Kung Fu Panda 4 (PG)

94 minutes, opens on March 7
3 stars

The story: The noodle-loving panda Po (voiced by Jack Black) is asked to step down to make way for a new Dragon Warrior, the protector of the people. But other problems come first – he needs to trap the thief Zhen (Awkwafina) and stop an even worse adversary, the sorceress The Chameleon (Viola Davis), striving to steal Po’s enchanted Staff Of Wisdom to gain immeasurable powers.

The fourth instalment of the animation franchise could have opted for a high-creativity, high-stakes story, in the manner of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022), a film that set new standards in storytelling and visuals. 

Instead, much of it suggests that this is the play-it-safe middle part sitting between the franchise’s brash beginning and rousing conclusion. 

There are fart jokes, bits involving the headstrong Po enraging his controlling Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and scenes in which his adoptive and biological fathers Mr Ping and Li Shan (James Hong and Bryan Cranston respectively) worry themselves silly over his safety. 

For its studio DreamWorks Animation, owned by Universal Pictures, the franchise has spawned four films, numerous television shows and video games, so the lack of enthusiasm about pushing Po further along in his hero’s journey is understandable. 

Awkwafina does what she can as Zhen, the ultra-confident fox who is also a skilled thief, but nothing in the role gives her anything to sink her teeth into. She is the generic sidekick, with the goofy Po playing the comic relief yin to her ultra-competent yang.

The standout performance here comes from Viola Davis as the villainess – it is clear that she is having fun as the evil queen. Her line delivery, in its musicality and forcefulness, elevates the average material, giving it a quality that is as close to Shakespearean as one can get in a movie about a Chinese panda who thinks like an American teenager.

It appears that for the sake of cultural authenticity, director Mike Mitchell has been paired with Asian-American co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, making her feature debut.

Mitchell is no slouch in animation. His credits include the well-received Trolls (2016) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).

The coupling of an experienced non-Asian director with a newcomer with Asian roots in telling an Asian story should be applauded. Stine rises to the co-director chair from jobs as artist on Disney’s own take on Asian myths, Raya And The Last Dragon (2021). The always-busy Awkwafina played the titular dragon in that.

The first two Kung Fu Panda films in 2008 and 2011 earned Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature. It is telling that the third, released in 2016, did not.

With two more sequels to come – a six-film run is planned – one can hope the crew gathers enough courage to break new ground.

Still, one doubts if anyone will be taking bets against Po becoming a proud dad in the fifth film, then rising to become the Master Shifu to the next generation in the sixth and final instalment. Call it a feeling.  

Hot take: There are laughs to be found in this well-mounted, but forgettable, addition to the kid-friendly franchise. But one wishes that its makers had heeded Master Shifu’s warning that “if you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now”.