“Kung Fu Panda 4” stars Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, James Hong, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Lori Tan Chinn, and Ronny Chieng. Released on March 8, 2024, the film has Po training a new Dragon Warrior and facing another dangerous threat. The film is directed by Mike Mitchell, who also directed films such as “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”, “Sky High”, “Shrek Forever After”, and “Trolls”. Mitchell also served as a story artist for “Antz”, “Shrek 2”, “Shrek the Third”, and “Monsters vs. Aliens”. It is the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. Everyone’s favorite martial-arts-loving panda has faced numerous challenges during his journey to becoming the Dragon Warrior. He’s taken down multiple villains while also learning more about his origins in the process. Now that his quest of awesomeness has been completed in “Kung Fu Panda 3”, all that’s left to ask is: What now? Well, thanks to DreamWorks Animation, we now know the answer. The “Kung Fu Panda” franchise has left a pretty impressive legacy for the studio, following the footsteps of “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon”. It provided great storytelling filled with memorable characters, world-building, and thoughtful themes and broadened the appeal of Chinese culture to American audiences. Plus, who doesn’t love animals performing martial arts? With the release of “Kung Fu Panda 3”, we all thought Po’s coming-of-age journey had concluded. It turns out that isn’t the case, thanks to the two recent streaming shows and its recent theatrical sequel. The question now is whether the latest installment is worthy enough to continue the Dragon Warrior’s legacy. Let’s head back to China and find out. The story once again centers on Po (Black), who’s set on becoming the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace after the events of “Kung Fu Panda 3”. To move on to the crucial part of the journey, Po must find and train his successor to become the next Dragon Warrior, which isn’t as simple as it sounds. However, his quest is interrupted by the emergence of The Chameleon (Davis), a nefarious, shapeshifting sorceress who can transform into anyone, including Tai Lung (McShane). Po also encounters Zhen (Awkwafina), a corsac fox bandit residing in Juniper City. When The Chameleon seeks to become the most powerful being in the universe by absorbing people’s kung-fu abilities, Po and Zhen join forces to defeat the sorceress and save China once more. “Kung Fu Panda” has been one of my favorite animated franchises since it first arrived in 2008. The first “Kung Fu Panda” movie is a fantastic and hilarious tribute to the classic martial arts films that came before it. Its sequel, “Kung Fu Panda 2”, upped the ante in its characters and world-building through its dark story and memorable villain, Lord Shen, making it the best installment in the franchise in my eyes. As for “Kung Fu Panda 3”, it’s a step down from the first sequel, but I still find it a fun time regardless. I also watched the shows in between the films, including “Legends of Awesomeness” and “The Dragon Knight” on Netflix. They weren’t too bad entertainment-wise, but they’re admittedly a far cry from the movies regarding the quality. So, you can say that I’ve been heavily invested in Po’s coming-of-age journey for sixteen years. This brings us to “Kung Fu Panda 4”, which I’ve been excited and concerned about since its announcement. While seeing Po kick butt once more is a welcoming treat for the franchise’s fans, the changes made for its fourth installment left me with a tiny hint of hesitation, mainly the absence of the Furious Five. This alone challenges “Kung Fu Panda 4” to deliver a narrative worthy enough to warrant these alterations. One of the franchise’s crucial strengths has always been Po’s coming-of-age journey from an ordinary panda working at a noodle shop to the greatest kung fu warrior in China. Throughout the trilogy, Po learns various lessons about becoming the Dragon Warrior while discovering more about himself, leading to his growth. For “Kung Fu Panda 4”, Po is transitioning from Dragon Warrior to Kung Fu Master and Spiritual Leader. As a result, Po learns about the new responsibilities he’s given and uses the lessons he learned in the past, mainly from the villains he faced, to assist Zhen. This makes the “Kung Fu Panda” sequels more than just a series of cash-grabbing follow-ups like “Ice Age” and “Despicable Me”. In short, the “spiritual leader” part of the journey provided some exciting challenges for the cuddly and fearless protagonist. But is this movie able to reach those heights? Surprisingly, no. However, it still packs enough punch in its style and heart to maintain the franchise’s spiritual essence. “Kung Fu Panda 4” is described as a love letter to the first film, mainly for Po assuming the role of "kung fu master" as he searches for the new Dragon Warrior. If that isn’t enough to convince you, there’s also the return of the first film’s antagonist, Tai Lung. Now, that’s what you call a true trip down memory lane. While it may seem similar to Po’s first step of his journey, it offers enough fun and heartfelt moments to avoid the cut-and-paste issues of other movie sequels. One of them comes from its messages. The "Kung Fu Panda" movies are known for their