Kung Fu Panda 4
★★
If eight years feels like a long time between instalments of an animated series about a panda who can do kung fu, that’s because it is in fact a very long time. When the series reached its conclusion with a trilogy-capping third entry in 2016, it landed with a somewhat lukewarm, but altogether satisfying, finality. Of course, as a longtime fan of the franchise I still selfishly wanted more, but only if it could justify its existence. That is, if it displayed the same artistry and heart that had made me fall in love with the Dragon Warrior’s exploits in the first place. Nearly a decade is quite the wait. Perhaps this time was spent in an extended development period, workshopping an adventurous new story of soul and value, thrills and humour. Or maybe it marks the longest Dreamworks could wait before a desperate backpedal to a bankable franchise title, and was churned out in little more than a year and a half. Either one.
“Kung Fu Panda 4” finds Po (Jack Black) at the top of his game as Dragon Warrior. But when Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) insists he must pass on the mantle, and a new foe emerges in the form of the shapeshifting villain The Chameleon (Viola Davis), Po must journey with cunning thief Zhen (Awkwafina) to find and stop this new threat. Where are the Furious Five, you ask? Unaffordable, it seems.
Po’s latest adventure feels phoned in, empty and devoid of energy. Simply going through the motions, “Kung Fu Panda 4” coasts by on the hard work done by its predecessors, and offers nothing new or inventive to its franchise. The original 2008 film had enormous heart, wonderful artistry and genuine thrills to boot. Its sequel remains to this day one of my favourite animated films of all time; an emotionally rich epic that dials up the action to eleven and forces its central figure to confront his tragic past in dramatic, satisfying fashion. The third entry remained delightfully energetic with vibrant animation, even if it was a noticeable step down. “Kung Fu Panda 4” cannot be described in any of these ways. The film lacks the heart of “1,” the soul of “2” and the fun of “3.” It is all of the worst qualities the franchise possesses, and is imbued with the low-effort laziness of filmmakers who know they’ve got a financial success on their hands before they’ve even put pen to paper. It’s narratively unexciting, visually unambitious and frustratingly predictable. Its piercing absence of dramatic urgency is a curse even Jack Black’s lively magnetism cannot save.
The majority of the film treats its central adversary as a background motivator rather than a fundamental figure in the story. Po and Zhen’s journey leads them to the bustling (and unimaginatively rendered) Juniper City, where the adventure takes them to an underground den of thieves, led by a pangolin played by Ke Huy Quan. Meanwhile, Po’s two fathers, the restaurateur goose Mr. Ping (James Hong) and the burly panda Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), follow Po’s trail in comical fashion. The Chameleon serves here as the excuse for story to happen — for an escape from henchmen through city streets, for a detour to a rickety tavern atop a mountain peak, for the parents to worry to an extent that they insert themselves in the plot — but her threat never feels tangibly present, or like it’s even particularly relevant to most of the film’s events, so the film just sort of meanders along without direction. She is a MacGuffin to make the movie exist, and the film’s lack of tension and stakes is palpable.
And the character itself is expectedly flat. The narrative hook is the character’s ability to take the form of antagonists from the series’ past. The return of Kai, of Lord Shen, of Tai Lung! Don’t get too excited. The majority of time spent with our new foe is in her natural, reptilian form, which is by no means a fault. The fault is how bland and one-dimensional the character is, if you can even call “broad evil intents without motivation” characterization. It does the film no favours to remind us of villains past. Lord Shen’s introduction had him viciously murder a mighty kung fu legend. The Chameleon is introduced kicking someone down the stairs. A downgrade, to be sure. We are also introduced to Awkwafina’s Zhen, who is irritating in her role as the smart-aleck reluctant sidekick archetype. If you’ve ever heard a voice performance from Awkwafina, you’ve heard this performance already. It’s very familiar stuff.
Still, there is something to be said for its fluid action and memorable aesthetic. The film never reaches the highs of its predecessors (or even the middles), but the titular kung fu fighting is swift and electrifying, particularly in the climactic showdown between Po and The Chameleon. Staged against a gloomy fortress interior, highlighted in blood-red lighting, the film’s action-packed finale is the only breath of life the film manages to sputter, and in its best moments it very nearly made me forget the movie that preceded it. Stylistically, “Kung Fu Panda 4” retains the look of the series before it, but with a distinctly two-dimensional infusion. The ripples of Spider-Verse continue to expand, it seems. There are occasional split-screen effects, brushstroke highlights and abstract visualizations. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, but there are far worse looking animated pictures.
Ultimately, the problem with “Kung Fu Panda 4” is its inability to justify its existence. It doesn’t have the artistry, it doesn’t have the soul. It doesn’t reveal anything new about its characters or world, it doesn’t provide a new shade of this universe. While the previous films could be enjoyed by both children and adults (particularly “Kung Fu Panda 2” which, I must remind you again, is excellent), Po’s latest adventure is explicitly for the young ones. Its humour is eye-rolling, its themes superficial and spoon-fed, its ambition reigned-in. A huge part of the series’ DNA is missing with the absence of the Furious Five, and The Chameleon is an underwhelming, unmemorable antagonist. For the longest time, all I ever wanted was another “Kung Fu Panda” movie. I was so excited to hear there’d be another. Now? I’m happy to wait another eight years.