Kung Fu Panda Franchise Ranked
A couple days back I was finally able to check out Kung Fu Panda 4. Today I thought I would stop and rank all four movies in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. Which one is my favorite? Let’s find out today!
4. Kung Fu Panda 3: While this film is in last place, I still like this movie and think it’s good. There’s not a single bad movie in this franchise, all of them range from good to great. What’s nice about this movie is you get the inclusion of Po’s father which has had this theme and idea explored and seeing it happen on screen here is really nice. There’s new and interesting dynamics in here that are keeping things fresh and interesting. Kai is another solid villain, but a different type of villain from Tai Lung or Lord Shen. Plus I love his villain music that plays, it’s very memorable and some of the more memorable music of the franchise. The movie still has a lot of charm and appeal of the first two movies. It might not be as good, but it’s still fun, it’s still funny, and the characters are still likable and charming. When it comes to the negatives with this movie, I can’t really say why this movie isn’t ranked higher. It’s one of those movies that has never connected with me on an emotional level. It’s just not as memorable as the rest of the films of the franchise.
3. Kung Fu Panda 4: Eight years, Po returned with a pretty solid movie. Now I don’t think this movie is fantastic or ground breaking. It’s obviously not the best of the franchise, but it’s a solid adventure with Po. I watched the movie with my family and walking out of the theater I kept on saying “the movie was fun”. Now, I would agree with that statement. I think this is a very fun movie that keeps the audience entertained from the beginning to the end of the movie. There’s plenty of fun action sequences and jokes that won’t make you bored while watching. They gave us a different type of villain with The Chameleon that provides some new dynamics into the mix. I think the big problem with this movie, the lack of The Furious Five. They’re so pivotal to the first three movies, they’re great characters and you feel their absence with this movie. I don’t think replacing them with Awkafina’s character was the right choice. But overall, a really fun and solid addition to the franchise.
2. Kung Fu Panda 2: I know a lot of people actually prefer the second film to the original film. They aren’t wrong with that statement, I just have more nostalgia for the original film. However, this is a fantastic sequel that is a worthy follow-up to the first film. This movie builds off the foundation laid by the first film, in this movie we just get to see Po and The Furious Five off on adventures fighting criminals. The way they’re able to dive into Po’s past is emotional and it’s handled so well. It provides a lot more emotion and depth to an animated movie then maybe people were expecting. Those elements are what make people prefer this film over the original film, those are fantastic elements that make me love this film. Lord Shen is such a memorable villain, voiced wonderfully by Gary Oldman. Like I said, this is a fantastic sequel that I love. It’s really tied with the first film, I just have more nostalgic memories of the first film.
1. Kung Fu Panda: Nostalgia can play a big part when trying to rank movies. This was one of the first movies I ever saw in the theater. I loved it then and I love it to this day. What’s so great about this movie is they were able to take a silly idea, a panda learning Kung fu and take it seriously while still having fun. The characters are more layered and flawed, they’re interesting characters because of that. Our villain here is a great example of this, he’s not a one dimensional villain but a villain that has layers and human emotions to him. While it has serious and dramatic elements, there’s still plenty of fun to be had. There’s really solid jokes all throughout the film, there’s lots of fun action and memorable sequences. The voice cast for all of these movies is pretty fantastic, I love Jack Black as Po. But even getting Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie to voice characters makes the movie better. So all around, this is a pretty fantastic animated movie that I’ve loved for years and will continue to love.
Comments