Kung Fu Panda 4

While DreamWorks Animation hasn’t had a consistent track record of quality, I’ve always found an exception in the Kung Fu Panda films. The first film remains one of my favorites from the studio, as well as one of my favorite animated films in general, with an equally good second film and a solid third film that ends the Kung Fu Panda trilogy on a high note. Imagine my surprise, then, when the same studio responsible for recent boundary-pushing efforts in The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish announced a Kung Fu Panda 4, an admittedly unnecessary sequel that still had a wealth of potential for expanding its fascinating world and characters and bringing the series to new heights. Now imagine my disappointment in how the first new main entry in eight years not only failed in living up to the quality of the original trilogy, especially Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2, but also didn’t understand what made the rest of the franchise so appealing and successful in the first place.

Sometime after the events of Kung Fu Panda 3, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) informs Po (Jack Black) that he must advance and take the late Master Oogway’s place as the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. As such, Po must choose a worthy candidate to replace him as the Dragon Warrior. As Po struggles to find a candidate, he catches a corsac fox bandit named Zhen (Akwafina) trying to steal ancient weapons and sends her to prison. While she’s imprisoned, however, he learns that Tai Lung (Ian McShane) has somehow returned thanks to the efforts of the Chameleon (Viola Davis), a sorceress who can shapeshift into any animal she wants. Wishing for one last adventure as Dragon Warrior, Po temporarily frees Zhen so she can lead him to Juniper City, where the Chameleon awaits.

Credit where it’s due, Kung Fu Panda 4 has great animation for the most part. While not on the same level as The Last Wish or The Bad Guys, it still remains consistent with the original trilogy and perfectly captures the spirit of its setting of ancient China. Although Nico Marlet didn’t return as character designer, the newer characters don’t feel too out of place and Zhen and the Chameleon both have good designs. I did feel like some shots were edited more with the trailers in mind, but not enough that it detracted from the numerous action scenes. Fans will also find that the voice acting remains as a good as ever, even with an older Jack Black reprising his role, and that the surprise inclusion of Tenacious D singing “Baby One More Time” felt fitting. Although Akwafina somehow dials back her usual “comic relief” style and delivers a good range of emotion, her inclusion feels groan-worthy, if only from overexposure. Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson also has a cameo, though to his credit, I didn’t immediately recognize him.

The fight scenes also try something new with the editing.

Unfortunately, Kung Fu Panda 4 really falls apart in its story. There’s an obvious attempt at maintaining a razor-thin plotline for 94 minutes, but nothing can mask just how little happens and, if anything, the numerous flaws only highlight it to the point that I kept checking the time every few minutes. It really doesn’t help that, unlike prior villains, the Chameleon doesn’t have a compelling backstory and what she does have, that she couldn’t learn kung fu because the masters deemed her “too small” to learn it, falls apart when you consider Master Mantis’ existence. On top of that, for someone hyped up as Po’s greatest enemy yet, the Chameleon’s defeat comes in a very anticlimactic fashion, with none of the tension or suspense of the climaxes from prior films.

The Chameleon isn’t the only half-baked element of the film, however. Po’s relationship with Zhen isn’t too bad and had some potential, but the fact that Po somehow knows Zhen’s name even though the audience doesn’t learn it until literally halfway through the film bothered me. Previous villains come back, but they don’t do much of anything apart from losing their abilities and their behavior after the climactic battle doesn’t feel earned. Tai Lung's appearance sets up the potential for a more emotional storyline, especially considering his personal history with Po and Master Shifu, but nothing comes of it and he’s instead just a victim of the Chameleon’s plan. Among the other villains who show up, two major ones involve contradicting Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3, which makes them come off as just fanservice. I’ll mention on a lesser note that based on the film’s choice for powering up the Chameleon, I noticed a missed opportunity to at the very least acknowledge even a single villain from the (now confirmed non-canon) Legends of Awesomeness TV spin-off.

One major undercooked element, however, is a subplot involving Po’s dads, who both worry about his quest so much that they go after him. While they do try helping Po and Zhen at some point in the film, this subplot doesn’t really affect much of anything, especially since Li Shan (Bryan Cranston) mostly gets in the way. I understand the idea of addressing Po’s dads in some way, but the runtime might have been better spent fleshing out the emotional core of the film.

Li Shan (Bryan Cranston, left) and Mr. Ping (James Hong, right) don't add much
to the story. Also depicted: Zhen (Akwafina, center).

Of course, Kung Fu Panda 4 doesn’t have much of an emotional core compared with the other three films. There is an attempt at one through the recurring theme of change and redemption, but the story doesn’t really tap into its full potential. Instead, this film exchanges the prior balance of comedy and drama with a heavier emphasis on comedy and action, often to its detriment. Too many potentially serious moments are undercut with jokes to the point that most of them fall flat on their face (or, I suppose, down a flight of stairs), including visualizations of inner voices during meditations or in times of trouble. I’ll admit that I did laugh out loud a few times, but not as much as with the original trilogy. This more comedic approach can make the more emotional moments feel tacked on as a result, which in turn gives the feeling that there isn’t as much “heart” in this adventure.

One might point blame at the complete lack of the Furious Five until their glorified cameo at the very end. While their presence could certainly have helped the film, as we instead get very jokey explanations for why they couldn’t help Po this time around, criticizing a film too much for what it didn’t do wouldn’t be that productive. Instead, I would point to how even discounting the Furious Five’s absence, the writing just simply isn’t as clever overall, to the point I found it very predictable and knew exactly how it would end the millisecond Zhen made her first physical appearance. While I don’t believe any amount of predictable writing automatically makes a story bad, since it’s not a necessity to reinvent the wheel every time, there’s only one remotely clever attempt at distracting you from a twist that I still guessed moments before its reveal, at which point it fell back into well-worn territory that the other films did a better job at avoiding.

Po's (Jack Black, left) relationship with Zhen (right) takes very predictable turns.

While behind-the-scenes information doesn’t factor into my opinion of a work, this is one case where such knowledge can help explain what went wrong. In this case, according to an interview with co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, the film went through a rather troubled production and had a sort of identity crisis. In summary, Kung Fu Panda 4 began life as a live-action/animation hybrid that would have introduced humans and although this idea did get scrapped, it still got as far as the concept art stage. Even after production went in a direction more in line with prior films, director Mike Mitchell had full creative control, which led to the increased emphasis on comedy at the expense of other story elements. For example, Zhen and the Chameleon initially didn’t even have a backstory until Mitchell changed his mind at the last minute and the Furious Five only made an appearance after the marketing department stepped in. Ma Stine herself repeatedly fought for changes that would add more emotional elements to the film, including a failed pitch where Shifu would have more involvement due to his personal history with Tai Lung, as well as successfully making sure that Zhen’s redemption occurred onscreen. Taking this into account, it’s actually a wonder the film turned out as well as it did.

Even discounting the behind-the-scenes drama, however, Kung Fu Panda 4, while not completely without merit, still falls short when compared with its predecessors and it’s sad to see a once great franchise lose some of its luster. Feel free to watch it once if you’re curious, but I wouldn't recommend paying full price.