Kung Fu Panda 4 [2024] – Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis

Kung Fu Panda 4 is fun for the whole family — not as much fun as the first three, but still a good time.

Starring Jack Black, the Kung Fu expert is back for another adventure that sadly feels forced. The movie offers enough eye-catching entertainment to sustain the franchise’s young fans, me included. But it’s starting to feel like this series is running out of steam.

My biggest issue? This dumpling is a little too light on the filling. Don’t get me wrong. It is fun, It is gorgeous to look at, but it’s light as a feather on anything substantial. It touches, tantalizingly, on meditation, reincarnation, spirit realms, Kung fu masters and acolytes, paths of enlightenment, and the otherworldly energy needed to power up miraculous kung fu moves. Sadly, those profound things are watered down to tiny kid jokes that mostly fell flat.

I don’t mind light movies. I love the minions and they’re dumb. The issue is more how rigid and unoriginal the end result is, as if the writers were drafting a screenplay designed to get a max score in some automated script-analysis program.

In a way, it’s like if Kung Fu Panda lost a bit of its soul and it was reduced to a popcorn flick. That’s not a bad thing and you can still have fun with it. It’s just that you won’t get that lost-lasting impact that the previous three had.

Thanks AI.

Should You Watch It?

Yes, this sequel is far from the best of the franchise (that would be 1, or 2), but is nonetheless a worthy addition to the franchise, a bonus dumpling in the bamboo steamer. I would like for it to have built the story a little bit more than it does.

Where Can I Watch It?

Kung Fu Panda 4 is now playing in theaters.