Dreamworks has always been a confused studio, constantly struggling to find what works and what doesn't and occasionally fumbling the bag on its biggest names. The studio behind the Shrek franchise simply can't seem to recapture the success, even when it's come so close with one or two efforts over the years.
Kung Fu Panda 4 was recently announced off the back of the successful Netflix series The Dragon Knight. Dreamworks' TV efforts have always been viewed by the company as lesser outings, but the series is the best iteration of the franchise in years. Unfortunately, over 14 years of charming kids' cinema, there's something about the first film that still hasn't been appreciated by the audience or recaptured by the sequels.
There are a lot of notable issues with the Kung Fu Panda franchise. In many ways, it's one of the worst examples of stunt casting in the industry. A glance at the actors on the project would reveal that it's stuffed with huge names in a way that doesn't inspire hope in a film. Generally, animated films bragging about their all-star voice lineup are bringing nothing of note to the table beside a bunch of stars that kids couldn't identify from a photo. Shrek is generally the assumed impetus for this all-too-common issue, but that film provided more than a stellar cast and became one of the biggest projects in the career of everyone involved. Kung Fu Panda may have sold itself on Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and more, but its real draw is in the flawless execution of its simple premise.
The original Kung Fu Panda, along with its sequels, are standard Jack Black studio comedy fare. The style of comedy isn't terribly original, but it lands, for the most part. As with most examples of family-friendly comedy films, there's a pretty aggressive diminishing returns issue with each sequel. A joke is only funny for so long. The best parts of the first film aren't the jokes, they're the martial arts scenes. Martial arts movies for kids are shockingly uncommon. Maybe modern western animation just gave up on trying to compete with anime, or maybe cinematic action animation is seen as just as unprofitable as it supposedly is on TV. Tuning into a movie called Kung Fu Panda doesn't inspire much hope in the average audience member, but, there are a handful of brilliant martial arts setpieces that really elevate the material.
Fans looking for the secret key need not look far, the answer is Ian McShane's character Tai Lung. The series has yet to find a villain with the same on-screen presence or action scenes with the same level of presentation. Tai Lung is a fairly standard martial arts movie antagonist from a plot perspective, the former student of the new heroes' master who used the teachings for evil. From the moment Tai Lung escapes his captivity and leads a violent siege on his jailers, to the battle on the destroyed rope bridge, Kung Fu Panda features some of the best animated action scenes of the modern era. It's not exactly Shakespeare, it's a very simple comedy mixed with a martial arts movie, both fairly generic. What it lacks in originality, however, it makes up for in flawless execution.
Both the second and third entries in the franchise lack the flawless execution of their predecessor. Without that, they land with the basic level of competency one would expect from any other basic Dreamworks comedy. The sequels and spin-offs aren't bad, they're perfectly functional. The third film introduces a father figure for the central character which elevates it emotionally. The problem is that the first film introduced two aspects, helpfully indicated by the title. It's basic comedic subversion, a thing doing something one wouldn't normally expect, but it's also a summation of the film's unique draw. Kung Fu, a martial art. Panda, an animal known for its clumsiness. If one of those two elements is lacking, doubling down on the other won't fix it.
As a fourth film in the franchise prepares to launch, tying it with Shrek for the dubious title of Dreamworks' longest-running film series, it's hard to know how the new entry will turn out. Dreamworks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg seems poised to allow any franchise to keep running so long as it remains profitable. The first film's directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson haven't rejoined the franchise yet and their names haven't been mentioned for the new project. With so few films taking advantage of animation's potential for outstanding action cinema, it's a shame to see an underrated gem spawn weaker follow-ups. There are great animated action projects out there, but most of them are inspired by a comic book or adapted from a video game. Fans should've appreciated Kung Fu Panda more when it came out and demanded more from its sequels.