Welcome back stinkers! Today I thought I could review one of my favorite movies ever, that also happens to be a part of one of my favorite trilogies ever, Kung Fu Panda. Make sure you go check out my review of the recent fourth movie, Kung Fu Panda 4.
Non Spoiler Review
So, when rewatching this I have already seen all three movies as a whole, and having seen the next 2 as of the time I was watching this, I think knowing the whole arc that Po goes through honestly makes it better. I loved being able to spot details that appeared in future films, and when watching the trilogy as a whole, they are a lot more enjoyable, which is pretty hard to do. It’s not only easter eggs that appear in the future, it’s elements and themes that start in here. Especially with Po and his father, and I love that father son relationship, and I love it even more once Lee comes in. Now, let me backtrack before I get too far ahead of myself. Judging off the film alone, I still thought it was pretty great. Everyone knows that Dreamworks always delivers in the villain department, especially in these movies. They were able to do so well with the character of Tai Lung, and they’re able to build that relationship that he had with Shifu so well, and I found myself, connecting with that relationship so easily, and it’s so impressive that they were able to do it in such a short amount of time. Also one thing that the Kung Fu Panda franchise does beautifully is the score. I mean who let Hans Zimmer cook? He is honestly one of my favorite composers out there. Whether it’s Man of Steel or Kung Fu Panda, his songs are just so powerful. I’ve also really come to love this as the base of the franchise, and it is probably number three of the trilogy for me, which I hate to say. Even though this is an awesome movie, I just think having seen the next two before really makes this one come more flat. But this is the base line and it is the start of one constant flowing story, that makes it so good! One of my only negatives of the film is probably a bit of Tai Lung. Yes, I believe each villain of this trilogy shines so bright, but I think Tai Lung didn’t shine the brightest. I thought his motivations were a bit iffy. But, they were able to bring humanity to the movie, through Tai Lung. Tai Lung was how they were able to push the emotion through the movie, and a start to once again, a well tied together story. He’s also a character with lots of history to him, in the movie and out. I love the lore of Kung Fu Panda. I’ve been obsessed with it since I was 6. You also had Master Oogway in here. His wisdom is off the charts, and he’s such a character that someone like me would take seriously. But his wisdom is matched with the perfect touch of humor. You can also say the same for Shifu. I love Master Shifu! The movie also had the fantastic Furious 5. The chemistry between the members and Po was great. The relationship they built with Po was off and on, which isn’t something I’m really a fan of. The Furious 5 all have their own unique personalities, which flourish and grow all throughout this story. Back to one of my main points, the first Kung Fu Panda trilogy has this long continuous storyline, which when looking at this in bigger picture. It’s pretty beautiful. So you gotta watch these movies back to back.
Po’s Character Arc
That is about all of my points that I wanted to talk about, so now that that’s out of the way, I would like to go back through, and elaborate more on my points, even going into spoiler territory. So, now that you’ve been warned, let’s talk about the character arc of Po. We meet Po in this dream of his, and it is comical, but with a touch of seriousness that was so fun to watch. But in a snap he is woken up to the life he doesn’t really want. And this is the place where as an audience member you start to grow up with Po. Yes, he is quite the goofball, he is still a goofball. When you see him start from where he is at the start, he’s a goofball that isn’t even the sharpest, but when you see where he is now. He’s a goofball that is one of the best warriors in China. So, when seeing his start, with in mind of where he ends up, it’s just inspiring. And I sure do love an inspiring story. And the biggest take away that I had after watching these movies is storytelling, the character development. Each movie you can take as an individual arc, and development that can just be associated with whatever movie that it’s in. But at the same time each movie builds on top of each other, to once again, they build a great 4 and a half hour story. Putting it more in perspective, in the first movie, Po was geeking out, desperately wanting to get into the Jade Palace, but like Tai Lung said, he was a warrior that came to the great Master Oogway himself in a ball of fire. And when you take a big step back, it’s perspective. To Po and his dad, he was just a goofy fat nerd who was desperate to watch his heroes, but for two of the most powerful people in China see him as an epic warrior who appeared in front of the legendary Oogway in flames. Now Oogway is really the puppet master of this franchise, I mean why would Tai Lung talk about Po in such a way, leaving the Furious 5 in confusion as well. Just like the Furious 5, the villagers and all of the people thought of Po as a fat loser at the time. So how else would Tai Lung know about Po. I mean we learn in the third one that Oogway sent the universal message to Po’s dad. What’s stopping him from sending a universal message to Tai Lung? I now wanted to bring up a big push that Po had for his development. Master Shifu and the Furious 5 have now become giant parts of his life. You wouldn’t think at first, but with the way Oogway sort of mapped it out, you don’t just have character development for Po you have development for the Furious 5 and Shifu. And it’s pretty obvious too. You have Master Shifu hating the idea of Po being the Dragon Warrior, but with Oogway’s passing, something snaps for Shifu, to get him to have more faith in him. And he has to train Po, in a new way specific to him. Before I get too carried away, that’s all I’m going to say about Shifu for now. Don’t worry I’ll talk more about him later. Now for the Furious 5, it wasn’t as clear as Shifu for me. The five went from hating Po, like Shifu, then they went from having fun with Po, having fun and complementing his cooking. Then they go back to not trusting the idea of Po as the Dragon Warrior when Shifu even specifically started to train him in his own ways. They then go behind their backs, thinking they can handle it, but clearly not. Saying that, I almost want to feel bad for Po. This is where perspective comes back into play, upfront Po felt like he was finally almost accepted. But they go behind not only his back, but behind Shifu’s back. So, I still enjoy the Furious 5, but I don’t really enjoy them to the level that other people do.
