Kung Fu Panda 4: Does It Kick a Lot of Butt?

So I watched this movie in a way I've never experienced the other night.  One of the movie theaters I usually go to recently had these new D-Box seats installed recently.  It really makes you experience the movie.  The chair moves with the movie.  When the action was really going down, the chair would jolt around.  In a lot of ways, it's like a rollercoaster.  The really neat thing about it is that there are three settings (low, medium, and high) which you can set it, to make you more comfortable.  I cranked that sucker to high and was jolted around quite a bit.  I'm really excited to see some upcoming movies this way.  With all of that out of the way, let's get started!

Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine and stars Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Dustin Hoffman.  After learning that he has to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, Po (Black) has to pick a successor to be the next Dragon Warrior.  Things take a turn, however, when the Chameleon (Davis), a powerful sorceress shows up and wants to take over everything.  Po must then team up Zhen (Awkwafina), a sly street fox, and stop the Chameleon from summoning all of the master villains he has faced before.  With all of that out of the way, let's dive into the review!

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a fun little movie.  By no means is it a game changer, but there's a lot to like here.  Jack Black kills it as Po, as he always does.  It's crazy to think that he's been playing this character for 16 years.  It feels like we've grown with him.  He's funny and kind, but when push comes to shove, he's not afraid to kick some butt.  In this installment, we see him having to grapple with the idea that he's not going to be the Dragon Warrior forever.  He has to learn to accept change.  Granted, I had some issues with this, but it was an interesting idea.  I really hope we get to see this lovable panda again.  One of the highlights of the movie was seeing his two dads worry about him.  Mr. Ping (Hong) is Po's adoptive dad and Li (Cranston) is his biological father.  They're mostly relegated to a B-plot, trying to catch up to Po and help him with his mission.  The whole way they are extremely worried about him.  It was heart warming and hysterical.  There's one sequence involving a restaurant on a cliff that was really funny.  I kind of want a spin-off of just these two.  You can tell that the actors were having fun with it, too.  When it comes to new characters, I really dug the Chameleon.  Viola Davis did a pretty good job as her.  Her abilities were really unique.  She's able to turn into any of Po's old villains, but she doesn't have their kung fu abilities, which is why she needs Po to access the Spirit realm.   Because of this, we get to see old villains like the awesome Tai Lung (Ian McShane).  I also liked Zhen, the sly fox who tags along with Po on his journey.  Going in, I was a little hesitant because Awkwafina was playing her and she can get on my nerves sometimes, but she did pretty good.  If this franchise continues, I kinda want to see more of her.  Like in all of the previous entries, the animation is gorgeous.  You can tell that the animators really respected the  Chinese culture because everything is incredibly detailed.  Like with every entry in this series, the action is spectacular.  The choreography is insane.  There was one sequence where the room was full of smoke and all you could see were the characters' silhouettes.  I wanted the scene to go on longer.  As usual, the music was really well done.  While it wasn't as phenomenal as the first two entries, the score grabbed my attention.  Hans Zimmer comes back to do it and he's joined by Steve Mazzaro.  One thing that really threw me was that, out of nowhere, there was an Asian-like version of Crazy Train.  There was no build-up or even the slightest hint that this was coming.  Am I complaining? No, I'm not an idiot.

What really stinks about this movie is just how average it is.  Now you may be saying, "Ben, what exactly were you expecting from a Kung Fu Panda movie?"  Better writing, I guess.  The first two are freaking awesome.  They were able to juggle a lot of heavy subject matter without being too much.  The third one was fine but that's where it started to go down hill, a little.  Is Kung Fu Panda 4 a bad movie?  No, not by any means.  I had fun watching it.  I actually said in my Letterboxd review, "I think the Kung Fu Panda series is the only saga where each movie sort of goes down in quality, but none of them are bad."  Like I said earlier, this isn't a bad movie at all.  It's just fine.  I might've been expecting a little since the studio just did the great Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, but I think there's something more to it than that.  One thing that really bugged me was how much of an idiot Po is in this.  Granted, he's not the brightest character in general, but he knows when to get serious.  I mean, in the second movie, he finds out the villain wiped out (or tried to) all of the pandas.  It was a pretty serious subject matter and it wasn't afraid to get dark.  That's not the case here.  It felt like every line of his dialogue in this outing ended with him telling a joke.  In the previous entries, he felt like a character.  Here it was as if he was just practicing material for his stand-up.  The Furious Five are also barely in this movie.  They give a reason, yes, but it's literally, "Oh, they're doing something else."  Really?  That's the best you could come up with?  I think a much more likely reason was that the studio couldn't afford the cast.  It was a bummer, too, because their friendship with Po was always one of the highlights.  Going in, I was really excited to see Tai Lung and the other villains from the previous movie.  I was bummed by the fact that Tai Lung was the only old villain who had any lines.  Again, I think it was because they couldn't afford them.  There was also something they did with the villains which was really stupid.  I can't get into it because it's a big spoiler.  As I mentioned earlier, the main plot point is that Po has to choose a successor to be the next Dragon Warrior.  Why?  Well according to the movie's logic it's every Dragon Warrior's duty to do so.  The only problem is that's something that's just been introduced in this movie.  There was never a previous Dragon Warrior who appointed Po.  It takes away from the mystical aspect of it which was always so cool.  What also really bugged me was just the idea of Po having to give the role to someone else.  One could argue that he's been the Warrior for a while, but it sure doesn't feel like it.  Most of the first one was him training to get to that point.  I feel like it could've worked if this was an idea that was planted earlier on or maybe done later in the series.  For me, it doesn't feel like he's been the Dragon Warrior for that long.  Another thing that really holds this movie back is just how predictable it is.  You could guess what was coming a mile away.  If you'd seen the trailers, you probably could've guessed what happens.  It just felt so...safe.  There wasn't any bite to it and I think that's because of just how average the writing was.  I read somewhere that there was a lot of stuff that went down behind the scenes, and that kind of shows here.  At one point, they wanted Po to be in the real world.  Whoever thought of that idea needs to get fired immediately and never work in the movie industry again.

As I've said many times throughout this review, Kung Fu Panda 4 is a fun, fine film.  Jack Black is great as Po, the dad sub-plot is one of the best parts of the movie, Awkwafina is actually pretty good as Zhen, I really dug the villain, and the action is pretty cool.  Having great animation and a nice score helps as well.  What really holds this movie back is how it treats Po like an idiot, the questionable writing choices (justice for the Furious Five), how predictable the story is and the idea of Po having to give up the Dragon Warrior title.  There was a lot of things that felt like it contradicted previous entries in the franchise.  Like I said earlier, this isn't a bad movie.  You should go see it if you have the chance, but I feel like it could've been so much more.  With that being said, I am looking forward to any potential future installments.  If I were to rate it, I'd give Kung Fu Panda 4 a 7/10.  Also, try D-Box if you can!