Rating: Full

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Material Arts, Action, Adventure

Studios: Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation

Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Bryan Cranston, James Hong, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Dustin Hoffman and Viola Davis

Director: Mike Mitchell

Writers: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Darren Lamke

Producer: Rebecca Huntley

Music by: Steve Mazzaro

Rated: PG for material arts action/mild violence, scary images and some mild rude humor

Release Date: 03/08/24

Runtime: 1h 34m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Zhen

Quote: “Now, who wants to do the right thing for the wrong reasons?”- Zhen

Fun Fact: Looking at the info, it seems Kung Fu Panda 4 ignored all events from the two TV series.

The Review: Movie Franchises are a big deal, but by the fourth film, the franchise runs out of gas. You may think that Kung Fu Panda 4 gonna be part of the getting-sick-of-the-franchise movie but really, it actually doesn’t lose it all quite yet.

I have only seen the first Kung Fu Panda film. So i won’t really say anything about the 2nd and 3rd films, besides the fact that Po (Jack Black) now has a neon green Ying Yang staff. We all knew Po is Dragon Warrior, for right now. He is loving every minute of it. Kicking butt, Fame (but mostly kicking butt). Now that we reached the fourth entree, It won’t be long before Po has to retire from being a Dragon Warrior and must choose who take his place when the panda becomes a spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. Like other heroes in animated movies, the flabby panda clearly wasn’t ready for it!

And in every Kung Fu Panda film, we had to have a new villain to root against. This one has the shape shifting sorceress Chameleon who is called…the Chameleon (Viola Davis). She is probably the most anticipated KFP villian since she can shapeshift into Po’s other enemies. Sadly, unlike Tai Lung, the Chameleon didn’t come out much. We do, however have more new characters with crime lord Sunda pangolin (Kue Huy Quan), a fish living in a pelican (Ronny Chieng) and my new favorite Dreamworks sidekick, a sly fox thief Zhen (Awkwafina). Zhen led Po throughout the journey to the Juniper city stopping at the restaurant called ‘Happy Bunnies’ that has bunnies in forced labor, representing child labor in China (poor little guys).

But for some very unknown reasons, the comeback characters has left a huge disappointment in the fans. Furious Five was hardly in it (they did confirm their whereabouts in the beginning) with only Seth Rogen’s Mantis do make any noise in the film. And despite Lord Shen and General Kai appearances, the producers didn’t even bother to call Gary Oldman and J. K. Simmons. Fortunally, Zhen totally makes up for it! We did get Po’s adoptive and biological dads (James Hong and Bryan Cranston) storyline that we expected and wanted, coming together to find their son, looking like they had a rivalry in the 3rd film (I don’t know if they do, as I said, I haven’t seen the 3rd one yet).

Even if the film is over, Po’s story isn’t over yet! and while it seems this animated franchise is at its weak point, it still have some of the awesomeness! Here’s a tip. Stay during the end credits to listen to Jack Black’s kickass cover of Britney Spears ‘…Baby One More Time.’