Kung Fu Panda has long been one of the rare gems in DreamWorks’ catalogue. In a sea of mostly lacklustre attempts to match or one-up Disney, this series of animated wuxia-inspired martial arts comedies broke through and found its own way of both catering to the silly sensibilities of its audience while also challenging them through invoking themes of Chinese spiritualism and philosophies, with even some rich character drama along the way. You could say it found a zen-like balance unlike anything else the studio has managed to muster. Kung Fu Panda 3 came out in 2016 and had a certain air of finality about it (though not to the extent of its counterpart third chapter of the How to Train Your Dragon series -the other good DreamWorks product of the last two decades). That doesn’t stop an easy cash-grab however. The resurrection of this brand comes at a time where DreamWorks has gone through several years of creative stagnancy -the Trolls series is essentially what’s keeping the studio alive right now. And so it makes sense that they would try to wring just a little more out of this one recognized title. That motivation of approach tangibly informs Kung Fu Panda 4 more than the DreamWorks execs would like -and it’s the reason the movie is particularly underwhelming compared to the rest of the series.
The film does however have a fairly compelling hook that would justify enough a fourth movie. As each instalment has built on the personal journey of its title character Po (voiced once again by Jack Black), Kung Fu Panda 4 sees him comfortably in his role as the Dragon Warrior and protector of the Valley of Peace -but now called upon to appoint a successor as he transitions into the role of the Valley’s spiritual leader. Po is of course sceptical and fearful of the change, and attempts to avoid it by going on a mission to stop a shapeshifting Chameleon (Viola Davis), intent on using sorcery to harness the kung fu abilities of various masters. But he is accompanied on this adventure by a fox bandit Zhen (Awkwafina), the clear ideal candidate for his apprentice.
Early on, Po brushes aside the absence of the Furious Five, his supporting cast from the previous three movies -a sign this one either couldn’t afford or couldn’t draw back the likes of Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, and Jackie Chan. It hangs over the movie conspicuously for those who have seen the other films, especially the loss of Jolie’s Tigress, previously a fundamental foil for Po’s journeys of self-discovery. In their place the movie does manage to bring back for sustained screen-time Ian McShane as the first movie’s villain Tai Lung -the least interesting antagonist of this series- and couples Po’s storyline with one following the comic antics of his adoptive and biological dads (James Hong and Bryan Cranston respectively) tailing him out of concern.
The case of the two dads is merely an uninspired and mostly unfunny subplot; that of the returning villain -even in a secondary role- is more clearly a play of brand management, one of several through a movie that both routinely emphasizes and comments on Po’s catchphrase (“skidoosh” which always read as just a Jack Black ad lib blown out of proportion) and uses the moniker “Kung Fu Panda” for the first time. It relates to a sense of safety in the plot as well, which corresponds religiously to the by now calculated formula: opening in the Valley of Peace, establishing through Dustin Hoffman’s mentor Shifu Po’s character arc for the film, then sending him on a journey elsewhere to inevitably fulfil it in the process of a seemingly unrelated adventure. This was the structure of the prior two films, but it feels especially haphazard here, the beats of the narrative more open and a little more cheap. Nowhere has the series ascribed more to cliché than in the character Zhen, whose whole arc is blisteringly tired and obvious from her introductory scene.
What doesn't help is how overexposed Awkwafina has been lately as a voice actress, and how her every character is given the same bland personality of a generic street-smart and quippy con artist. And it has long lost whatever novelty it might have once had. The plot really hinges on Zhen, and the audience investing in this character as Po's eventual successor, yet everything about her is just incredibly dull. Even her design seems pretty boring compared to so many of the other animals of this universe -stylistically she could fit in among any other kids movie.
That at least can't be said about the villain of the piece. The Chameleon is pretty strikingly animated -not so much for the shapeshifting as for the fast reflexes- and Davis gives her formidable power through her voice. Her motivation as a shunned Kung Fu student taking revenge is pretty drab though, another rehash of past movies; but she and her abilities, both inherent and stolen, make for some nicely creative action scenes. And this is the one real sector of the film that is fully on par with its predecessors: a set-piece on a precariously built tavern is particularly fun, and though the climactic fight is in a very boring arena it often makes good use of the physicalities of its characters.
But even fairly decent action does little to help a movie so thematically mundane. It isn't enough that the primary throughline of Po and Zhen learning to accept and value one another is played with such calculated lifelessness, but the theme of Po having to confront growth and evolving out of his comfortable role is all but completely eliminated from the story's central priorities. It's a personal journey that could have even benefited from things like the absence of the Five -showing that while others in his life are moving on, Po remains jogging in place. Rather than engage with this though, or really any subject of Po's own character, the movie just conjures his catharsis at random; and it is patently because it is more interested in Zhen and her far more rudimentary narrative. For a lot of the movie, Po just seems to be there for the jokes, or as a foil to her.
What comes of this is a movie that, though credited to the same writers as the other instalments, feels palpably constructed by more cynical forces -a sequel in a popular series squeezed out with comparatively little effort just to hopefully keep the DreamWorks brand alive a little longer before it is seemingly inevitably bought out by Disney. Even its animation, once distinctly sharp and captivating, looks very ordinary here. Apparently a couple more Kung Fu Panda movies are in the pipeline, according to DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg, but under these same circumstances I can't see them going anywhere exciting. The Kung Fu juice is thoroughly sapped.
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