ability to teach young audiences valuable life lessons while providing a sense of growing up alongside the main character. In "Kung Fu Panda 4", Po struggles to adapt to change. Despite being chosen as the spiritual leader, Po is determined to remain in his position as the Dragon Warrior. However, as he embarks on a new journey with Zhen, he gradually realizes that change is essential to life and learns what it means to be a kung fu master. Additionally, Zhen learns about the importance of doing the right thing. Like its predecessors, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is a suitable display of its themes that’ll delight many young children and inspire adults. But when it comes to its storytelling, it doesn’t provide any new moves to keep the series refreshing. It’s a shame, considering it brought Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger back to write its script. However, one of the writers is Darren Lemke, who wrote Mitchell’s “Shrek Forever After”, so that all checks out. The franchise’s heart remains in the sequel, especially in its protagonists, but it has more occasions where the narrative held itself back in favor of its simplicity. Mike Mitchell is no stranger to directing sequels, especially animated ones, but when it comes to his vision of progressing their universes, he usually falters in reaching the similar narrative heights of their predecessors. The same can be said for his direction in “Kung Fu Panda 4”. While there are a few moments that Mitchell and the screenwriters did well, including the action scenes and fun humor, they struggled to take advantage of everything else to accompany its frantic butt-kicking chaos, including Tai Lung’s return. It’s far from bad since it’s entertaining enough to be watchable, but it’s also easy to admit that the movie’s spirituality from its predecessors has dimmed a bit. One of the highlights that elevate “Kung Fu Panda 4” was the voice cast consisting of new and recurring actors, all of whom made a solid effort in voicing their characters. Jack Black once again proves he’s the perfect actor to play Po. His kinetic energy, mixed with his generosity and charisma, solidifies Po as one of DreamWorks Animation’s memorable characters, and Jack Black fits that description flawlessly. Plus, his cover of one of Britney Spears’ songs with Tenacious D was surprisingly good. Awkwafina also did very well as Zhen, who’s pretty much a replacement for the Furious Five for Po to handle. While not as memorable as the legendary kung fu masters, Zhen offered enough in her character arc to see what direction they'll take for her in potential follow-ups. As for Viola Davis, she made a worthy effort voicing the antagonistic Chameleon, but her character was surprisingly lackluster compared to the trilogy’s antagonists. She’s someone you would find in one of the “Kung Fu Panda” television shows. She’s formidable with her shapeshifting skills, but the writing for her needed more alterations. James Hong and Bryan Cranston as Mr. Ping and Li Shan were some of the funniest parts of the movie, which often focuses on Po’s two dads amid his latest journey. There’s just something about two fathers working together to find their son that made the film more entertaining than it had any right to be. I also welcomed Ian McShane back as Tai Lung despite his surprisingly small role. The “Kung Fu Panda” films don’t just strive in their themes and stories, but also their animation styles. The animation in the franchise beautifully captures the landscapes and cities of China as well as their thrilling martial arts sequences and characters regarding the coloring, lighting, and presentation. It makes you feel that you’re part of that world yourself. “Kung Fu Panda 4” is unsurprisingly no exception, although with some minor changes. In addition to maintaining the gorgeousness of its sceneries and details, the film takes major influences from anime to reflect the art style and fight scenes, similar to “Creed III”. What a way to raise awareness of Japan’s form of animation. While far from creative, it’s still another solid example of animation influencing cultures through its presentation and designs, mainly The Chameleon and her shapeshifting abilities. Overall, “Kung Fu Panda 4” is another fun and vibrant return of the Dragon Warrior, even though its narrative occasionally lacks the spirituality of its predecessors. It doesn’t break any new ground in family-friendly storytelling like DreamWorks’s other sequels like “How to Train Your Dragon 2”, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”, and even “Kung Fu Panda 2”. However, the film retains plenty of elements from the trilogy to deliver an unnecessary yet pleasant continuation of Po’s journey. Jack Black continues to dazzle as the main character, and the rest of the voice cast managed to follow suit, which is enough to accompany its entertaining but flawed story, amusing humor, and solid animation. I’d say the second film is still my favorite, followed by the first and third installments, with this one at the bottom. But in the end, they’re all entertaining in their own right, even if their stories vary in quality. If you love the previous installments, you’ll easily have a good time watching this, although not as much as you had with the trilogy. B-
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