Directed by Mike Mitchell, Kung Fu Panda 4 follows Po (Jack Black) on the next step of his journey where he must train a new warrior when he’s chosen to become the “Spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace”. However, when a powerful shape-shifting sorceress called “The Chameleon” (Viola Davis) sets her eyes on his Staff of Wisdom, he suddenly realizes he’s going to need some help. Teaming up with a quick-witted corsac fox named Zhen (Awkwafina), Po soon discovers that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.
The Kung Fu Panda franchise is easily one of the best yet highly underrated trilogies that Dreamworks has had in their library of animated films, and given how the third film seemingly ended things on a good note that brought everything full circle it was a big surprise to many, including myself, that a fourth film was being made. But the same writing team of the previous films paired with director Mike Mitchell managed to prove doubters wrong by crafting a surprisingly worthy follow-up that cements the Kung Fu Panda franchise as one of the few animated series to be consistently great. While I do not consider this film to be the best film of the series, in comparison to Kung Fu Panda 2, it is still a very strong installment that mostly surpassed my initial expectations and I think will end up being an awesome entry that satisfies fans of the franchise, along with casual audiences and families.
There are a lot of great thematic elements, some bold narrative choices, and massive technical improvements this film goes for that are enough to justify its existence, and it is clearly made with great care by everyone involved, making this one of the rare animated sequels that doesn’t go downhill in terms of quality.
The voice cast for all of the previous films has always been the best, performance-wise, and that remains the same for this film for both returning characters and new characters, with the voice cast giving their all to make these fun characters and their personalities engaging for audiences.
Jack Black once again shines as Po with his performance retaining the charm, heart, and brilliant comedy the character is known for. He takes a new step in his journey of Kung Fu to go from being the Dragon Warrior to becoming the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, which was the role that had been previously held by Master Oogway in the previous films, meaning he must now choose a successor to the Dragon Warrior mantle. Every film has had Po continuously evolve by ascending different levels of Kung Fu both physically and spiritually so it makes complete sense that for this film he would advance to the next level, especially when it is established that Po has become an extremely powerful warrior that is capable of handling so much on his own, no longer needing the Furious Five to constantly to back him up against various foes.
The promotion to Spiritual Leader is an extremely important one that Po needs to take but he ends up finding himself reluctant, not because he thinks he can’t do it but because he doesn’t want to give up the title of Dragon Warrior so easily as being the Dragon Warrior is all that he has known for years. It is clear that Po is more afraid of change than anything else and that sets up one of the main themes of this film, as well as gives a really interesting personal conflict for the character to take on throughout the story. It’s such a well-written journey for Po that doesn’t have him repeating the same lessons he’s learned before, but instead learns new lessons while being surrounded by new faces in a new place.
Jack Black is able to nail down this new development of Po through his performance, while simultaneously offering numerous laughs and tons of heart in the process that many would expect from him.
Po’s challenge to accept his new role is not his only challenge as he ends up having to face a new powerful foe, who is a literal embodiment of change, and must do so with help from a new ally in the form of a thieving fox named Zhen, voiced by Awkwafina.
Zhen is a surprisingly compelling character, proving herself to be more level-headed and composed than expected, making for an interesting dynamic between her and Po that evolves over the course of the film. Awkwafina honestly does an awesome job with voicing this character, making her someone who is not only investing with her own charm and humor but simultaneously reflects some elements we have seen in Po that he even sees himself, despite her having a very different upbringing. It’s a duo I didn’t expect to work as well as it did but from the moment these two characters meet they bounce off each other naturally, which in return makes their characters’ relationship feel all the more genuine from the start of the film to the end.
The villain of the film, the shapeshifting sorceress known as The Chameleon, is given such a fun performance by the wickedly talented Viola Davis, who we can officially say has entered her villain era of performances. She serves as a solid antagonist, offering intimidating menace and tenacious hunger for power that is somewhat similar to Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 but with a different background. She ends up being somewhat of a dark reflection of Po in terms of where she came from as an initial fan of Kung Fu but was denied the right to learn it due to her appearance, resulting in her learning dark magic that allows her to steal the kung fu skills of other warriors, which includes some of Po’s past nemeses. Viola Davis clearly had so much fun playing this character, giving her presence, viciousness, and light sprinkles of comedy, making her an entertaining addition to Po’s rogue’s gallery.
The supporting characters are also really solid for this film, leaving some great impressions even when some of them have a short amount of screen time. Dustin Hoffman’s Shifu is great as always and manages to have some brilliant comedic moments littered in the film, all thanks to Hoffman’s delivery.
We also get Po’s two dads Mr. Ping and Li Shan, reprised by James Hong and Bryan Cranston, who get some great time to shine in this film together that we only had brief moments of in the previous installment. This film explores a surprisingly unique and wholesome dynamic between these two that delivers both good laughs and emotional moments that add additional heart to the film. Honestly, these two could have their own spin-off together and I’d love them just as much in there as I did here.
