“Kung Fu Panda 4” Review
In “Kung Fu Panda 4”, Po (Jack Black) teams up with a new warrior named Zhen (Awkwafina) to take on a new enemy of China and kung fu.
With the “Kung Fu Panda” films, they have been continuously underestimated despite all three of them being very entertaining, fun and even beautiful films. The first film was a really entertaining ride that introduced some likable characters and exciting action while the second was a real game-changer that I would rank alongside Dreamworks Animation’s best films like “Shrek 2”, “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”. As for the third, it was inferior to the first two but still was good in its own right and ended the trilogy on a reasonably satisfying note. Now, 8 years after the third film’s release, “Kung Fu Panda 4” has arrived to continue the story. While not nearly as excellent as the first two films, this entry still has enough likable elements to warrant a watch from fans.
After the events of the third film, Po (Jack Black) must renounce his role as the Dragon Warrior so that he can ascend to be the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. When pressed by his master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to pick a successor, Po encounters a fox bandit named Zhen (Awkwafina) who tells him of a shapeshifting threat called The Chameleon (Viola Davis) who seeks to take the kung fu powers of past masters to conquer all of China. Faced with this new threat, Po and Zhen team up to fight The Chameleon so that they can prevent the nation from falling under darkness.
Pointing out what’s right and wrong with this film is pretty simple. Compared to the third film, most of the elements of “Kung Fu Panda 4” remain the same but they’re not improved upon. Po’s main conflict where he must become a teacher and is afraid of the change surrounding him feels identical to his problems in the previous film so he’s not learning anything new. With that said, Jack Black certainly brings his likability to the role and Po remains the surprisingly badass hero with heart that he always has been.
In this film, I enjoy that Po is more on his own since his friends The Furious Five (prominent characters in the first three films) aren’t even in this film since they’re off on their own adventures. Even Master Shifu barely appears in the film so this does give more room for Po to teach others, mainly Zhen. Awkwafina is a likable presence as per usual and her persona as a thief who really enjoys to steal is a fun contrast to Po’s silly yet stoic nature.
Also joining Po on his journey are his adoptive goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong) and his long-lost biological father Li Shan (Bryan Cranston) who are both worried about their son about to face a formidable threat. After being introduced in the last film, Li Shan has become an essential part of Po’s life and he’s also developed a close friendship with Mr. Ping. These two characters are my favorite part of the film. Not only are they incredibly funny but there’s also quite a bit of heart to them. James Hong and Bryan Cranston are just national treasures.
However, while several of the new characters are entertaining, including a couple of thieves that befriend Zhen (Ke Huy Quan and Ronny Chieng), the villain of the film is pretty boring despite cool powers and the wonderful talents of Viola Davis. Her motivation of securing power with kung fu is nearly identical to the motives of the villains of the first and third film and there’s no true diabolical nature that Shen had in “Kung Fu Panda 2”.
“Kung Fu Panda 4” also has the same problem as “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in that many of the scenes feel like they were trimmed by a minute. But those minutes add up and it feels like the film can’t breathe. There are some scenes that really hit the emotional marks, but others feel distant. However, the animation is still beautiful and the action flows incredibly well with lots of room for innovation (I think that “Kung Fu Panda” was a huge leap for Dreamworks and laid down the groundwork for “How to Train Your Dragon”, “The Bad Guys” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”).
As far as family entertainment goes, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is probably the weakest film in the series but the animation and characters still keep it entertaining. If you enjoy all of the other films in the series, then this film will keep you reasonably happy.
