Kung Fu Panda 4

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.

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!

Going into "Kung Fu Panda 4" I was concerned. The 4th entry of a franchise after a solid trilogy is a very tricky thing. I am very much of the opinion that a film series should leave people wanting more. But I was not completely opposed to the idea of a 4th Kung Fu Panda movie. The 3rd movie didn't end things in such a way that no follow up was possible. The thing that made me nervous was the trailer and the casting of Awkwafina

Beyond the fact that Awkwafina is all over the place right now, whether it is "Angry Birds 2", "Little Mermaid", "Storks", "The Bad Guys", "IF", "Raya" or "Migration" she is everywhere right now. What's worse is that she plays the same role in every movie. It isn't like Jack Black, who plays his role of Bowser completely different from Po, Awkwafina just plays Awkwafina.

In general, Kung Fu Panda's celebrity casting has caught up to them. It is clear that they don't want to put out the money to get all their big-name actors to reprise their roles. At this point it comes across as cheap that the characters show up, but conveniently don't have anything to say. It feels less like the characters, and more like cardboard cutouts of the characters.

The villain is nothing that impressive. The shapeshifting mechanic is cool and fits in well with the story's theme. But the character never does anything that impressive with her power. Her big power movie to intimidate the audience is pushing a character down the stairs. Her endgame isn't that interesting, and her backstory doesn't add up with the world she's in. What do you mean she's too small? Mantis is smaller than she is and he's a member of the Furious Five.

There is a B-Plot going on with Po's two dads, voiced by James Hong and Bryan Cranston. And yes, it doesn't really add to the plot, but it some of the most entertaining parts of the movie. I could get a whole spinoff movie just following these two and I would be content.

The problems I have for this film really all come back to Awkwafina's character Zhen. She was annoying, her attempts at comedy fell flat. And the entire story she is nothing but a hinderance to Po. Why was she even brought along? She said it was to "help find the Chameleon" But the Chameleon wasn't even hidden. As soon as they get to the town its Po that points out where she is. Every action set piece leading up to the finale is caused because of Zhen. More trouble than she was worth does not begin to cover it.

I like the animation; I like Jack Black's cover of "Hit Me Baby One More Time". I liked some of the jokes, specifically from the boat captain. And I liked the themes that the movie teaches.

But beyond that, I came in thinking that this wouldn't live up to the previous entries, and Kung Fu Panda 4 didn't do anything to change my mind about it.

For me removing the most important aspect of the Trilogy felt out of place, removing the Furious 5 did not work in my opinion. They were so Important for Po and his development. And also everything is breezed past with brisk pacing and not enough depth for the Villains story. The First film is among the BEST in Dreamworks History, Number 2 closely follows. And Number 3 was good to a certain extent. So Let's review "Kung Fu Panda 4".

The first thing which I think is a flaw and doesn't suit the rest of the films, was the fact that Po couldn't be the leader as he had to choose someone else. The problem with this is, their was no reason for that to happen and it does come out of nowhere. That's a big part that didn't work for me. Now I am not the biggest fan of the Films but I do enjoy them, and I won't pretend like I do know alot, but for me removing the two most important components that worked heavily in Numbers 1 and 2, and again 3 to a certain extent just feels forced.

The Villain was a shape-shifting Camillion, and it's stated that she wasn't taught Kung Fu, and that's how she has become a Villain. For me, the Villains are much more characterised and developed in the Trilogy, where as the 4th parter with the Villain falls flat on it's heels and doesn't stick the landing. I like how she can change into anything, which does add the stakes. Which is a Swing and a hit, I must say. But they don't do much with it, aside from the fact she turns and fights, that's all.

But I will give this film some credit as it does deserves some praise, I like the performances. Jack Black is still the charismatic and charming Po he always was. And Awkinfewa Is a nice audition, she's great as the hopping and bouncy Bunny, which does suite her personality well. I like some of the set-pieces they put her through and Po, as they feel very creative and some inventive ideas are at play. I did Chuckle and I was Entertained too.

Another thing is the artsy animation style, it's very creative and I love the sets for the film, For me it works, and they even had a nice beutiful looking sunset. So the effects are a hit. The other things are a miss, in terms of story and story progression. As the movie is quicker then an aeroplane where nothing is developed and we are here for the journey. Which can be good and Bad.

I did like the action and the set-pieces, very well choreographed and animated. So whilst Number 4 can be a Swing and goes high, It also is a miss in the franchise. So here's my rating of all 4 Films, Kung Fu Panda-7.5/10, Kung Fu Panda 2-7/10, Kung Fu Panda 3-6.5/10 and lastly Number 4 which gets a solid 6. Now time for the Verdict.

Would I recommend this Film?

As a Family Movie. Yes. Any other reasons, No. Franchise Ranking as a whole 27/40 Not Bad at all!

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.