Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

DISCLAIMER: This is my OPiNIOn. I am human. I am biased. My word is not law. You can like or dislike whatever the heck you want. If you disagree with my review, that is completely okay. Keep it respectful if you want to debate with me in the comments. Then let’s both move on. I genuinely hope you have a great day.

Kung Fu Panda raised me, Kung Fu Panda 2 rewired my brain chemistry, and Kung Fu Panda 3, though not as amazing as its predecessor, still had its merits. This...did not disappoint me as much as I thought it would, but I haven't been pleasantly surprised either.

Setting

The good news is that the scenery still slaps! I do appreciate how in every film, Po is introduced to a new location. In this case, that's Juniper City, which is colorful, full of life, and quite a breath of fresh air. I love that we get a glimpse into the criminal underworld, and no one knows who Po is. The action continues to be creative with how it incorporates the environment, the physiology of the animals, and different martial arts styles. Like the choreography, the anime transitions still hit hard. It's not nearly as visually striking and stunning as the shadow puppet intro, the chase through the Tower of the Sacred Flame, and the final fight on the ships from the second film, though.

Look, I know it's probably unfair to compare Kung Fu Panda 4 to Kung Fu Panda 2 on principle, but I'll do it anyways, because I want to stress that Dreamworks can do much better than this.

Characters

First of all, the Furious Five aren't in the movie. The brief montage about where they are near the beginning and the end credits don't count. I'm glad to see they're doing well, but I dearly miss my childhood crush Tigress. Come on, Dreamworks. If you didn't want seven-year-old me to become infatuated with an animated tiger, then why did you hire Angelina Jolie to voice her? Hmm?

Secondly, also near the beginning of this movie, Po laments about not wanting to be a symbol of hope or a spiritual leader, which I thought he embraced in the third film. Other than that, he remains cheerful and charming, and I do like the idea of him becoming a mentor in his own right. Good job, Jack Black!

Thirdly, we have our first female villain in the franchise: The Chameleon. She has a sick design. She has shapeshifting powers, and powerhouse Viola Davis did a great job voicing her. She did her damn best with what she was given, and she was not given much. You see, what's cool about the first three films, is that they just straight-up SHOW us how threatening and terrifying Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and Kai the Collector right off the bat. Oh, andn her soul-sucking is a bit too similar to Kai for my tastes. With the Chameleon, we're told how terrible she is, but in her interaction with the crime lords, she's so...merciful. Now, if she were being merciful to them on purpose to manipulate them, that would work wonderfully. If she were weaponizing the traditionally female-associated trait or rather weakness of empathy, that would be fantastic. I wish they stuck to her shapeshifting between the different opponents. It was more disorienting. Don't know why she’d put all of them together and make herself a bigger, clumsier target. Actually, I wish she were more manipulative as a whole, rather than basically telling Zhen, "You're of no use to me if you become a good person." I do like the contrast between their relationship and Po’s relationship with his dads, I just wish it wasn't so on the nose. Also, the slow applause and cheering from her lizard henchmen is the only joke that got a real laugh from me. The fart joke, on the other hand, took ten years off my life.

Speaking of Zhen, she had so much potential. Po clashing with someone less noble for a change? Nice! The betrayal? Ooh, juicy! Unfortunately, because of the runtime, her redemption and reconciliation with Po seems very rushed.

The Mr. Ping and Li Shan buddy-comedy road trip subplot is the best part of the film. They complement each other perfectly.

Kudos to Dreamworks for including more Asian-American actors into their Asian-inspired world, such as Ronny Chieng's fish, Key Huy Quan's pangolin, and Awkwafina's Zhen.

But y'all...about my boys Tai Lung and Lord Shen...

THEY WERE DONE SO DIRTY BRUHHHH

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO SIT THERE AND TELL ME THAT THEY BOWED TO PO, JUST BECAUSE HE RESTORED THEIR POWERS?? YOU’RE TELLING ME THE RESENTFUL, RAGING TAI LUNG BOWED TO THE PANDA THAT GOT TO LIVE THE TITLE HE WAS DENIED EVEN THOUGH HE TRAINED ALL HIS LIFE FOR IT? YOU’RE TELLING ME LORD SHEN, THE UNFLINCHINGLY PROUD PEACOCK HITLER BOWED TO HIS VICTIM? YOU’RE REALLY GOING TO TELL ME THAT THESE VILLAINS AREN'T GOING TO TRY AND HEY REVENGE ON THE PANDA RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR IMPRISONMENT IN THE SPIRIT REALM, ESPECIALLY TAI LUNG, WHO HAS THE MOST REASON TO RESENT HIM? NAAAAAAHHHHHH

Writing

This movie has the horrible, horrendous, horrific habit of hammering the audience over the head with its themes, as well as the parallels between the characters. I find Po's line about having a dumpling for every time a villain told him they weren't so different downright insulting. Tai Lung never went up to Po and said, "You and are both students of Shifu and have both been wronged by him in some way." Lord Shen never went up to Po and said, "We are both black and white and we both feel that we have been abandoned by our parents." Why? Because their similarities were more sophisticated and subtle. There is a LOT of narration in this, and by extension, TOO MUCH telling and not showing.

Basically, whoever wrote, “All I see is a broken promise” for Tai Lung should’ve written this whole film. Matter of fact, whoever directed Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson should direct every Kung Fu Panda sequel. She would’ve eaten this down.

Music

STILL SLAYS! RIP MY HEART OUT, HANS ZIMMER!

Final Score

4.5/10. Look at me, Kung Fu Panda. This isn't you. You can be fixed! Jennifer Yuh Nelson can fix you!