With Kung Fu Panda 4 arriving in theaters soon, my mind has of course been occupied with thoughts of the original three films. From 2008 to 2016, the Jack Black-led animated franchise went from an almost immediately-dismissed joke premise to a worldwide phenomenon; garnering critical praise and a massive fanbase over the course of the trilogy.
Now, eight years on from the third entry and with a new one on the horizon, how do the original three hold up? Does the humor still work? Are the action scenes as breathtaking now as they were back then? Is there still life left in these characters? Well, there’s only one way to find out.
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Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Set in an ancient Chinese valley occupied exclusively be anthropomorphic animals, the original film centers on Po, a young panda working at his father’s noodle shop who dreams of becoming a kung fu master like his heroes, the Furious Five. During a ceremony meant to determine who will become the Dragon Warrior, the most powerful warrior in existence, Po launches himself into the arena and ends up being chosen for the job; training alongside the Five and their master Shifu.
However, Po is forced to learn fast after Tai Lung, powerful warrior and Shifu’s former student/surrogate son, escapes from prison with the intent of stealing the Dragon Warrior’s power for himself. Though his abnormal proportions and upbringing make training difficult, Po eventually learns his own fighting style that turns his proposed weaknesses into strengths; later defeating Tai Lung in an epic one-on-one brawl.
The original Kung Fu Panda is admittedly rather basic from a plot perspective and some of the character stuff feels a little rushed; likely a result of the film’s strict 90-minute runtime, but it’s also remarkably fun. The entire cast gets their moment to shine at one point or another, most of the jokes land, it’s paced very well, and the action is simply astounding.
Scenes like the Tai Lung prison break or the battle on the bridge utilize creative combat moves and groundbreaking animation techniques to create an authentic martial arts movie experience. Everything from those aforementioned fight scenes to the surprisingly extensive pre-established lore and the inclusion of kung fu action icons like Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu in the voice cast help make Kung Fu Panda feel like a long-lost sequel to a 70s or 80s martial arts movie but with talking animals; which only adds to the charm.
Kung Fu Panda was a massive hit upon initial release. It grossed over $631 million on a $130 million dollar budget and received widespread praise from critics; receiving nominations for both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. While it would ultimately lose both to Pixar’s Wall-E, the success of Kung Fu Panda meant that a sequel was only a matter of time.
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Some time after the events of the first film, Po and the Furious Five are now a full-fledged kung fu fighting team defending the valley from any threat they may face. During a seemingly routine mission fighting wolf bandits, Po has a vision about his past and learns the shocking truth that he’s adopted. Well, not THAT shocking considering he’s a panda and his dad’s a goose, but still.
But that’s just the beginning of Po’s troubles; as the film’s villain, Lord Shen, killed his parents in an effort to wipe out all pandas and now has his sights set on wiping out kung fu with a powerful cannon. With the Furious Five by his side and everything on the line, Po travels to Gongmen City to stop Lord Shen and discover who he truly is.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is everything a great sequel should be. It takes everything that worked about the original, namely the character work and the action, and expands on it while also adding something new in the more menacing villain, darker tone, and more personal stakes for Po. The film’s action from the music-infused bandit battle at the beginning to the final showdown between Po and Shen is dripping with fluid movements, creative combat moves, and an all-around vibrant energy.
But Kung Fu Panda 2 is far more than a well-made action comedy, it’s also a surprisingly emotional story about finding yourself and found family. Po is the last survivor of a genocide he never even knew happened and it weighs heavily on who he is and impacts how he carries himself throughout the film. The story is not afraid to tackle heavy subjects and absolutely delivers on emotional catharsis by the end.
Speaking of that ending, after the emotional reunion between Po and his adopted father that makes me and everyone with a soul cry, the camera zooms out to reveal a peaceful, isolated village of very much alive pandas, with an older male panda happily declaring “My son is alive,” as a lead-in to the third and final entry in the trilogy.
Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
As the film opens, Po’s seemingly satisfied life as defender of the Valley gets three major disruptions in a row. First, Shifu retires and leaves him to continue the Furious Five’s training; a job which he is in no way prepared or qualified for. Second, Po’s birth father, Bryan Cranston’s Li Shan, arrives in the Valley to take Po back to the secret panda village from the end of Part 2. Finally, Kai, ruthless Spirit Warrior and Master Oogway’s former best friend, returns to the mortal realm determined to steal the chi of every kung fu master in China.
According to legend, Kai can only be defeated by a master of chi and only the pandas ever knew how to harness that power. As such, Li takes Po back to the panda village to teach him all about being a panda so he can learn to master chi. However, it turns out that none of the pandas actually know how to use chi anymore and Li was simply trying to get Po out of the crossfire of Kai’s onslaught.
But through Po’s teachings, the panda village learns to defend themselves in their own way; giving Po enough time to send him and Kai into the Spirit World for what is single-handedly the best fight in the entire franchise in a movie that otherwise is……. not the best in the franchise.
Don’t get me wrong, Kung Fu Panda 3 is not bad by any means and is arguably an improvement on the first film thanks to a great villain in Kai, the compelling character growth between Po and his two dads, and that aforementioned final fight. But the pacing feels rather off and the film has absolutely no idea what to do with the Furious Five to the point of turning everyone but Tigress into jade zombies before the climax. And as such, it feels like a step down from Part 2.
Still, the film very much works for what it is and serves as a solid and satisfactory conclusion to the story, even playing “Kung Fu Fighting” at the end to bring things full circle. Which makes the addition of a fourth film all the more bizarre.
In Conclusion
To be clear, I am genuinely excited for Kung Fu Panda 4. The trailers look great, the idea of bringing back all the old villains is a fun hook, Awkwafina’s character seems like a neat addition, and the last time DreamWorks made a decade-later, arguably unnecessary sequel, we got the masterpiece that is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. So, who’s to say Kung Fu Panda 4 won’t follow a similar path?
But at the same time, the original trilogy produced home run after home run after home run. While it arguably peaked with 2, it had an incredible conclusion in 3 so, why potentially ruin that? I don’t think it will, but I hope that just as much care, passion, and earnestness has been packed into 4 as it was for those first three films.
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