Kung Fu Panda 4

Vinicius Monteiro

Jun 23, 2026 · via TMDB

★ 5.0

The movie is fun, a total feast for the eyes with its colors and well-choreographed beatdowns, but it leaves that cruel question hanging in the air: did the Dragon Warrior really need to come out of retirement for this mission? Let's figure out together where the chi of this new adventure shines and where it falls flat. The transition in the director's chair is glaringly obvious right from the first few minutes. Mike Mitchell plays it safe and treats the movie almost like an extended TV episode with a billion-dollar budget. He knows how to frame a good visual gag to ensure kids won't look away from the screen for even a second. But the price of this hyperactive entertainment is steep. It lacks the contemplative touch of previous directors, that almost poetic subtlety that gave us time to breathe under a peach tree and understand the characters' pain. The film barely survives being squeezed through this corridor of creative transition, basically clocking in to meet the studio's schedule without risking an ounce of innovation. Speaking of not taking risks, we arrive at the Achilles' heel of this new adventure. The script suffers from chronic narrative asthma: the story simply can't breathe. Po and Zhen jump from one setting to the next, pushed by absurdly convenient coincidences. Zhen knows all the passwords, knows all the shortcuts, and has the magic solution for any locked door. Things happen because they need to happen, not because the characters made difficult choices. You get the impression they wrote the action scenes first and then stitched together a flimsy script just to connect the fights. You can't deny that Jack Black carries the comedy on his back with a charisma that borders on the absurd. His vocal energy still has that exact tone of a dazzled fanboy that we learned to love in Po. The problem is that the jokes around him are way too hit-or-miss. There are moments when the panda's natural humor gets genuine belly laughs out of you, but right after that, the movie throws an overly childish sketch in your face. Those psychopathic bunnies, for example, look like they escaped from a Minions movie, ruining any attempt to build real tension in the scenes. But look, when the talking stops and the fighting starts, the DreamWorks magic comes back in full force. The action is creative, full of energy, and visually stunning. They know how to use the environment to their advantage in the choreography in a really clever way. The sequence in the wobbly tavern, teetering on the edge of a cliff with every wrong step the characters take, is an absolute delight. It's gravity becoming a character and dictating the rhythm of the blows, bringing back that pure aesthetic joy of watching martial arts on screen. And it's worth highlighting a brilliant success within this action: the way the fighting styles are blended. When the Chameleon starts using her stolen abilities, we see a true blender of styles on screen. The film mixes Tai Lung's absurd brute strength with the lethal elegance of ancient masters in a fraction of a second. This fluidity between different techniques is a real treat for anyone who loves the aesthetic of kung fu, and honestly, it deserved way more screen time. Fleshing out the crew around the main character turned into a challenge the movie couldn't overcome. The new faces, especially the criminals in the thieves' den, rush in and out of scenes, feeling more like stage props than inhabitants of a living world. And let's address the elephant in the room: the absence of the Furious Five really hurts the franchise's dynamic. They were the serious counterpoint to Po's goofing off. Without Tigress, Monkey, and the rest, there's a narrative void that the script tries to fill with generic little bad guys, failing miserably. The core idea for Po is fantastic on paper. He needs to step down as the warrior who solves everything by punching and become a spiritual guide. It's imposter syndrome knocking at the door of someone about to retire. Except the movie chews through this conflict on autopilot. We don't see Po truly struggling with this change; he just grumbles a bit and moves right on to the next fight. His personal growth is shallow, stripping away almost all the dramatic weight that used to accompany the hero during his old identity crises. This stumble in Po's development directly impacts the moral of the story. The message that "every peach pit holds the promise of a new tree" is beautiful. Talking about accepting new phases of life and letting the past go is a deep theme for both adults and kids. But the movie prefers to dictate this lesson out loud through Shifu instead of letting Po experience this philosophy firsthand. The theme stays on the surface—planted, but without any water to grow. If there's one thing that left me frustrated, it was the colossal waste of the Chameleon. Her ability to steal the chi and forms of other warriors had terrifying potential. But her motivation for world domination? She decided to become a villain because, in the past, the masters wouldn't let her train in kung fu because she was too small. Yep, that's it. In a universe that has Mantis—who is literally the size of a finger and kicks butt—this excuse makes absolutely no sense. Compared to Tai Lung's passionate fury or Lord Shen's psychological terror, her intentions sound like a childish temper tantrum. Despite having pathetic motivations, visually, the villain is a spectacular hit. Character design continues to be an area where the art team excels with their eyes closed. The scaly texture of her skin, the majestic outfits, and especially the bizarre fluidity with which she contorts her bones to shapeshift, bring an air of dark sorcery that almost makes up for the bad writing the character was given. If the structure threatens to collapse, the voice cast acts like quick-drying cement. The voice