Kung Fu Panda 4 - End of an era
Hi, it’s me the guy that loves to draw the tiger lady. When I started making art, I didn’t want to post anything besides my drawings on my social media accounts, however, the leaks for the 4th installment changed my stance on this. I have come to the conclusion that I need to share my thoughts on this, not necessarily because anyone cares, but more so because I need to vent and voice my opinion. I wanted to make this post for a while, however, I couldn’t write together a coherent essay as the trailer leaks devastated me to the point that not only did it leave me speechless, but I could not continue my drawings (temporarily). After a couple of weeks, I finally managed to start formulating my thoughts. List of the things that I have concern over: 1. The setting/plot is similar to what the dragon knight tried to do, which is to separate Po from the five. 2. There is no sign of anyone from the five in the trailer or the synopsis. Also, the leakers could only confirm that 3 of the 5 members of the F5 will make an appearance. 3. The villain makes no sense from a story standpoint. 4. Finding a new dragon warrior also makes no sense. 5. The tone of the film. 6. None of the original creators are involved in the production.
Let’s go in order.
1. The setting/plot is similar to what the dragon knight tried to do, which is to separate Po from the five
DW has been bending backward in order to not have the five in anything after kfp 3. It is very troubling to see that they are trying to rip out a significant component of what made the franchise amazing. One would think that after the flop of 2 shows they could realize that Po is not able to carry the stories alone. And it seems they are repeating the same mistake, but now on an even higher budget.
The pattern seems to be that they are trying to recreate the same relationship that Po has with Tigress by pairing him up with a budget version of her, which inevitably will fail once again just like in DK. I’ll go into what makes the relationship between Po and Tigress work so well in the next point.
Another thing I should mention is that Po also sounds OOC. He is more like how he was in Legends of Awesomeness (boasting about him being the dragon warrior and all that), which had horrendous character writing, which led to all the characters being completely out of character.
2. There is no sign of anyone from the five in the trailer or the synopsis. Also, the leakers could only confirm that 3 of the 5 members of the F5 are going to make an appearance
This poses several problems. One of the main components that make the franchise so beloved is the diverse cast and the relationship that Po has with them. The sort of comradery that you rarely see anywhere else. And all of this alone is just 1 of the problems. Another one is that it makes no sense for Po to go alone since it’s clear that the villain will be introduced to him early on. They are probably going to give a lame excuse that someone has to protect the valley (or they might not even go that far) even though we know they are very capable individually, so you wouldn’t need all of them to stay.
And this ties into what I mentioned in the previous point. At the VERY LEAST Tigress HAS TO go with him. Not only because he is facing a threat that he never had to face, but he is also going somewhere new. It makes no sense from a plot/character standpoint. She is the most capable of the group. It would make perfect sense that at the very least she goes with him. Besides these 2 have such a good synergy that not using it is a crime. They are direct opposites, which is why their relationship is so entertaining. Po is warm, outgoing, energetic, friendly, goofy, and unorthodox, however, he is also serious when needed. While Tigress is introverted, calm, a calculated badass, passive and intuitive, but deep down she is also a very compassionate and conflicted person that we rarely see. These are the reasons why just putting these 2 in a room is enough to create entertaining scenarios.
And if that wasn’t enough, they literally represent the yin-yang. The Dragon and the Tiger, the warm and cold, the day and night, the loud and quiet, the male and female, etc. They need each other to balance each other out. (And no I’m not talking about TiPo here)
If these 2 are torn apart, then one of the most beautiful symbolisms of the franchise would be tarnished.
And this leads to my next point. I’m probably biased on this, but I don’t think that will make my point any less valid.
At the moment, in the current state of the timeline, Tigress is the most interesting character since Po’s arc has no mysteries anymore after the conclusion of the 3rd film. Simply put, she has been sculpted into a complex character that the fandom loves and with whom a lot of themes could be explored at the same time. As of now, her character is incomplete, and to see that she won’t even play a major role in this next film seems like one of the biggest wastes of a character design that I’ve seen in my life.
