Kung Fu Panda 4

After many years, '' Kung Fu Panda Four '' returns with Po 'maturing' and ready for new adventures.

First of all, I did find this movie better than the third one. It was nice to see the old villains back (which makes this movie difficult to watch if you haven't watched the previous ones, as many of the jokes and the charms of the movie will be lost), and there were enough funny moments to keep things light.

And, sure, the plot of the movie was predictable, but it was, overall, enjoyable, and the characters lovable, even the new ones. The villain was interesting, moreover, but too basic in the end.

I think the title of my review says it all. If I had to come up with a word to describe the film, it would merely be, "passable." I chuckled a couple of times and my kids (6 & 7) loved it. At the end of the day, I suppose that's money well spent. That being said, I am a huge fan of many DreamWorks franchises, including the first 3 KFP films, with the 3rd installment being the weakest of them, but still a good time. Compared to KP4, which didn't really add anything to the franchise, the 3rd film is a masterpiece. I found the pacing and the humor of KP4 all over the map. It felt like the film was rushing the audience along without time to really feel any of the emotions it wanted us to feel. It felt like a Saturday morning cartoon rather than a memorable addition to the KFP film canon.

So, in the end, I'm glad my kids loved it because I am promptly going to forget everything about this movie. When I think of KFP, scenes like Po finding inner peace in the ruins of his village in KFP 2 will always readily come to mind. I will continue to laugh at the jokes in the first 3 films, but even now I'm struggling to recall the best jokes of KFP4 and I just saw it not even an hour ago. The best, most enduring part of this movie is callback to villains of the previous films. Otherwise, it was one big colorful, fast-paced "Meh."

The kids will enjoy it though.

The simple formula like the one used in Cars 3. If you want to introduce a successor then you have to nerf the MC or other villians. The makers had an opportunity to utilize all the previous villains but they missed it. They could have atleast give Po a good shining moment and they kind of missed it too. They could have made the main villain more influential like Tai lung or Shen.

Po is quite young to pass the torch and atleast they he should have a big moment before he could agree on doing it. They took about 9 years to make this movie and still felt rushed.

I THINK THE BIGGEST ISSUE WITH MOVIE WAS ITS LENGHT. They could have give more screen time to all the important characters.

Gorgeous visuals, fun combats, and lots of variety in characters; I feel children, especially those who belong to the age bracket of 5-10, will have a great time with it.

However, teenagers or matured adults may have reservations about the film, particularly those who have grown up with this series and hold the franchise in high regard. They would notice the diminishing charm, the losing essence, and the fading magic of the storytelling that was once prominent but now are gone.

The franchise has regrettably become a cash-cow, which serves nothing but one lone purpose: to mint money for the studio and their executives. I think they should stop now!

To be honest the 8 year wait to see po action again was a bit disappointing (for me personally) a hollow one hour and thirty four minute run time.

It seems like they have run out of ideas and are pushing too hard to make it, but this film is still enjoyable to watch (not to the point of falling into the trash category)

I will tell you about the shortcomings of the Kung Fu Panda sequel this time (in my personal opinion)

-Unchallenging enemies

-more inclined to comedy than action, even then there are some comedies that actually force the audience to laugh

-and finally a non-dramatic ending

That's the review from me, one of the viewers from Indonesia.