acting is the pillar holding everything up. Jack Black's charm is a given, but Viola Davis performs a true miracle here. She lends such a palpable harshness and arrogance to the Chameleon that the villain ends up sounding much more dangerous in her vocal delivery than in the actions written in the script. And, of course, hearing Dustin Hoffman giving Master Shifu that chronic tone of impatience is still one of the little luxuries of animated cinema. Keeping Hans Zimmer and bringing in Steve Mazzaro for the soundtrack acts like a defibrillator in moments of near-narrative death. The music embraces that epic grandiosity, mixing heavy percussion with traditional Chinese instruments. Often, the score carries the scene on its back, forcing the viewer to feel the emotion and sense of urgency in battles that the script couldn't properly build. When it comes to graphic excellence, there's no debate. The volumetric lighting, the textures, the glowing particle effects floating around when chi is drained. The vibrant colors explode on screen, creating a resplendent polish that easily hypnotizes the eyes. It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful movie in the franchise in purely technical terms, delivering a continuous moving watercolor that is a total feast for the eyes. Taking advantage of these stunning visuals, the decision to expand the geographical map of the series was very welcome. Leaving the bucolic, peaceful mountains of the Valley of Peace to explore Juniper City brings an immediate aesthetic freshness. That chaotic urban environment, packed with animals, steep streets, fog, and tight alleys, introduces an excellent density and proves that the Dragon Warrior's world still has plenty of interesting corners to explore. To navigate this new city, Po is joined by Zhen. Awkwafina delivers the perfectly raspy voice for a street-smart fox, and the dynamic between the two actually sparks some fun moments to watch. The problem is that Zhen's character arc is a festival of clichés. She's the classic "thief with a heart of gold" who will betray the hero halfway through the movie and regret it at the climax. Everything is so spoon-fed and predictable that her redemption feels artificial, like the script was just ticking boxes on a basic checklist. You know what else is sorely missed while watching this new friendship play out in the dirty streets? The lack of practical Taoism. The first movies shined by taking complex Eastern philosophies—like the illusion of control and achieving inner peace—and turning them into vital elements for the narrative. Here, the spiritual journey was reduced to bureaucratic office jargon. "Becoming a spiritual leader" is treated almost like hitting a quota to get a promotion, emptying out the mystical, reflective weight that separated Kung Fu Panda from ordinary animated movies. Failing to create new substance, the script shamelessly relies on the viewer's nostalgic affection. The movie recycles camera angles, references classic moves, and embraces lazy fan service in the third act. The lingering feeling is that the production doesn't trust the strength of its own current villain, constantly needing to rub the glory of past adventures in our faces to remind us of how much we used to care about this universe. And the biggest example of this cheap fan service is the return of Tai Lung. Bringing back the saga's first and most brutal antagonist from the Spirit Realm sounded like a massive event in the trailers. But in practice? He just shows up to drop two catchphrases, take a humiliating beating to show how strong the Chameleon is, and then quietly leaves. Seeing such an iconic villain used merely as a stepping stone for an inferior antagonist is frustrating and reeks of wasted pure gold. Part of this waste is due to the frantic editing. The movie's pacing works like a runaway car going downhill: there's no time for things to settle. A character discovers a terrible betrayal? Quick cut, we're already in another cart chase scene down the street. There is no silence, no dramatic pause. The editing's rhythm turns a journey of spiritual succession into a frantic compilation that's terrified of letting the viewer get bored for even five seconds, ruining the weight of every revelation. This runaway pacing culminates in a final conflict with the tension of a glass of water. There are no butterflies in your stomach. In all the previous threats, it felt like if Po lost, it would be a bloodbath and the end of the world. Here, the Chameleon absorbs the powers of the greatest warriors in the universe, turns into a gigantic chimera, and yet, the fight lacks any sense of urgency or real danger. The emotional weight is thin, making the final threat just another annoying hiccup in the panda's day-to-day life. Interestingly, if there was one storyline that really found the right rhythm and emotion, it was the side story of Mr. Ping and Li Shan. The journey of these two overprotective dads following their son to make sure he doesn't get hurt carries the genuine heart that was missing from the main plot. The "couple on a road trip" dynamic between the practical goose and the lazy panda is affectionate, delightful to watch, and reminds us that the franchise's strength has always been in its unusual family bonds. To wrap up this deep dive, I conclude that what we have on screen isn't an absolute disaster, nor is it a masterpiece. It's an average, safe movie that doesn't quite know where to go with its main character. The journey distracts you, gets a few laughs, and impresses with fantastic fights and gorgeous visuals. If you have a soft spot for the character, it's worth grabbing your popcorn and letting yourself get infected by the Dragon Warrior's chi one more time. Go in without expecting a revolution, enjoy the show of lights and colors, and draw your own conclusions about whether it's finally time for Po to rest in the shade of the peach tree.

