yes, who Po chooses to be the next Dragon Warrior is obvious the moment that character arrives on screen. However, whereas prior Kung Fu Panda movies were able to take familiar stories and add enough layers to it to make them stand out as fresh and unique tales, the plot of Kung Fu Panda 4 can be read like a book that you predict the expected beats five to ten pages in advance.

As I stated in the plot summary, The Furious Five are nowhere to be seen throughout the main film. Yes, there is an explanation given of their absence in an (admittedly) nice 2D animated sequence and they do show up right when the credits start to roll, but they have no presence in the story whatsoever. Whether this was because they wanted to put the spotlight on the new characters or the fact that the studios couldn’t afford to have Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, and crew return due to the film’s shockingly low budget is beyond me but fans who were hoping to see them in action in this one will be severely disappointed.

The newest player this time around is Zhen, played by Awkwafina. On paper, this casting make sense. The crew clearly wanted to hire a celebrity actress that has the same range of comedic chops as Jack Black provides to the titled panda himself. However, the reason why Jack Black has always been perfect as the character is how he is able to perfectly mirror the appearance of a fat comedic panda while still nailing the dramatic beats when needed.

Zhen doesn’t have that same gesture as she is just as feisty, parkour, and can handle herself in action as much as Po or even Tigress can. She basically plays out exactly how other characters voiced by Awkwafina have with nothing new added. She is yet another side character that’s snarky, wise-cracking, and might just have a heart of gold underneath. It’s not that the character herself is inherently bad but she’s not interesting enough to warrant having other characters being purposely written out just to make room for her. Zhen is mostly just your average “grey” character and doesn’t offer much to the Kung Fu Panda universe that other better characters in the series haven’t provided.

The main villain of The Chameleon does feel like more fitting character in concept but still feels like wasted potential. While she certainly has a resemblance to Kung Fu Panda 3‘s antagonist with Kai, with gaining the abilities of other notable kung fu warriors, her whole parallel with Po is the one aspect that Kung Fu Panda 4 provides that feels new and refreshing. Both of these characters were underestimated by society due solely to their appearances but went on to accomplish greater things. Whereas Po went on to become the greatest hero, The Chameleon went on to become the greatest villain. The perfect good guy/bad guy dynamic is right here and could be possibly the most compelling one in the series to date if enough time and care was given into it.

Unfortunately, just like with the most interesting ideas in the film, it doesn’t have much interest in exploring it. This matter is just addressed in a dialogue exchange or two and never is given much focus on beyond that. The character herself basically comes across as an excuse to revive other notable bad guys in the series in the hopes that would get more butt in seats.

It’s also strange how The Chameleon claims to have been denied of learning kung fu due to being “too small” despite one of the Furious Five members being Mantis, A.K.A. a literal grasshopper! I guess kung fu warriors are just as racist towards lizards as pandas.

When it comes to the returning antagonists of the series, Tai Lung is the only one that gets enough screen time to warrant being considered an actual role in the story. And by that, I mean he gets a decent action sequence and a couple of laughs and that’s basically it.

The other notable ones are just there for the sake of continuity and nostalgia, with Ian McShane the only one reprising his role. Not to mention, the scenes where Po is witnessing all of his foes in the same place but Tai Lung is the ONLY one that actually speaks is LAUGHABLY noticeable!

I don’t know if this was yet again done due to a lower budget or there was suppose to be an actual arc for Po’s first foe early on in development (which there really isn’t) but those who were hoping that the villains would get the Spider-Man: No Way Home treatment are destined for disappointment as well.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of Kung Fu Panda 4 is the way it handles the humor. If you are someone that felt that Kung Fu Panda 3 went too far with its slapstick humor, it’s unfortunately just like that here but even worse. There’s too many jokes that feel extremely forced and are just not funny at all. Too much of the humor feels like it’s only there to keep the toddlers entertained and not because it works in the heat of the moment for the characters. Yes, all of the Kung Fu Panda movies have plenty of humor but they always felt perfectly timed and made sense for the characters without feeling out of place.

With Kung Fu Panda 4, the jokes are nonstop and feel like they are only there because the writers couldn’t figure out how to keep the main story engaging so they just threw in some random jokes in the hopes that it would be good enough to push the whole thing forward. It’s like the worst kind of humor in Marvel movies increased ten fold. There’s only so many times where you can hear Po say skadoosh without it getting tiring real quick.