Tai Lung
Now! Let’s talk about Po’s foe, Tai Lung. Everyone knows that this franchise knocks villains out of the park. Most brilliantly written characters that I have ever seen. I said for Po that he started off as a goof, and he was pretty silly and dumb. I kind of see it in reverse for Tai Lung. We’re introduced to him in his prison cell, where the rhinos underestimated him. He was posed as a real serious threat to not only the Valley of Peace, but to China. But then we end to where he is stuck in the Wushi Finger Hold, and he is viewed as more of a lackluster leopard that stumbles away in a dumbfounded manner. So when looking at that sort of dynamic is super cool to me. In a way Tai Lung sort of makes this story more grounded. The emotion that is delivered through the character is really what brings this story home for me. He also provides emotion to Shifu. Shifu sees him as a baby on the front doors of the Jade Palace and he sees Tai Lung in the same spot Shifu was when he was just a kid. So, he decides to step up and bring him in as his own. But the only mistake that Shifu makes is that he fills Tai Lung with false hopes, promises that he couldn’t make. Now I see that as what would probably be a strong lesson for parents, to not fill their child with these hopes that will never be fulfilled. This is one of the many reasons why I love these movies. The messages that Dreamworks is able to deliver through these animals, this fat panda that does Kung Fu. While being entertaining, they provide a message that grounds the story on a more emotional level. Now setting the emotion of Tai Lung aside. He had some gnarly action scenes. That fight he had with Po was peak! It was the payoff for all the emotion that I sat through, and I really enjoyed that part in it. You know a lot of people say that Tai Lung is anti Po, and you really see that in here. At the end of the day, that’s what made Tai Lung the most enjoyable for me. By the time you got to the finale fight, it made it a lot more personal. It was truly the first, real challenge Po had to face, and overcome.
Master Oogway
Now, the next thing I wanted to bring up was Oogway. And I think the reason why I liked him so much was his seriousness and his wisdom, with a hint of humor and a comedic sort of charm. I think when I first watched it as a little youngling, I took that part of Oogway, and I wanted to implement it in my own life. I still kind of want to do that when watching these movies now. I said what makes these movies so great is the messaging. They sort of have to push these messages through the characters. So, truly everytime I see one of those films, I just want to combine all the characters into one, and I want to be that character. Po has to come over each and every obstacle he faces, whether it’s physically or mentally. It’s inspiring to watch him grow in that sense. Ping in every film, certainly this one, has to learn how to let go, and he has to learn how to adapt to change. That was also pretty inspiring. Shifu had a sort of similar development where he had to learn acceptance, and to learn how to deal with what you got. Now, Oogway was inspiring to watch, but for his case he didn’t really have to learn anything. Watching him teach Shifu or Po these valuable lessons, while having a sense of humor at the same time, was inspiring. So, you have all of these characters that were able to inspire me, but in different ways. And Oogway was the one that put them all on their own paths. So, at the end of the day, he was the reason behind this all, he was the puppet master of this story. One last thing I wanted to mention about Oogway, was the score. Now the score extended beyond Oogway, but I just think the biggest example somebody could pull from is with Oogway. Specifically the scene where he passes away, and leaves Shifu to train the Dragon Warrior.
Master Shifu
Now the last character I would like to talk about today was Shifu. Shifu is probably my number one favorite character of the franchise. The arc there was very clear, where Shifu doesn’t believe in Po first, and he didn’t believe in the wise Oogway’s decision. But once Oogway passes away, Shifu learns to adapt, and to train Po in his own way. At first you had him and the five trying to get rid of Po, but when the Five go out to try and beat Tai Lung, Shifu starts to train Po in a different way. That doesn’t just bring Po and Shifu closer, but it teaches Po and the audience that no matter who you are, you can do whatever you put your mind to, and the only person you need to be is you. It then teaches Shifu almost the same thing, and it teaches him to adapt to a different training style, and he warms up to Po by the end.
That’s about it for today’s review. I really love this movie! This franchise! And I really appreciated this as the base of this long story, this starting point to the franchise. With that being said I’m going to have to give the movie an 8/10, the messaging in here was truly beautiful, I even forgot to mention that every scene in here is a piece of art. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read up on my review. Make sure you check out The Big Stinker Blog for more coverage on movies, TV shows, and video games. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.