Kung Fu Panda 4 – Evolution of the Dragon Master

Our favorite butt-kicking panda is back! Back in August 2022, Kung Fu Panda fans received a very welcome surprise from Dreamworks. Kung Fu Panda 4 was announced, and I couldn’t have been more excited. I was a big fan of the previous three movies. The first movie has the best villain, the second movie has my all-time favorite quote from any movie, and the third movie has my favorite ending of the trilogy.

Kung Fu Panda 3 was very successful. But after some years of no news about a 4th installment, I honestly lost hope. I did have the recently released Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight to hold me over for a little bit. If you haven’t seen that, check it out ASAP. It’s on Netflix and it’s such an amazing show. However, it still didn’t fill the void left by an actual movie. Kung Fu Panda 4 was released on March 8, 2024. I saw it that weekend and needed some time to gather my thoughts.

Set to become the new Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, Po must find his successor to become the new Dragon Warrior. While doing so, he must also deal with the new villain, The Chameleon, a villain who can bring back villains from Po’s past, such as Tai Lung. The premise sounds like peak fiction. Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t the best, making Kung Fu Panda 4 the weakest installment of the saga.

The movie starts off with Tai Lung returning somehow and terrorizing a mountain village. We then move over to Po, who’s late to the opening ceremony for a new restaurant his dads are opening. Of course, he’s late doing Dragon Warrior stuff and we find him battling an evil stingray before getting back on track. The opening just felt kind of clunky and there, not really giving too much weight to the story. Tai Lung just announces he’s back. And based on his past actions, people fear him, rightfully so, but he does nothing to anyone except be there.

After the grand opening, Master Shifu explains to Po that he must give up the title of the Dragon Warrior and step into his new role as the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. That means he has to choose his successor and have someone else be the Dragon Warrior. Naturally, Po isn’t a fan of that. He’s finally found his footing and has built an entire persona around the Dragon Warrior. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to give up the action.

Refusing to pick a candidate for the role, Po ends up catching a fox bandit named Zhen who is trying to steal ancient weapons. Po sends Zhen to jail and finds out about Tai Lung’s return. Zhen proceeds to tip off Po and let him know that it is really The Chameleon shape-shifting into Tai Lung to scare the villagers. Zhen tells Po that if he wants to stop The Chameleon, he’ll need her help. And we’ve now arrived at an overused cliché that many shows and movies turn to. The old hero protagonist teaming up with a “bad guy” to stop a greater evil, only to be betrayed by the “bad guy” before teaming up again for one final showdown and the “bad guy” becoming a good guy now trope. Who didn’t see that coming? I sure didn’t and I’m being 100% serious when I say that.

In my defense, I was more concerned with just how Zhen was going to be chosen to be the next Dragon Warrior. That had my focus, so I just didn’t put two and two together to be like, “Oh, this is about to happen.” Zhen is such a small character compared to Po. But of course, no warrior is too small. Mantis is living proof of that. And what Zhen lacks in physicality, she makes up with her personality. Zhen is voiced by Awkwafina in Kung Fu Panda 4. I’m not the biggest fan of her. Her voice can be very obnoxious at times, and when it comes to animated films, voice work is high on the list for me. But she did a great job honestly. She actually sounded like Scarlett Johansson sometimes, believe it or not.

I won’t spoil the journey—just know that’s literally what makes up the movie. Po’s adventure to find The Chameleon with Zhen. The biggest mistake this movie makes is its pacing. It’s very fast-paced, and it doesn’t work for the movie. The pacing should be balanced to make the story work. Kung Fu Panda 4 suffers from a lot of rush work, and the quality just isn’t there the same as it is with the OG trilogy.

The characters that debut in this movie, the main ones at least, could be a bit more captivating. I wish their stories were a bit more fleshed out. There was just something holding me back from really like The Chameleon, who was voiced by the incredibly talented Viola Davis. Davis did a phenomenal job. The issue with The Chameleon has nothing to do with the voice. It’s the writing that robs The Chameleon from reaching her full potential.