To gain to the more positive side, the animation is quite breathtaking, which is all the more impressive considering the film’s 85 million dollar budget. Everything looks bright and colorful, able to expand on the same art style from the previous three films while being able to modify it for this to be far in a way the best looking Kung Fu Panda film to date. All the locations of new and old are beautiful to look at, especially the scene with Po in the valley of peace. Even the distractingly out of place models for all the new characters (which feel like they came straight out of Zootopia) can’t take away from this film being a visual treat for the eye.

The action scenes themselves are as dynamic as you would hope for in a Kung Fu Panda movie. It still has that sense of choreography, rhythm, and pace that has always made the fight sequences in this series stand out as well as they do. I enjoyed some of the earlier bits of Po guarding the valley of peace along with the scenes involving him and Zhen fighting together or against each other. While I can’t think of a set piece here that holds a candle to the best ones in the previous three films such as the fights with Tai Lung and Shen or the one between Po and Shifu, along with wanting more lasting action in the climax, they do deliver when it counts the most.

The voice cast is able to do the best with what they have. Jack Black is as perfect here as Po as he always has been, clearly bringing so much love and passion to our favorite panda. Viola Davis gives a great and menacing voice performance as The Chameleon, making the character stand out more than the script will actually allow her. It’s neat to see Ke Huy Quan get a voice over role here for a character that feels like a mix between his characters from Loki and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Dustin Hoffman has shown age as much as the character of Shifu himself (Then again, the man is 86 years old!) but still fits the role like a glove all the same. Ian McShane seems excited to be back as Tai Lung, even if his role isn’t as big as I hoped it would be. Even James Hong and Bryan Cranston are able to get moments to shine in the film’s few funny moments as the two fathers of Po. And as I said before, Awkwafina as Zhen plays out exactly as you would expect a character voiced by Awkwafina to play out, so take that as you will.

I imagine there will be plenty of people reading this review that think I’m being too harsh and overly critical of a movie clearly designed for children. If you think that, that’s completely fine but Kung Fu Panda to me has always been much better than that.

The series’ greatest trick in the past was having you thinking it would play out like your stereotypical “critic proof” movies for kids but when you watch the movies themselves, there is something much more than that. Kung Fu Panda 4 feels more in line with what the series was originally thought of as being on the surface level, almost as if it was made by Illumination than DreamWorks.

For those that come to these movies for the action and some laughs, you might get your money’s worth. It’s competently made with solid animation, fight scenes, and voice work throughout but the clever storytelling and engaging resonate themes are just not there this time around.

There are moments where it feels like it’s going to get there and makes this stand proudly with the other three films but it instead chooses to take the quick and easy path every step of the way, which is not how the series was up to this point. It’s odd how for a movie that claims to be about change, it does very little of that to its overall status quo.

I don’t know if it had to do with a supposed rushed development, lower budget, or running out of creative gas but Kung Fu Panda 4 feels like it was only made to keep the franchise brand going and not because anyone had a unique enough story to tell for it.

If the series continues to stick to it’s initial six-movie arc plan that DreamWorks envisioned back in 2010, then they better find a way to spice things up for parts five and six if they want anything after Kung Fu Panda 3 to be worthy of existing.

As an animated film for kids, it’s passable at best. As a Kung Fu Panda movie, there’s just not enough skadoosh this time around.

Other comments:

  • Yes, Jack Black’s version of Baby One More Time is awesome and the biggest standout of the entire soundtrack.

  • There is actually a scene in the movie where Bryan Cranston has a little Walter White in him as Po’s biological father.

  • Who in a million years would have thought that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish would be by far the best DreamWorks sequel in recent memory and NOT Megamind 2 or Kung Panda 4?

  • Yes, I watched Megamind 2. It’s probably the most pointless sequel I’ve ever watched!

  • Oh and Mr. Beast makes a voice cameo in this one! That’s cool I guess!

  • Also, Po’s dads are so gay! Just saying!

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) Retrospective- Finding Your Inner Chi

Adam2 Comments

Well, I’d be skadoosh-ed! It’s already been EIGHT years since the last film installment of the Kung Fu Panda series came out. Of course, that will change very soon with the release of Kung Fu Panda 4 coming next month but that once again showcases just how fast time can really fly! To top off this Legend of Awesomeness marathon, let’s take a look at Kung Fu Panda 3!

