There is a new installment of the Kung Fu Panda comedy/adventure animated film series and its continuing to blow audiences away with its marvelous story, superb voice acting, and stellar music! Kung Fu Panda 4 continues the tale of Po (voiced by Jack Black, The Holiday, School of Rock) who improbably becomes the “Dragon Warrior” –a master of kung fu. Po is a giant panda and in this film is chosen to be the spiritual warrior of the Valley of Peace. He is given the jade-colored Staff of Wisdom and tasked with finding and training a successive Dragon Warrior to take over his position. Meanwhile, a sorcerous known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis, The Help, The Woman King) plans to bring back all of the enemies that Po has fought in an effort to take over the realm. This is the latest animated offering from DreamWorks Animation.
The Kung Fu Panda franchise is set in a fantasy version of wuxia (martial arts and chivalry) in ancient China where the world is filled with anthropomorphic animals. The franchise consists of the four films, 3 television series, four short films, and a television special. This film was directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls, Sky High).
The story begins with a group of rams working in a mine. Suddenly, darkness falls, and a ram starts screaming. Tai Lung appears (voiced by Ian McShane) and announces he has returned from the dead to “take what is mine, which is everything!” He also declares that no one stands in his way “not even the great Dragon Warrior!”
Meanwhile, Po’s fathers are looking for him and find him practicing kung fu with the Staff of Wisdom, which he earned previously. He explains that the staff gives him the power to travel between realms. Po also explains that all of his friends from the previous films are busy having their own adventures. Po’s trainer, Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) pulls Po aside and tells him that he is not going to be the Dragon Warrior anymore, that he will now be the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. Po counters that he “doesn’t know anything about passing on wisdom” and “being the Dragon Warrior is all I know.” Master Shifu wants him to interview Dragon Warrior candidates, but Po is reluctant. Master Shifu hands Po a peach pit and cryptically explains “every pit holds the promise of a mighty tree.”
Po attempts to meditate but is distracted by thoughts of food. Small panda versions of himself pop up on his shoulders in an age-old trope of the angel and the devil on the shoulder to argue the merits of meditating, but the filmmakers subvert the trope by having the pandas multiply out of control into a dozen mini panda heads arguing with one another. Po looks at some flower petals blowing on the wind as a sign from the universe and begins to choke on the petals. Exasperated, he spots a shadowy figure and begins to follow them. Following the figure quickly turns into an encounter with the wise-talking fox who tells Po “Nothing about you says ‘dragon’ or ‘warrior.’” Po sends Zhen the fox to the Valley of Peace prison for her misdeeds.
The rams from the beginning of the film approach Po to ask for help. Po goes to see Zhen in prison, and she explains to him that there is a shape shifting chameleon wreaking havoc. Zhen offers to lead Po to the Chameleon in exchange for a reduced sentence. They begin their journey to Juniper City. In Juniper City, The Chameleon turns up in disguise in a cabal of criminals who are discussing how best to deal with her. She then turns into an elephant and pushes a bear down some remarkably steep stairs. She harshly increases this month’s tribute by 60%.
Zhen gets caught in a tavern on the top of a cliff cheating at a game of mahjong, so she and Po have to fight their way out of the place after Po tries peace keeping methods and finds that no one outside of the Valley of Peace has heard of his Dragon Warrior status. He asks in a stunned realization “Am I that provincial?” Director Mike Mitchell seems to relish in shots that couldn’t be pulled off with live action actors without substantial computer graphics. This is a film that is fast-paced and clever with a joke seemingly every 30 seconds. The fight scenes are chaotic in the best possible way with little sight gags that build on each other, making this a true comedy with plenty of puns for the adult’s benefit.
Po and Zhen narrowly escape the tavern and continue on their journey to Juniper City, which is where Zhen is from. She explains that she has no family and survived getting by any way she could. Zhen explains that in Juniper City you can “be anything you want to be, do whatever you want to do, steal whatever you want to steal.” Po exclaims that “Juniper City is the most amazing place I’ve ever seen!”
Once in Juniper City Po and Zhen make friends with a group of feral, criminal children and then continue their journey where they must face off with The Chameleon who has amassed untold power.
The voice acting was strong in this installment of Kung Fu Panda with Viola Davis bringing a powerful performance as The Chameleon. Awkwafina voiced the wily fox, Zhen, and made for a great side kick. The highlight of the film for me were Po’s two dads, who are not a couple–a panda named LI Shan (voiced by John Cranston) and a goose named Mr. Ping (voiced by James Hong) who both care very much for their son, enough so that they follow him into Juniper City and fall into many hijinks during the search.
For the closing credits of the film Jack Black and his band Tenacious D performed a raucous version of Britney Spears’ hit “Baby One More Time” and it was a perfect way to wrap up the action. Astute listeners will also catch an orchestral cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” arranged by Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, during a big action sequence. The rest of the score was serviceable with no other highlights that stuck out.
This is a solid addition to the Kung Fu Panda franchise and a film I would recommend everyone take their children to see! There are a few scenes which may be too scary for very small children but I would recommend it for kids ages 7 and up. It’s something both the kids and their parents can enjoy.
Editor Note: Jonathan Ke Huy Quan, Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, who also joined the dubbing cast to dub the character Han.
