Movie Review
Jack Black and company revisit familiar ground in Kung Fu Panda 4
Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and Po (Jack Black) in Kung Fu Panda 4
Since Dreamworks Animation made its debut in the late 1990s, it has had some highly successful franchises, including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. It hasn’t been shy about doling out sequels either, as each of those has received at least three entries. Only Shrek received a fourth film until now when, eight years after the previous film, Kung Fu Panda 4 has finally been released.
As always, it centers on the panda Po (voiced by Jack Black), who’s enjoying his status as the Dragon Warrior. But when Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) tells him that Po is to become the new Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, Po must find someone worthy of succeeding him as Dragon Warrior. A cursory search yields some impressive candidates, but Po is not exactly ready and willing to cede his title just yet.
He’s even less interested when The Chameleon (Viola Davis), a shape-shifter who can literally take the form of anyone she comes across, starts to make plans to summon all the master villains Po had previously vanquished. Using the help of new friend Zhen (Awkwafina), Po sets out to find The Chameleon, with others in his life, like Po’s dad Li (Bryan Cranston), on their own adventures.
Directed by Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine, and written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, and Darren Lemke, the film has all the hallmarks of the previous three Kung Fu Panda movies. That means that it has plenty of comic hijinks and the occasional whiz-bang fight sequences, but not a lot of surprises. The filmmakers aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel; they’re just looking to deliver a similar experience to what fans of the series have loved before.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, it also doesn’t make for a very stimulating watch. Each of the returning characters acts exactly how they’ve acted in the past, even when faced with the new situations and/or new characters. By the time you get to the fourth film, there needs to be something that the audience hasn’t seen before, and there’s precious little that this film has to offer in that regard.
The film’s two major new characters – The Chameleon and Zhen – are a mixed bag. Despite the film being weighed down by Po doing the same old, same old, The Chameleon actually makes for a pretty good villain. Zhen makes for an interesting presence as a character, but the fact that she’s voiced by Awkwafina – who’s been in no fewer than seven animated movies in the past five years – distracts from her story arc.
Black is as good as ever as the voice of Po, even if the character doesn’t get as many big moments as in past films. The key for any good animated character is to be distinctive, so in that way Cranston, Davis, Awkwafina, and Dustin Hoffman work well, even if not all of them are showcased properly. Other well-known names like Seth Rogen, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, and YouTuber Mr. Beast don’t make much of an impact.
At this point, a property like Kung Fu Panda is only being made to continue its profitability for its parent company. The fourth film may give young fans some nostalgia for characters they grew up with, but it’s a far cry from the best the animation world has to offer.
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Kung Fu Panda 4 opens in theaters on March 8.