Kung Fu Panda 3 has had a rather complicated response when it comes to the fans of the series. There are those that view it as the perfect culmination of the series thus far, there are those that view it as the Return of the Jedi of the original Kung Fu Panda trilogy, i.e. a solid B+ follow-up to A++ predecessors, and there are those that view it as a major disappointment, believing that it was basically a rehash of the first two movies and it felt too dumb down for little kids. While I can understand all possible view points, I think it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The criticisms that I’ve heard of this movie are relatively fair. It does have an overdose of child friendly humor, it has a much more lighthearted tone compared to the first two films, and it’s not nearly as good as the first two films. However, the main point I’ve come to disagree with in regards to this film is those that claim that this is just a rehash of the previous two films and offers nothing new on its own. That could not be anything further from the truth. Yes, there are similarities here and there but that’s always going to be the case the further you go along with the series. The main thing Kung Fu Panda 3 has going for it compared to the first two is seeing Po not just turning into his own Kung Fu master but he is able to turn into that version of himself that he always dreamed off, most notably the dream we saw at the beginning of the first film. How is he able to accomplish that? Well, by mastering chi of course.

For those that don’t know what chi is, chi is basically like the Kung Fu Panda equivalent of the force in Star Wars. To what Shifu describes in a very Obi-Wan Kenobi way, chi is a life force energy that can be found in all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us; it binds kung fu together. In all seriousness, it can act as a power for kung fu. It can be used to stimulate life, heal living beings, or grow flora. Most importantly, this is the one power that Master Oogway himself hoped the Dragon Warrior would one day unlock. Not just to prove himself to be the mighty dragon warrior that can enter the gates of what is basically the Kung Fu Panda equivalent of heaven but he can pass the mantle of the mystic staff to the next Kung Fu Warrior who is worthy of it. This acts as the next step in Po’s journey but how exactly can he achieve this great power? By reuniting with his own previously thought extinct kind!

At the very end of Kung Fu Panda 2, there was a cliffhanger that saw a mighty panda, who seems to resemble Po’s real biological father, is still alive along with plenty of other pandas out there. It wouldn’t be until five years later where we the audience got confirmation that was indeed the case. Earlier on in the movie, we see Po meet his father who gave birth to him named Li Shan, voiced by Walter White himself, Bryan Cranston. It’s then we find out that there are still pandas out in the world and have camped at a secret panda village. A panda village that just so happens to tie into the main conflict with the main villain of the picture, Kai, voiced by J. Jonah Jameson himself, J.K. Simmons!

For a bit of backstory, we discover that Kai and Oogway were once brothers-in-arms and that Kai saved a wounded Oogway from dying. He saved him by taking him to a secret village full of pandas, where he was healed after they were ambushed. The pandas there taught the two of them the power of chi. Whereas Oogway used that power of chi for the method of healing, Kai used that power to take chi away from others for his own personal power. This forced Oogway to battle and banish him to the Spirit Realm. By revisiting that secret panda village, Po is hoping to learn Chi from his father Li to defeat Kai while Shifu and the Furious Five prepare to protect the valley.

Now, in hindsight, having the pandas tie into the backstory surrounding the main villain and the original Kung Fu Master in Oogway can be seen as quite contrived. It was always stretchy enough that you just had a bad guy in the previous movie that had something to do with the death of the main character’s parents, which wasn’t even hinted at in the original film, even if the film handled all of that INCREDIBLY well. Now, you have a panda race that was originally written off as being extinct somehow serving a role in healing Oogway and involved with Kai’s drastic turn to the dark side. However, there is one element that makes this whole thing work.

You see Li claims to know the power of chi but refuses to teach his son how to chi until he remembers how to be a panda again. From eating, sleeping, and interacting with his whole kind, Po is rediscovering the true meaning of being a panda. However, as Kai starts to strike with his desire goal to erase Oogway’s legacy and steal the chi from every living kung fu master out there, which he is able to successfully due to Shifu and four of the furious five members, Po must learn how to chi from his dad quickly. The problem though is that Li doesn’t really know how to chi and lied to his own son to prevent losing him again. That right there is what helps make this story work.

Yes, the liar reveal is a very common trope among movies, especially kids movies. But, that really allows the world of Kung Fu Panda to be build upon more fluently and not have it being bog down by common cinematic universe tropes where EVERYTHING MUST BE CONNECTED! These really aren’t the pandas that was able to heal Oogway and bare witness to Kai’s evil turn, these are just ordinary pandas that don’t know the first thing about chi or really anything to do with kung fu. This is yet another misdirect that could ruin an entire film if not done properly but it’s able to do it well enough because it plays a role in Po’s arc in the film.

The main thing about Po in this movie is not just having to learn chi but pass his knowledge of kung fu onto others. He attempts to train the Five before but fails to do so. He must try it again but this time teach the village of pandas and his father, Mr. Ping (who I forgot to mention is along for the ride too). Except this time, Po realizes that he can’t teach others kung fu by intimating his style but must build upon the styles of others by using the everyday activities from pandas. Just like the way Shifu trained Po in the first film, Po must find unconventional ways to train his fellow panda bears. With step one of Po learning to become a teacher being completed, now must come the part where Po must learn how to chi.

