The fourth entry in the hugely likable franchise arrives after an eight-year hiatus and a tsunami of spin-off content, including three TV series, four short films, and a Christmas special.
Since his big screen debut in 2008, Po, the chunky chop-socky hero voiced by Jack Black, has evolved from a fumbling dumpling addict into the fabled Dragon Master.
All good things must come to an end.
As the fourth film in the sequence opens, the perennially miffed Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) informs the unstoppable ursine that he must begin training a successor. Po, however, is reluctant to accept an apprentice or a promotion to the administrative-sounding Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
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Wisely eschewing the bloated family model that has choked Mission: Impossible and Fast and Furious, Kung Fu Panda ditches The Five to make room for such newcomers as belligerent baby bunnies (funny at first), Ke Huy Quan’s pangolin, and Zhen, an ass-kicking, wise-cracking wily fox voiced with verve by Awkwafina.
There are some good sight gags including bulls in a china shop and bumbling dad action from Bryan Cranston and James Hong.
Unhappily, co-directors Mike Mitchell (Trolls, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part) and Stephanie Stine (She-Ra And The Princesses of Power) do little to advance the visuals in the previously innovative animation series. The balance between humour and heart that defined the carefully calibrated earlier films is slightly off.
Viola Davis’s villainess The Chameleon is scantily written. Tellingly, her dastardly plan involves bringing back superior opponents and nemeses from previous films. The resurrection of Ian McShane’s Tai Lung will please the twentysomethings who grew up watching the films, but it equally makes one wonder why we aren’t watching another Ian McShane instalment.
These caveats and niggles ultimately don’t dent the magnanimous-natured enjoyment. A lesser Kung Fu Panda movie remains vastly superior to most mainstream animated features. Newer locations, including Juniper City and the criminal underworld that lies beneath the bustling streets, are fun to explore, even if there’s less skadoosh than we’re accustomed to.