What makes it even worse, is as I’ve pointed out it makes no sense from the plot/character standpoint to not include her. But that’s not all. You know how Hollywood is so focused on pushing „strong female characters” that they managed to create an incredibly negative stigma around ALL female characters because they didn’t develop them as characters? Meanwhile, Dreamworks is sitting here, with one of the best female characters ever made, that fits into the narrative that the film industry wants to so desperately push, and instead of using her, they replace her with a random ass character.
The illogical decision-making is so layered here that I could probably rant about this for even more paragraphs, but I think you got my point. So let’s move on.
3. The villain makes no sense from a story standpoint
So we seem to have a pretty good idea of what the villain can do. Basically, she can turn into the previous villains and possess their skills and abilities. There are however 2 major problems with this.
First of all, why would she turn into Shen? He is not physically dangerous or a particularly skilled fighter, at least he is nowhere near on the level of a kung fu master. The second issue is Kai. Kai doesnt exist in any form. Not physically or in a spirit form, he is quite literally gone.
These issues lead me to believe that this ability of the villain wasn’t the decision of a story writer, but rather an executive decision to try and lure the fans into the movie theatre. Simply a shameless fan bait.
Another problem is that the trailer doesn’t explain why the villain exists or why we should care about her. This is likely because she doesnt actually have a good reason to exist, they came up with her so that she can turn into the previous villains. Her being a character on her own was just an afterthought. Now you might say that just because the trailer didn’t show why she is important as a villain is not indicative of this. Well, I’ll let you know that the point of a trailer is to generate interest, which it’s supposed to do by showcasing the best parts of the film. So her general absence seems to indicate shallow character writing.
4. Finding a new dragon warrior also makes no sense.
In the 3rd film, it’s established thanks to Shifu that the dragon warrior is a 500-year-old prophecy. Meaning that Oogway literally had to wait this long for a successor. Meanwhile Po in his 20s decides that he needs to find a new one. Seriously? Who wrote this? Where is the consistency? Not even 1 generation of time has passed (both in-universe and -real life) and you already want to replace him Dreamworks? He should at least have to wait or look for one for his entire life.
5. The tone of the film
So it’s pretty clear from the leaks, mainly from the trailer that the tone will be super light, which is not necessarily a problem, however, it means that it will heavily build upon jokes. Which is THE problem. That is because generally speaking the humor in the trailer is childish, unoriginal, full of pop-culture references and… it literally has a fart joke. YOU CAN’T GO LOWER THAN THAT. Remember what I said about the trailers showcasing the best parts of the films? Yea, about that… apparently one of the „best” parts of this next KUNG FU PANDA film is a fart joke. How far had this franchise fallen in the last 8 years? I don’t need to remind most of you that the original Kung Fu Panda films had some of the best jokes in cinema, and yet this is where the franchise is headed now. 6. None of the original creators are involved in the production ALL of the previous points stem from one issue, and one issue ONLY. From everything we know so far, from public information to leaks, it’s very clear that basically none of the original creators are taking part in the making of this film. That’s right, not even Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Honestly, this is not surprising to see because, from all the issues that I have listed, they are only possible if the team that’s the heart and brain of the franchise is simply not there. I cannot put it into words how heartwrenching it is to see one of my favorite franchises turn into a mess. Something that could be considered art on some level, being turned into a generic blatant cash grab. After 2 failed shows, DW still insists on running into the wall the same way as before, but this time with a bigger force.
As for closing, a personal message for Dreamworks: (In the unlikely case that anyone from Dreamworks sees this.) DreamWorks, please for the love of god, look back and analyze what made the films, the shorts, and the specials so beloved. Please look at the fans sometimes and see what is keeping the franchise alive. Look at all the artwork and fanfictions and deduct what people want to see, what they are interested in because that’s what made the franchise so good. I’m not saying to listen to everything the fandom wants, because frankly, that’s impossible. However look at what people generally are interested in like Tigress and the Five, I mean most of the fan content has been revolving around Tigress and still is. Use what you already have and build upon it and don’t alienate your fans. Please listen, otherwise, they might turn on you, and that’s only going to make things worse for you and the franchise. “With a broken heart, it’s hard not to hate.” And with this, I hope anyone who reads this will agree with me to some extent. Let your opinion be heard if you don’t like where things are going, and vote with your wallet. That’s all we can do.