Of course, Po wants to take the easiest way imaginable to be Kai. Face him head on, get close enough to him, and use the wuxi finger hole to send him back to the spirit realm. And as usual with movies, it’s not that simple. Kai reveals that the technique only works on mortals and that he is a spirit warrior. Because of that, Kai is able to recall the chi and beat Po. With the villain gaining the upper hand and Po failing to learn the power of chi, it must be very doom and gloom for the hero. How can Po actually save the day this time? By beating the bad guy at his own game!

To save all the others, Po grabs Kai and sakdooshes himself and Kai to transport them both to the spirit realm, the place which chi basically originated from. I guess if Po was unable to master chi in the real world, might as well go to the place where that power came from to be able to do it. Of course, Po can’t do this on his own. It’s with the help of his father and the entire panda village, they are able to unlock their own power of chi and pass it on to Po. As it turns out, it’s finding one’s true self that is the key to unlocking chi. It’s Po reuniting with his kind and the help from his friends that he was able to rediscover himself once again and learn the true meaning of chi. Because of that, he’s able to use his chi to destroy Kai and his weapons and save the day once again.

It’s then we get into the scene that not just Kung Fu Panda 3 has been building too but perhaps the entire trilogy up to this point in general. In the Spirit Realm, Po is able to reunite with Oogway. The wise old master tells Po that the reason he chose him to be the Dragon Warrior is because he saw the potential in both to master both kung fu and chi. Now that he has been able to successfully do both, he passes the baton to Po by making the Dragon Warrior his true successor as Grand Master and gives up his mystic staff to him. Po then uses that wisdom, knowledge, and staff he now has to pass on what he has learned to the pandas and residents of the Valley of Peace, teaching them all the true meaning of kung fu and chi. Now, Po has become the ultimate Kung Fu Master he has always dreamed of since the beginning of the first film. He has truly earned the titled name of Kung Fu Panda.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a film that is easy to dismiss when looking at it on the surface. From its familiar plot beats to its toned down humor, it almost feels as if it’s falling into the traps that the franchise has avoided up to this point and that it’s starting to become a shadow of it’s former self. However, with seeing how Po’s journey concludes by the end of the movie and at the end of this trilogy, there is something to chew upon greatly here. It really feels like Po has fully 100% lived up to the Dragon Warrior name, just as Oogway hoped he would the moment he chose him.

This movie is not only about Po learning to become a teacher, a master of chi, or becoming that ultimate kung fu warrior he has always dreamed of, it’s about Po learning to find the best of all these worlds when it comes to being the Dragon Warrior and a panda. He doesn’t need to compromise one end or the other, he’s willing to do them all. He can still hold onto his two daddies and his Kung Fu family at the same time just like how he can master kung fu and chi at the same time. He just needed to find that version of himself that was willing to do it. In this case, he just needed to learn to find his inner chi.

And that about does it for my Kung Fu Panda retrospective marathon. Sorry, it took a little later in the month to get around to it but I had other things in February that I wanted to cover first.

I will have my review of Kung Panda 4 sometime next week. I’m not sure how to feel about that movie considering the disturbing lack of marketing for it, almost as if DreamWorks is trying to hide it from the whole world. I hope that it’s able to do what all of the Kung Fu Panda films have done thus far and find a brand new story to tell with Po where he learns something grand that progresses his character forward. I guess we’ll see if it’s able to do that next month!

Once again, thanks to everyone that clicked on these pieces of each three films. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to more content on this blog!

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Retrospective- The Perfect Villain

Adam2 Comments

After the surprising success of Kung Fu Panda in 2008, a Kung Fu Panda 2 just had to be made. As a matter of fact, according to DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, they were looking to do a complete saga’s worth of Kung Fu Panda installments with at least six total. However, with DreamWorks, it’s clearly one step at a time by focusing on one distinct chapter at a time, especially in regards to Kung Fu Panda. We would end up getting a follow-up the original Kung Fu Panda three years later with 2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2.

As much as folks were doubtful that the first film could work at all given it’s bizarre premise, I believe there was even more doubt that a sequel could work in any way, shape, or form. Like what else could you do with a follow-up to Kung Fu Panda? Have Po be a bumbling idiot and learn the same lessons that he already learned the first time around? Clearly the first movie have to be a magical fluke and there’s no way DreamWorks could make lightning strike twice, right?! Right?! Welp, you would be wrong once again!