We also get a minor yet memorably funny performance from Ke Huy Quan as Han, a mean-spirited pangolin with murderous intent. Even for a short role, it is awesome to see Ke Huy Quan getting more roles in major projects and always finding a way to win over our hearts.
And then we come to the interesting return of Tai Lung, reprised by Ian McShane, who I was worried was going to be purely used as a form of cheap fan service but ended up having some solid scenes that took me by surprise. His presence is short but sweet and savory as he ends up packing a thematic punch for Po’s progression from the first film to now. I can’t get too much into it due to spoilers but let’s just say there is a moment between him and Po that was really well done and I’m glad the writers made that scene happen.
Previous Kung Fu Panda films have always had a focus on fantastic thematic elements and heartfelt messages. This film definitely continues that streak but this time focuses on the theme of self-growth and accepting change. The film beautifully highlights how taking huge or small steps to better yourself is always progress worth acknowledging, which is a fantastic and relatable message to explore in an animated film especially given how change can be scary for many people.
Between all the high-paced Kung Fu action and hilarious comedy this film never fails to deliver its heartfelt messages that get you emotionally invested in the story and characters. Also, this film narratively doesn’t feel like any of the previous films for a number of reasons, which results in this film standing out from the rest and makes this installment feel like the beginning of a new trilogy based on some of the choices made.
The biggest bold choice made is that the Furious Five are not major characters in this film’s story, making this the first film where the Furious Five are not heavily featured in the franchise as they are set on another mission. While this may disappoint fans of those characters they are at least confirmed to still be around, plus their absence allows the opportunity to focus and explore new characters, themes, and relationships such as the core relationship between Po and Zhen. Had they been included I feel they would have potentially been an unnecessary third wheel that could have negatively impacted the kind of story being told here.
Also, their absence combined with the fact that nobody in Juniper City knows anything about Po or his deeds as the Dragon Warrior escalates the overall stakes of the story. Now even though the stakes are large the main conflict feels more personal between Po, Zhen, and The Chameleon, which cleverly parallels the conflict between Po, Shifu, and Tai Lung from the first film.
Now even though I think that the film’s narrative overall is solid there is one weakness it has that prevents it from being as perfect as it could be, which is that it can be a bit predictable with its direction. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some fun turns and surprises this film delivers, but there are several moments where you would immediately know what was going to happen. This is a similar issue that the first and third films have had as well.
But just because some things can be predictable doesn’t make the entire product awful, especially when there are some unique and fun spins put on some of those predictable parts, which the Kung Fu Panda franchise has consistently done very well on and continues to do so with this film. And again, there are still some fun surprises this film has to offer that do offset the predictable elements, as well as the fact the main themes of the film never lose their impact.
Again it should be noted that this film acts more like the beginning of a new trilogy rather than a conclusion, which makes sense given the way this film goes. It presents an opportunity to have this series continue in some interesting directions and go forward with some of the characters, concepts, and places introduced in this film to be explored further in new stories and honestly, I’m all for it, provided that they are given the same amount of narrative care that this film and the previous installments have received.
When it comes to technical elements, the continuous creative potential of the franchise is on full display in this film even after eight years since the previous installment. It feels like every installment of Kung Fu Panda is trying to upgrade itself technically in a similar manner to the Toy Story franchise and so far it’s been working. This film is packed with energetic and uniquely visual animation and cinematography full of vibrant colors and stellar editing. There are sprinkles of Spider-verse-inspired animation included but nothing on the level of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in terms of going for the full overhauled look.
The action sequences are amazingly fun and to be honest this film probably features the best fight scenes of the series so far, both in terms of visuals and fluidity. Every hit a character makes on screen is felt and carries a lot of energy in it thanks largely in part to the professional stunt choreographers who have always played a large part in bringing the action of these films to life in big ways.
There were a lot of action sequences that I loved, from the opening scene to the final battle, that are animated and edited to such perfection. It shows that Dreamworks is committed to continuing to test the waters with more stylish animation rather than the bland and repetitive animation they had been stuck using for a long time.
Hans Zimmer returns with assistance from Steve Mazzaro to compose yet again another solid musical score for the series that absolutely rocks. One of the tracks made in this film was a fun and thrilling orchestral cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” that took me completely by surprise but I absolutely loved it. It’s clear that this is a new tradition the franchise is doing now after the third film included an awesome orchestral cover of “I’m So Sorry” by Imagine Dragons, and you know what I am totally cool with it given how well it’s done by Hans Zimmer. Additionally, this film also includes an even more awesome cover of Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” by Tenacious D. This might be a hot take but I loved this song way more than the original and it continues to prove just how truly great of a singer Jack Black is.
This fourth installment had no right to be as good as it turned out but it’s clear that even when there are changes in directors over the years the same writers have stayed on and continue to provide consistent quality storytelling for the franchise as a whole, making for a near perfect animated series of films. Will this consistency continue in the future with the supposed new trilogy this film has started? Well, that’s a question for another day but at the moment it’s clear the odds are in favor for the lovable panda warrior. I’m going to give Kung Fu Panda 4 an A = 96.
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