Kung Fu Panda 4 Review

Directors: Mike Mitchell, Stephanie Stine

Writers: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Darren Lemke

Jack Black is back as the chubby, sleepy-eyed, dumpling-loving Po in “Kung Fu Panda 4”, where it’s time for him to retire as the Spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace and pick someone to replace him as the Dragon Warrior. But Po isn’t ready to hang up his boots yet, and a menacing new shape-shifting villain called The Chameleon (Viola Davis) entices him to go on one last action-adventure as the Dragon Warrior.

Within the first twenty minutes of “Kung Fu Panda 4” I started questioning myself – has my inner child died? Because nothing made me crack even a bit, but the quietness in the hall around me reassured me that it wasn’t the case. Nobody else was laughing, chortling or even sniggering. So the film struggles to capture the viewers attention in the first-half, but eventually finds its groove, packing in quite a few funny and memorable moments.

The voice acting by most of the cast was on point. Awkwafina was immediately recognizable with her signature husky-energetic voice as Zhen, a new friend Po makes – a thieving fox who helps him find The Chameleon. The character illustration for this new villain is colorful, engaging, and seems a little inspired by “Rango”, the theatrical chameleon played by Johnny Depp in the 2011 animated film of the same name. Viola Davis’ Chameloen is a crafty sorceress, who summons all of Po’s old foes from the spirit realm, in order to defeat him and rule the world.

While the cinematography and animation is very engaging, the storytelling is far too predictable, so much so that I hypothesized what would happen after the interval, including two major plot-twists, to which my partner was like “c’mon, that sounds like a Bollywood film by Subhash Ghai.” And I could’ve been wrong, but nope, the writers did go down the beaten path. But a few hilarious jokes, and Po’s cute personality keeps viewers engaged until the end.

Overall, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is nowhere as delightful as the first two films, but it’s likely to prove fun enough for loyal fans of the franchise.

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