Kung Fu Panda 2 is not only as good as the original, it’s even better. It does EVERYTHING you want a sequel to do. It takes the characters into new and interesting directions, it expands upon it’s story and lore in the most logically way possible, the action and animation are taken to the next level, and it’s able to act as the best possible next step for the journey of Po as oppose to do just retreating steps from his first go around. It’s not only the best Kung Fu Panda movie thus far but it’s perhaps one of the best DreamWorks films ever made and even one of the best sequels of all time period. Not just in animation but in all films in general.

However, there is one strong element that’s able to hold this entire film together. One element that was perhaps a bit lacking in the first film compared to everything else going on. That is no other than the main villain of Shen, voiced BRILLIANTLY by Gary Oldman. Don’t get me wrong, Tai Lung was a fine antagonist overall but Shen easily blows him and any other antagonist in this entire series out of the water. The key to making a perfect sequel is to have a perfect villain. And Kung Fu Panda 2 is able to succeed GREATLY in that regard.

What makes Shen the best and most interesting antagonist of the entire series is his connection to Po. Unlike with Tai Lung and Kai, Shen is a villain that actually has a tie-in to Po’s past. Throughout Kung Fu Panda 2, you get a deeper dive into Po’s tragic past that was largely glossed over in the first film. A past that actually saw him with his fellow kin of pandas and his own biological mommy and daddy. However, there was one awful night where a good chunk of Po’s kind was wiped out and executed. That execution came from an army of deadly wolves that was lead by none other than Shen himself. It’s that connection that Shen has with Po that makes the conflict between him the most personal and engaging of the entire series.

Switching over to Po for a second, Po at this point has embraced his new life as The Dragon Warrior who now fights greatly alongside the Furious Five. However, he still has plenty to learn throughout his journey. One main component being that Po must achieve inner peace. Inner peace is a concept within the Kung Fu Panda universe to describe a peaceful state of mind and spirit. In the words of Shifu, it’s the ability “harness the flow of the universe”, enabling one to do basically the impossible. In a way, this is almost like what I imagine the special power that Po thought he was going to get with The Dragon Scroll but never got.

However, there is one road block that constantly gets in the way whenever Po tries to achieve inner peace throughout the course of the film. That being what happened the night that Po lost his parents, that night which was caused by Shen and his army. With that terrible memory he still has in his head that has come back to haunt him, finding inner peace seems impossible for Po because he can’t seem to put his past behind him. Something which Po can only be achieve once he discovered what happened that night. Unfortunately for Po, the only person that can answer that is Shen himself.

After Shifu sends Po and the Furious Five on a mission to Gongmen City after learning that Shin killed Kung Fu Master Thundering Rhino, Po is basically giving no choice put to confront his past head on in the hopes that it will unlock the secrets to not just inner peace but a brighter future as well. Shen, in this movie, is looking to do the unthinkable and destroy kung fu once and for all. He plans to do this by committing absolute genocide around China with cannons, hoping that will wipe out every single Kung Fu member and tradition.

The two first encountered with one another when Po and the Furious Five surrender to Shen and his army. However, Po claims he has a plan in motion and surprisingly enough, it succeeds. He’s able to catch Shen off guard and has the perfect opportunity to put an end to him right there but he doesn’t. The main thing that stopped him was symbol of Shen’s armor. It’s that exact same symbol Po saw with him when confronting bad guys at the village and it’s the symbol that calls back to that night where Po lost his parents. Because of that distraction, Shen escapes and destroys Gongmen Palace with his cannonade.

Tigress and the Furious Five demand to know why Po held back at stopping Shen. Despite initially hesitating, Po gives in and reveals that he believes that Shen knows what happened with his parents on the night that he lost them. With Po lacking clear focus on his mission, Tigress orders Po to sit the rest of the mission out and let the Furious Five handling it, refusing to let her friend get killed. But of course, Po can’t help himself and must seek answers from Shen. Not only will those answers make his past clear but it might just help unlock the inner peace hidden within himself.

Because of that eagerness, Po disobeys Tigress’s orders and goes to confront Shen himself. When Po demands answers from his new connected foe about what happened that night, Shen tells him that he was in fact there at night and watched as his parents abandoned him. That’s right! According to the words of Shen himself, it wasn’t him that caused Po to be separated from his real parents, it was themselves. With Po being horrified off the truth, that allows Shen to shoot the panda through his cannon, leaving him plenty of miles away from his fortress.

What I find the most fascinating about that exchange is that I don’t think Shen himself believes he is lying to Po there. Yes, he is clearly not telling the truth about Po’s parents abandoning him but I don’t think he himself realizes that. The main reason for that is with Shen’s own experience with his parentage. That experience which had fuel him into using his kung fu for evil and destroy China.

