![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Kung-Fu-Panda-4-PIC.jpg?resize=620%2C348&ssl=1\")
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Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong> (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (martial arts action, mild violence, scary images, some mild rude humor)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mike Mitchell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Darren Lemke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 8, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, James Hong, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, Jimmy \u201cMr. Beast\u201d Donaldson, James Sie, Cedric Yarbrough.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Rating<\/strong>: **<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0My pre-viewing comment about Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong> consisted on one word: why? My post-viewing comment also consists of one word: WHY? Did anybody ask for a fourth movie featuring the rotund hero with a profound love for martial arts and food, dumplings in particular? Do we really need it? I say no on both counts, yet here we are.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0I\u2019m going to say up front that I didn\u2019t care for Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong>. That\u2019s not saying a lot because I\u2019m not a fan of the franchise in general. The previous three movies didn\u2019t do anything for me and neither did this one unless you count almost putting me to sleep. I admit it. I closed my eyes more than once during this computer-animated ordeal, but I was still lucid enough to realize I wasn\u2019t missing anything.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Now we come to the part of the review where I have to relive the experience by describing the plot. Thankfully, it\u2019s not that complicated. Our mighty hero Po (Black, School of Rock) has a new adversary, the shapeshifting Chameleon (Davis, The Woman King). She wants to get her paws on his Staff of Wisdom. She plans to use it to bring back all the villains banished to the Spirit Realm so she can steal their powers and….. ah, who cares?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0With the Furious Five away on other missions, Po needs a new sidekick. Enter Zhen (Awkwafina, Raya and the Last Dragon), a wily fox he first meets attempting to loot the temple. She\u2019s the one who alerts him to the Chameleon. She claims she can help him if he has her released from prison. He reluctantly brings her along on his mission to the bustling metropolis of Juniper City to stop the rotten reptile. They\u2019re followed by Po\u2019s two worried fathers, adoptive dad Ping (Hong, Big Trouble in Little China) and bio-dad Li Shan (Cranston, Breaking Bad).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0In addition, Po is going through a personal crisis. He\u2019s just been told by his master Shifu (Hoffman, Rain Man) that it\u2019s time to advance to the next level of his destiny and become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. This freaks him out because it means not being the Dragon Warrior anymore. He\u2019s tasked with finding a suitable successor. Who might that be? Take a wild guess.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0I\u2019m presently going through an existential crisis of my own. I\u2019m questioning whether or not I\u2019m the right one to review Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong>. Seriously, am I? It wasn\u2019t made for me. It wasn\u2019t made for anybody older than 10. It\u2019s been a long, long time since I\u2019ve been part of that demographic. I suppose 6YO me would enjoy it. Maybe that\u2019s how I should be looking at it, like the little kid I used to be as opposed to the grownup I am now. I can do that sometimes, but I wasn\u2019t able to this time. My inner child remained dormant throughout which brings me back to my original question. Am I the one to review Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong>? Probably not, but I can let parents know what they\u2019re in for.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls) and Stephanie Ma Stine, Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong> is basically recycled material with its tired plot and uninspired visuals. The computer-animation is just that, computerized animation. There\u2019s no apparent human input. It\u2019s colorful and zippy, but somehow still manages to fall flat. The story is predictable. It has plenty of voice talent, but most of them sound like they couldn\u2019t care less, not even Black who can\u2019t seem to muster up a whole lot of enthusiasm for this fourth entry in a series that should have stayed in hibernation. The only ones displaying even the remotest signs of life are Awkwafina- despite having played this same role (i.e. the wise-cracking sidekick) many times in many CA kids\u2019 movies (the most recent being last year\u2019s Migration)- and Davis who relishes the opportunity to play a cartoon villain. The jokes aren\u2019t especially funny, but I will admit to chuckling at a sight gag involving a bull in a china shop. Unfortunately, it goes by too fast to be fully appreciated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u00a0Now that\u2019s what I think of Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong>. All of it should all be taken with a grain of rice. If you ask a kid about it, you\u2019ll get a completely different answer. They\u2019ll say it\u2019s great. They don\u2019t care about small details like plotting and originality. They\u2019ll love the wild action sequences, slapstick humor and dumb jokes. They might also benefit from the message about not being afraid of change. In short, they\u2019ll think Kung Fu Panda 4<\/strong> is the best movie they\u2019ve ever seen. Fine, let them enjoy it. The parents tasked with accompanying them…. well, what can I say? Really, what? I have no idea. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Action-Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 94 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (martial arts action, mild violence, scary images, some mild rude humor)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mike Mitchell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Darren Lemke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: March 8, 2024 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animation","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Kung-Fu-Panda-4-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1051,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/1051"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Kung-Fu-Panda-4-POSTER.jpg?resize=620%2C981&ssl=1\")
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