Kung Fu Panda 4 Review

Here’s my Kung Fu Panda 4 review which features the voices of Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Ian McShane, Bryan Cranston, James Hong and more! The film is directed by Mike Mitchell!

In this fourth installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise, our boy Po the Dragon Warrior continues on a path of growth as this time he is asked to choose a successor for the role of Dragon Warrior and grow into a spiritual leader role much like what his old Master Master Shifu has done since the first movie. Problem is Po isn’t done as the Dragon Warrior. He’s actually enjoying the role.

Matters go from bad to worse when Po meets Zhen, a promising fox who also stole into temple to obtain Po’s jade staff he got from the last movie. The two get into a fight and Po just goes on one big fight to another until he encounters the film’s main villain, The Chameleon (Viola Davis).

The film is action-packed from start to finish and it’s still the standard fare and flair for the film. One minute your enjoying a brilliantly choreographed fight with anthropomorphic animals and the next you’re laughing at some slick joked and quips. It’s also not limited to Jack Black and Awkwafina as even the veteran actors James Hong, Bryan Cranston and more. The daughter and I were laughing at a lot of nonesense which we totally loved.

I also got a kick out of Tenacious D’s version of the Britney Spears classic “Hit Me Baby One More” which has been playing around for quite some time.

The visuals were glorious too whether its those winding down scenes but they really went full throttle when it came to those action scenes. It really does seem like they keep upping the ante with every new Kung Fu Panda movie they come out. Good job on that end.

Voice work was pleasant to be honest. I couldn’t find anything off or wrong especially with the film being topbilled by Jack Black and the reigning queen of animated movie voices for quirky characters, Awkwafina. I’m actually surprised for this film that Ian McShane was quite quippy when he appeared, but I guess that’s because the studio wanted to get their money’s worth on his appearance.

I liked how they pulled a fast one on us in terms of telling the story where we MIGHT say goodbye to Po as the Dragon Warrior but turns out it’s a little bit more complicated than that.

One thing I really don’t like about the film however is the obvious and painful absence of the Furious Five characters. They’ve been a staple for the franchise for a long time and you can really feel their absence in this movie. But I guess that’s also what the film is teaching us grown ups, change is permanent and that we need to learn to adapt and accept changes like how Zhen will be a more prominent character down the line as we gradually say goodbye to the Furious Five. But then again, they could come back if there’s clamor for them.

But honestly, I think I’m fine without the other characters. Focusing on a smaller set of characters means that there’s growth to be had and that’s also the other thing Kung Fu Panda 4 teaches us.

Verdict: 9/10

Special thanks to Universal Pictures and SM Cinema for the invite!