It’s revealed early in the film that the peacock rulers of Gongmen City actually invented fireworks for the purpose of peace. However, the ruler’s son, Shen, discovered that the gunpowder used to make the fireworks can also be used as a weapon. Once Shen’s parents take notice to their son’s sudden obsession with using fireworks as armory, they consult a soothsayer, who tells the two that if their son’s continues down this path of wrongful and sinful behavior, he will be defeated by “a warrior of black and white”. Overhearing of the prophecy, Shen believes that this supposed warrior has to be a panda, which is why he send his army of wolves to execute the pandas from all around the world, hoping this would lead to the prophecy not being fulfilled. Horrified by the panda genocide, Shen’s parents banished their own son from the city as he is no longer the boy they have come to love.

When saying that backstory out loud, you can actually get a sense as to why Shen would believe that Po would abandon his parents because he believes that is what parenthood is all about. With the way he was abandoned by his own parents, he only assumes that’s how the meaning of life is for everybody. Yes, they had ever right to do so but not in the eyes of Shen. This is because how much evil has blinded him from being the one good peacock he had the potential to be. The one that was able to use fireworks for good and not evil. The one that might have been able to fulfill his destiny and rule over Gongmen City for his parents. The one that would allow his past not to define him but only consume him. That right there spells out the perfect parallel that Shen has with Po.

However, the main difference between the past that Po and Shen share is how Po responds to learning the full truth about the tragic night with his parents. After getting blasted out of the cannon, Po is rescued by the soothsayer, the same one that was with Shen when she told the prophecy that caused him to wreck havoc. She tells Po all about the panda genocide and encourages him to face that past head on. It’s the only way that Po can do what he has been looking to do all movie long, achieve inner peace.

It’s then we get to what is not only hands down the best sequence in the entire franchise but one of the best scenes in any animated film period. This is the moment that the entire film has been building to. This is the moment where Po finally achieves inner peace. As Po unlocks the inner peace within himself, he is able to remember his father fighting off Shen’s army while his mother hid him in a little crate, drawing off the army so her son could survive. While the fate of his father is unknown, it basically all but confirms that Po’s mother is truly dead. It’s unlocking inner peace that allowed Po to unlock his past.

However, Po doesn’t have to be like Shen. He doesn’t have to let his past define him and motivate him to use his powers for evil. Instead, he can heal himself, leave the past behind him, and motivate himself to use his knowledge of kung fu for not just for the greater good but for a better and more uplifting future that awaits him. After all, he has already accomplished a great many things already during his time as the Dragon Warrior, as the rapid clip show of the events of the last two movies would show. This is where everything comes full circle for Po and this entire series in general. At the end of the day, Po is not Shen. Po is Po and he needs a hat!

One final master stroke of Po’s and Shin’s story is how both used their powers that they unlocked from their past. Shin is able to use the cannon of fireworks in the hopes that it would destroy China while Po is able use the knowledge of inner peace in the hopes that it would save China. However, because Po is the one that learned to not let his past define him, it is him that emerges victorious where Shen is defeated in the end. Whereas Po embraced his past as a scar that is a part of him forever, Shen embraced his past as a wound that never healed. Most of all, Po learned what Shen failed to. That the only thing that matters for yourself is what you choose to be in the here and now, not in the before or later. Because of that, Po was able to save the Furious Five, his master, and most importantly, all of China and kung fu from Shen.

When people talk about the best Part Twos of all time, a main strength that each and every one of them has is the perfect villain. The Empire Strikes Back had Darth Vader. Spider-Man 2 had Doc Ock. The Dark Knight had the Joker. And when it comes to DreamWorks Part Twos, Shrek 2 had the fairy godmother and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish had Death in the form of a wolf himself. Kung Fu Panda 2 has Shen and it’s all the more perfect for it.

There is an old saying that the hero is only as good as it’s villain. If that is indeed true, then I don’t think there has been an antagonist in any DreamWorks movie that was able to fit the exact meaning of that with Shen himself. Shen to this day is still the best villain in the entire Kung Fu Panda franchise and one of the best villains I have seen in any animated movie! I can’t imagine Kung Fu Panda 2 being the perfect sequel that it is if it wasn’t for Shen’s strong presence throughout the entire film. He make for a perfect parallel to Po and just makes for the perfect side of a coin in general.

If you are an inspiring screenwriter that is looking on how to make the perfect villain for your story, look no further than with Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2.

