{"id":28148,"date":"2024-03-08T02:57:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T10:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28148"},"modified":"2024-03-08T02:57:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T10:57:47","slug":"kung-fu-panda-4-doesnt-pack-as-big-of-a-kick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28148","title":{"rendered":"KUNG FU PANDA 4 Doesn\u2019t Pack as Big of a Kick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time:  94 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This animated family film from Universal Pictures opens\nexclusively at theaters on March 8th<\/sup>, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been some time since Kung Fu Panda<\/em> graced\nmovie screens in 2008, becoming a surprise commercial and critical hit. An\nequally impressive follow-up arrived in 2011, but there was a five-year break\nbefore another title came to fruition. Now, after eight more years, Kung Fu\nPanda 4<\/em> is unexpectedly being released to cinemas. Like most studio\nanimated fare, it\u2019ll certainly work well enough for small children. However,\nolder viewers will note that this effort doesn\u2019t feel necessary. In fact, it\ncoasts along and seems to be serving primarily as a set-up for more titles\ninvolving a new character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the story opens, the Furious Five have temporarily gone\ntheir separate ways. The panda Po (Jack Black) has been using his skills as\nDragon Warrior to help out those in need. After returning to his dojo, Master\nShifu (Dustin Hoffman) tells Po that it is time for his role in life to change.\nHe now needs to be a Spiritual Leader and train someone from the next\ngeneration to take his place as Dragon Warrior. Of course, Po hates the idea.\nIn the meantime, a sorceress lizard known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis) has\nset out to steal the panda\u2019s mystic staff. She wants it so that she can visit\nthe Spirit Realm and steal techniques from history\u2019s greatest martial arts\nmasters. But before the hero and villain can square off, Po encounters\nmysterious fox and thief Zhen (Awkwafina) who claims she can lead him to The\nChameleon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, it\u2019s more difficult to maintain the freshness\nassociated with a kung-fu fighting panda bear after three installments. And\nthis is made all the harder without Po\u2019s fellow animal fighters (who only\nappear at the close and do not speak), with whom he could trade barbs with in\nearlier films. Even the ever-frustrated Master Shifu isn\u2019t in a major part of\nthe picture, showing up mostly in the opening and final moments. It truly is\nunfortunate, as many of the kids who attended the preview screening were\nhappiest during the denouement when they finally saw all of the characters\ntogether again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead, the bulk of this tale follows the relationship\nbetween Po and the fast-talking Zhen, who for the most part is playing nice\nwith the protagonist in order to get what she wants. There is plenty of\nback-and-forth between the pair, but only the odd quip lands. It\u2019s clear from\nthe outset that the producers are hoping for Zhen to become a major character\nin the franchise, but based on the dialogue in this film, the hoped-for\nchemistry between the two isn\u2019t overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And while children aren\u2019t likely to care, the story also\nfeels contradictory at times. The visual novelty of a large panda using martial\narts (in some cases, to save the entirety of China from evil forces) was what\nmade the character distinctive to audiences and characters in previous\nchapters, but in this sequel very few outside of his home village even\nrecognize him. Po is now supposed to be a martial arts master who should now\ntrain the young, but he tends to make a lot of silly gaffes while fighting whenever\nit is convenient or necessary for the filmmakers to add a quick joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, there are a few gags that do work. This includes\na bit involving Po and Zhen trying to quietly sneak into the villain\u2019s\nfortress. There is an entertaining moment featuring guard bulls chasing the\nleads through a fine ceramics shop. And it is a lot of fun to see the spirit of\nthe original film\u2019s antagonist, Tai Lung (Ian McShane), watch and comment on\nthe supernatural events occurring during the finale. The odd off-handed comment\nhere and there raises a smile, but that\u2019s about as good as it gets. As for the\nvisuals, some of the locations are nice, including a bar perched on the edge of\na cliff, but others aren\u2019t as distinctive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alas, Kung Fu Panda 4<\/em> delivers a couple of chuckles and an interesting moment or two, but otherwise feels rather uninspired. While earlier movies in the series were impressive roundhouse kicks, this follow-up doesn’t pack a big kick. In fact, it delivers little more than a light jab.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time:  94 minutes This animated family film from Universal Pictures opens exclusively at theaters on March 8th, 2024. It has been some time since Kung Fu Panda graced movie screens in 2008, becoming a surprise commercial and critical hit. An equally impressive follow-up arrived in 2011, but there was a five-year break before another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,1455,2114,6271,6380,7283,10085,11936,11941,11942,11943,15676,23571],"class_list":["post-28148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-animated","tag-awkwafina","tag-dreamworks","tag-dustin-hoffman","tag-family","tag-jack-black","tag-kung-fu","tag-kung-fu-panda-4","tag-kung-fu-panda-4-movie-review","tag-kung-fu-panda-4-review","tag-panda","tag-universal-pictures"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}