Kung Fu Panda 4 offers enough eye-catching entertainment to sustain the franchise’s young fans, although it’s starting to feel like this series is running out of steam. Rated at PG, the story is streaming as of April 2024.
Directed by: Mike Mitchel and cast includes: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Brian Cranston, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Stine, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Darren Lemke, Rebecca Huntley, Christopher Knights, Hans Zimmer, Steve Mazzaro, Paul Duncan, Peter Maynez, and Leslee Feldman
Popcorn Meter: 86% Tomato Meter: 71% Total Count – Critics: 164 Review
Movie Description: After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to… give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position. Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm. So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.
Personal Review:
At the start I liked how Tai Lung just reappears a couple movies later after his initial defeat and there’s no explanation and you lead to believe he’s back in action like the rest of the people in the movie. I liked how in the beginning we get to see how Po is doing with his new title and job as the official dragon warrior and get a short explanation to why the furious five will not be present in the movie saying they were all on missions. I didn’t like how quickly Po had to retire being the dragon warrior because to me it still felt like he’s only just gotten to master his kung fu skill and isn’t given enough screen time showing his growth and improvement with this new dragon warrior skill. I thought it was funny after they showed all the contestants for the new dragon warrior and po just pointed back to himself saying “The Dragon Warrior it’s me!!!” It was a nice comedic moment. I loved how they introduced Zhen with her stealing and destroying stuff from the hall of heroes and having a battle between her and Po showing off her natural fighting skills. I liked how the little gag that’s now continued throughout all the movies where Po is constantly breaking the urn of souls keeps getting mentioned. I liked how when we are getting a description of our new big villain the chameleon it’s through Zhen it’s a cool detail that is a hint to her alliance with the chameleon. In all honesty i loved chameleon as the villain and was really interested in her motives and was amazed with how strong and powerful her magic and shape shifting was and how it got even more overpowered after she defeated po and opened the spirit realm to absorb all the kung fu magic and talents from all the past villains and the old heroes mentions when talking about the hall of heroes. I really enjoyed how the music and animation of this movie had such good quality especially with the fight and battle scenes along with the beautiful designs and animation of the chameleon’s magic and shapeshifting. It looked so clean and well finished with its transformations and color themes. Overall, a good movie and a good plot really enjoyed watching it with and without my family. I would recommend watching the other movies in order to better understand the characters and plot of this movie.