Next up: Kung Fu Panda 3– Finding Your Inner Chi

Kung Fu Panda (2008) Retrospective- Redefining The Chosen One

Adam2 Comments

If there is one movie out there that is basically the textbook definition of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover!”, that would be Kung Fu Panda. On paper, this sounds like the dumbest idea ever. A big fat panda voiced by Jack Black learning Kung Fu?! That feels like an idea that came from the same person that thought The Emoji Movie would be a great hit! And that’s not even going to the overall marketing and trailers for this movie, which played the movie as being nothing more than a water down slapstick comedy aimed for toddlers. However, once the movie came out during the summer of 2008, we all could not have been wrong about Kung Fu Panda.

I believe it’s safe to say that Kung Fu Panda has been far in a way Dreamwork’s most surprising franchise to date. Heck, with the exception of Shrek and How To Train Your Dragon, you could argue Kung Fu Panda is their best and most consistent franchise to date. This was a series of films that most folks didn’t think could hold it’s own standalone film, let alone a franchise, with a premise that sounded like the stupidest idea imaginable. However, not only is Kung Fu Panda is able to work despite it’s silly premise, it’s able to work BECAUSE of it.

It’s able to use that “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” mindset that not only acts what most folks thought of Kung Fu Panda when watching it but use that as the central theme throughout the film. And it’s that theme that makes for the perfect way to tell the story of the main character of Po, the titled panda that learns kung fu. A story that is yet again another chosen one narrative with the main character having to go through the typical hero’s journey but is able to use it’s admittedly absurd premise to find a completely fresh and unique way to tell it. It’s that exact reason and much more that makes Kung Fu Panda the right movie to talk about when it comes to films that is successfully able to redefine the typical chosen one narrative.

When we first meet Po, he seems like the last person that is worthy of being the chosen one, or as the movie refers to it as The Dragon Warrior. Sure, he is shown to be a massive fanboy of kung fu, with him having dreams of becoming the ultimate dragon warrior and owning his own action figures of the entire Furious Five group, but he comes off as an absolute clumsy oaf who don’t seem to take anything seriously. However, despite having a straight forward future with running a noodle shop with his TOTALLY not adapted father Mr. Ping, his heart doesn’t seem to eagerly awaiting for that kind of future. He’s awaiting for that special opportunity to fight alongside the Furious Five. He’s awaiting to become a kung fu warrior. It’s then the day that Po has been waiting for arrives, the day that known kung fu legend Master Oogway announces who The Dragon Warrior is.

After a handful of hilariously comedy bits in seeing how Po tries to enter a closed palace for the ceremony along with admitting to his father that noodles aren’t really his thing, we see Oogway choosing the Dragon Warrior. And that Dragon Warrior turned out to be no one other than Po himself. Not Tigress, not any member of the Furious Five, and not even a tall and muscular man! The Dragon Warrior is a fat panda named Po.

That moment is not only Oogway choosing the fate of kung fu in the valley of peace set in China but the fate of the actual movie in general. He is basically counting on the most unlikely person imaginable for the job. He is counting on the titled panda character voiced by Jack Black to carry the entire picture and make Po’s heroic journey feel earned. It may seem unimaginable but Oogway has fate in himself, his students, and most importantly, the audience to be alongside Po’s quest to become the Dragon Warrior by any means necessary.

Shifu is the one kung fu master that has to train Po to become the Dragon Warrior, as he had trained the Furious Five. His goal is to teach the panda kung fu and have him become good enough to not only defeat the sinister Tai Lung, Shifu’s fallen apprentice that has escaped from prison with a massive grudge against his former master, but also to claim the dragon scroll, which is believed to have the secrets to limitless power of kung fu. However, as you would expect for as someone that is as bumbling and clumsy as Po looks, it does not start off well at all.

Po’s early days of training are nothing short of disaster. Fallen short of every possible training lesson, session, and technique needed to master any sort of kung fu, Po had lived up to his first impressions of being the worst possible person for the job of the Dragon Warrior. Due to that, every one around him seems to think that Oogway made a mistake picking Po. Shifu believes it, the Furious Five believes it, and worst of all, Po himself believes it as well. The only person that does NOT believe Oogway was wrong is well…Oogway himself.

After receiving word of Tai Lung escaping from prison, Shifu realizes that their days may be numbered before evil strikes the heart of the valley of peace. Matters are made even more complicated when Oogway’s time has come and dies of old age at the Sacred Peach Tree, blown away by wind and pink petals. Even though Shifu has done everything in his power to get rid of Po, he now knows he has no choice but to do everything in his power to train Po and become the ultimate Kung Fu master.

