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Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 4

Mike Tyrkus

A new chapter in the “Kung Fu Panda” saga has been unleashed upon movie patrons. This film is accurately called Kung Fu Panda 4 and comes eight years after 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3. This adventure, however, seems to be less a solid entry in the series and more of an example of the law of diminishing returns as it enjoys its best moments harkening back to earlier films in the series.

Po (Jack Black) faces his most difficult challenge yet as he is told he must retire from fighting as the Dragon Warrior and focus on more spiritual endeavors. For Po, however, this is problematic for two reasons: 1) first, he does not feel qualified to ascend to any sort of spiritual leadership and instead prefers to stick to “kicking butt” and, 2) he must find and train an apprentice to replace himself as the new Dragon Warrior to protect the Valley of Peace. To make all of this more immediately concerning, there is a new enemy afoot – a powerful sorceress called the Chameleon (Viola Davis) who can shapeshift into any creature and is set on stealing the Staff of Wisdom from Po for her own evil endeavors. To successfully protect the Valley of Peace as well as the Staff of Wisdom, Po must become the best version of himself to date and, in the process, take under his wing a young thief named Zhen (Awkwafina) who he hopes will be the new Dragon Warrior.

The screenplay – written by a total of five writers – including Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, and Darren Lemke; with additional screenplay material by David Lindsay-Abaire, Lillian Yu, shows definitive signs of having too many cooks in the kitchen. There’s a haphazardness to the story that makes previous entries in the series seem far more well thought out and planned. In fact, as if to illustrate this point, the additional heroes of previous entries, the Furious Five – which include Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogan), and Tigress (Angelina Jolie) – are afforded a gratuitous appearance late in the film, but without dialogue so as to not allow any characters to upstage Po. The absence of Po’s compatriots could have been far better handled than this obvious attempt to not compensate five additional actors to appear in the film.

Jack Black and Awkwafina in “Kung Fu Panda 4.” Photo by DreamWorks Animation – © 2023 DreamWorks Animation. All Rights Reserved.

Overall, the film is largely a vehicle for Jack Black to bring his exuberant affinity for Po to the forefront for pretty much the entirety of the film. There is something interesting at times with the teacher/apprentice relationship between Po and Zhen, but it often feels a bit too shoehorned into a plot that introduces one twist after another. Other characters from previous films – such as Dustin Hoffman’s Shifu, James Hong’s Mr. Ping, and Bryan Cranston’s Li – are afforded a few moments of screen time to shine, but they basically exist to get the film to the next Po gag and that becomes rather tedious.

Although Kung Fu Panda 4 may not be one of the worst animated films ever made, it is certainly the least enjoyable and entertaining film in the series (at least so far).

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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