She’s salty because she was rejected from every training hall due to her small physique and exuding insignificance. So she became a sorceress instead and used that to be able to shapeshift in the different masters. Obviously, taking someone’s body doesn’t give you all of their fighting prowess. In the world of Kung Fu Panda, their knowledge of the art of kung fu is tied directly to their souls. So The Chameleon decides to steal the souls of all the masters in the spirit world. To do that, she needs Po’s Staff of Wisdom to open the door to the Spirit Realm.

This is where the “bad guy” betraying the main protagonist comes into play. Zhen actually works for The Chameleon, having been raised by her since her youth. This takes Po, and myself, by surprise because he not only trusted Zhen but he also just gave the Staff of Wisdom to Zhen, who in turn gives it to The Chameleon. The Chameleon is now free to open the door to the Spirit Realm, stealing the spirit of each kung fu master that resided in the spirit realm and their kung fu abilities as well. Seeing just how bad it is, Zhen decides she is in the wrong and escapes The Chameleon to find Po.

This leads to the final battle, which I must say was lackluster as well. But before that, there’s the sentimental moment where Po gets some encouragement and begins to believe in himself while also inspiring the secondary character – in this case, Zhen. Po and Zhen team up against The Chameleon, who has the fighting styles of a multitude of different masters. She then decides to turn into this dragon-like creature composed of different animals, though she looked like Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon at different times. When the dragon isn’t enough, The Chameleon resorts to turning into a fake Po and duke it out with the real one. Po becomes outclassed by his double, thanks to The Chameleon using some of her own powers, and ends up locked in a mystic cage.

At this point, he once again gives his staff to Zhen to finish what was started and this marks the transition from Po to Zhen as the Dragon Warrior. Zhen is able to wield the power of the staff and strikes a mighty blow against The Chameleon while yelling out her own phrase, “Skablam,” which is a callback to a previous, unfunny moment in the film. The Chameleon doesn’t give up and in one final blow, Po knocks her out and lets Zhen know that the correct phrase is “Skadoosh.” All of the masters have their spirits returned to them, and in return, they all bow to Po in respect. This includes Tai Lung, Master Shen, and Kai. A lot of people weren’t happy with that, but I did see that coming, and it’s something that I’m happy about. I always enjoy seeing things like that and I don’t feel like it takes away from any of them as previous villains.

Once everything is wrapped up, Po officially decides on Zhen as his successor, and they begin their training. The training session is led by none other than the Furious Five after being absent for the entire movie. And although they’re back, they’re not going to say a single word. They’re just going to be a part of this training montage with Zhen that pretty much shows they were added at the very last minute due to the intense, yet justified, backlash of them seemingly not being in the film at all.

Honestly, it feels like a slap in the face, but it is what it is. The movie could have been much worse. At first, the movie was supposed to be a live-action/animated hybrid movie with The Chameleon and Zhen being humans from Hu-Man City. The plot was fairly similar, but just the prospect of this hybrid mess sounds horrible, and I’m so glad they didn’t go through with it. I honestly don’t feel like this movie was handled with the same care as the previous three movies. The tone was almost the same, but it didn’t quite get there. Maybe it’s because I’m growing up, but I can go back and watch the other 3 movies and truly enjoy them without nostalgia fueling the love. Those are truly solid movies. Kung Fu Panda 4 isn’t bad per se, but it’s not the sequel that a lot of other fans and I were hoping for. Regardless, it does set up the future of the franchise for some fun adventures. If we get them, I’m not sure. Jack Black doesn’t know if he’ll return as Po, but the directors have stated they’re definitely interested in moving forward. I just need them to get back on par with the previous installments.

I mentioned Awkwafina doing an amazing job on her voice work for Zhen, but I also have to give props to the rest of the cast. It’s a stellar one indeed. Jack Black as Po, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, James Hong as Mr. Ping, Bryan Cranston as Li, Viola Davis as The Chameleon, Ke Huy Quan as Han, and many more. All of them did a spectacular job. The visuals were beautiful as well. These two areas are truly what helps the film shine. The action is almost there, but coming off the amazing action and fight scenes in Kung Fu Panda 3, the drop in quality is evident here and there. We’ll see if Kung Fu Panda 5 comes to fruition. If it does, I hope they go back and evaluate what made the first 3 movies so lovable and get back on track.