Before he is able to do that, Po tries to run away from the responsibility after coming to the realization that he is the only one that can stop Tai Lung. We then have a great moment between Shifu and Po when the former asks the latter why he didn’t quit when everyone was trying to get rid of him. Po claims that despite all of the constant failing and insults from Shifu and the gang, he powered through with it because he figured that if there was anyone that can change himself from being just a big fat panda to a noble warrior, it was Shifu. This right there is a major defining moment of the movie.

This is when the movie has it’s main character basically questioning it’s own premise and overall existence. There is no way a big fat panda can be the one to be the hero that saves the day, it has to be someone way more than him. Po doesn’t want to be that anymore because that’s not what is normally defined as being a hero. No matter how good he can be at kung fu, Po will always be that big fat panda in his overall appearance and nothing can change that. Nothing except for possibly the dragon scroll.

With Shifu figuring out that the only way to motivated Po to be the best Kung Fu warrior imaginable is with food, he takes unconventional measures to train Po, measures that he could never have done with the Furious Five. Because of that, Po is able to succeed and have now learn how to properly Kung Fu. After the Furious Five attempt to take Tai Lung head on and failing, Shifu believes that it is now time to hand Po the dragon scroll, which is believed to do basically anything to help the Dragon Warrior master Kung Fu in ways unimaginable.

However, something unexpected happens once Po opens up the dragon scroll. It’s blank. Literally completely blank. Only showing himself in a golden reflection. No kung fu cheat codes, no magical or whimsical power! Nothing but Po himself. All of that build up and hype for the dragon scroll turned out to be literally for nothing!

Now, a movie where the big overall reveal turns out to be nothing is a HUGE risk, especially when there has been so much build up towards it. It could make the whole experience feel like it was a giant waste of time with trying to keep a secret that ultimately amount to literally NOTHING. However, Kung Fu Panda not only makes it completely work but it might just be the best “nothing” twist that I’ve seen in any movie.

After Po and the Furious Five go their separate ways with Shifu, who awaits his former student’s arrival, we see Po running into his father once again as the whole valley evacuates. Despite learning kung fu, it seems like Po is right back where he started at the beginning of the film, awaiting his noodle tradition future with his adopted father. It’s then that Mr. Ping believes it is time for him to let his son know of his little secret. That secret being the secret ingredient of his secret ingredient soup. And just like with the dragon scroll, the secret ingredient is literally nothing.

That’s right! That secret that Mr. Ping has kept from his son for so long turned out to be literally nothing. It’s nothing but plain old noodle soup. Even though there is no secret ingredient, Mr. Ping believes he doesn’t need it for his soup to be a success. The fact that he believes his soup making skills are special is good enough for him. The fact that he believed in it hard enough and made it happen was the true secret ingredient to all of this.

And there it is right there! That was the meaning of The Dragon Scroll! That was the point that Oogway was trying to get across! There is no secret ingredient to becoming a hero, it’s just you! Your overall appearance doesn’t matter! It’s only a matter if you believe in yourself willingly to accomplish the goals you set out to achieve! That moment right there is not only telling Po himself not to take himself for granted but also the audience as well!

It’s Po using the skills he learned from Shifu and the knowledge he discovered from his father to defeat the sinister Tai Lung. It’s nothing that was learned from any member of the Furious Five or even Shifu himself, it was all on Po. And that realization comes into fruition when Tai Lung finally gets his hands on The Dragon Scroll only to find out it’s literally nothing. All of that training and years of anticipation for the dragon scroll to find out it’s literally nothing. The main difference here is that Po is able to discover the inner meaning of himself with that reveal while Tai Lung is unable to. It’s because of that and more that Po is the one victorious in the end and Tai Lung ends up in skadoosh land.

There have been many different ways of telling the traditional chosen one narrative. There has been plenty of franchises out there that have done that and done it well. However, there isn’t one that I can recall that was able to tell it as fresh, unique, and most importantly, subversive as Kung Fu Panda. It’s like the filmmakers behind were fully aware of it’s absurd premise that audiences would judge too harshly on the surface. It’s like they wanted to use that sense of doubt from everyone to not only prove all the naysayers of the film wrong but literally have that be the main driving force of the film. And if the success of this film is anything to go by, I would say they succeeded spectacularly.

It’s that positive mindset of not doubting yourself that has led DreamWorks to the success with Kung Fu Panda. At the end of the day, when you set yourself out to achieve something, it’s only you that can accomplish it. There’s no secret weapon or trick to do it all, it’s just you. It’s only if you have the confidence to believe in yourself will you be able to accomplish your dreams when given the opportunity. Po was able to do that just well throughout the series and hopefully you can too with whatever you set out to be. Only then where you might just become your own version of the chosen one or The Dragon Warrior.

Next up in the marathon: Kung Fu Panda 2– How To Make The Perfect Villain