daniel_carr

Jan 31, 2026 · via TMDB

★ 8.0

At first I was disappointed that the 5 weren't in this one but the humor was actually better in this movie than the previous one so that more than made up for it. The problem with watching all 4 one after the other is the story looked very similar in all 4 movies and even a copy of the second movie in the fourth. But having such a strong cast of acting voices and enough of a progression in the story line it was enough to make this a great movie to watch.

r96sk

Feb 11, 2025 · via TMDB

★ 7.0

<em>'Kung Fu Panda 4'</em> is much like its predecessors for me, I'm cool with them but they don't hit any deeper than being just solid movies. I had to watch a recap of the previous entries, naturally, and didn't remember much, aside from the cast and main characters. I reckon I'll be saying the exact same thing in X amount of months about this one, that doesn't necessarily mean a film is bad though - because this release isn't. The voices we hear are perfectly satisfactory, from Jack Black to Awkwafina, Viola Davis (the best, away from lead) and the rest. The music here is good. There is one piece of the score, which is heard a couple of times and during the end credits, that must be a homage of sorts to television show <em>'Dexter'</em> - weird connection granted, but it sounds practically exactly the same to me. On the note of the sound, I enjoyed Tenacious D's rock cover of "...Baby One More Time". I listened to it an embarrassing amount when it first released alongside this movie, the video was admittedly part of the reason why - I'm always a fan of seeing film casts in music videos. There's a decent story told, alongside nice animation. It'll no doubt be forgettable to me personally, but I can still acknowledge it as something that I deem passable.

Out of nowhere, this fox character manifests! Out of nowhere, this panda character manifests! Out of nowhere, these villain characters manifest! We have got some top notch reviewers on this website, Souljaboytellem! Dialog writers need to remove certain words from their joke book, like "method", as in method acting. When I hear method acting, I think Jared Leto. Associating Jared Leto's "method acting" with your movie probably isn't a good thing. Method acting and Jared Leto occupied real estate rent free for the entirety of this movie. It didn't help that they couldn't stop themselves from thinking "it's so nice, we'll say it twice". The story is predictable, made worse by the spoon feeding. To add insult to injury, the back and forth between Po and Zhen up until the "big stink" is good enough to maybe throw you off if you haven't seen it a dozen times already or if they hadn't spelled it out. Po's dads are fine. He has a biological widowed father and an adopted father. We know these characters. Their subplot is kinda unnecessary but the "two dad's" thing isn't rocket science.

I'm into movies that simulate the 'watching a video game' experience. Classic Shang Tsung end boss. Shadow of the Colossus gameplay. Maybe a diss to Dune? It's predictable and full of dumb shit but I found myself enjoying it. Jables does good. I found abrasion to be front-loaded and maybe he mellows out but... a muted, yet powerful performance. I did smoke weed during the first few minutes. I love Awkwafina.

dumasori

Apr 13, 2024 · via TMDB

★ 2.0

**Written by kindergartners using AI** Even after more than 10 years, I still miss the first Kung Fu Panda movie as it was genuinely a masterpiece. The story, action, dialogues, character building, the tension between Tai Lung and Shifu, everything was fabulous. Well, I can go on and on about the first Kung Fu Panda, but this is about this unbearable trash Kung Fu Panda 4. This movie is so bad that calling it boring would be a compliment. Out of nowhere, this Zhen character manifests. All the formula film scenes replicated, unnecessary fights, moving around without any purpose, cracking jokes (painfully unfunny) out of nowhere, and so on. I wanted to leave the movie after 20 minutes but then I thought maybe something good would happen. However, I was wrong till the end. Pathetic direction, dialogue delivery and unfunny jokes started feeling irritating. No chemistry between Po and Zhen, and somehow they both are ready to die for each other. The Zhen character was uninteresting and annoying. Just like contemporary movies where people get everything without any sacrifice or struggle, they managed to "Mary Sue" Zhen by making her the next dragon warrior. I am glad that this movie ended this way. At least now I know I won’t be watching any more trash from this franchise. If you loved the first Kung Fu panda, please stay away from this. Please save and cherish your good memories. You have been warned. *I wanted to give it 1.5, but the sliding scale couldn’t select it, so I gave it 2/10.