Jack Black delivers in his role as Po as usual, with some great animation and solid jokes, funny moments, and the usual beautiful visuals. However, it couldn't make up for how much it lacked as far as pacing and finding its own footing as a story.

Following up from the 3rd movie this one really struggled to find its footing especially since the third film felt like a really solid conclusion. The story felt incredibly out of place and the main plot point of Po finding a successor really didn't help. Given that he is still in his prime, and despite the fact that Oogway didn't pick a successor until he was well beyond his prime (or possibly just super old in his case), made the dragon warrior cycle feel incredibly less of an epic, long lasting journey, and more of a temporary position. This alone being introduced so early in the film just makes you ask, why?

The fact that the Furious Five are no where to be found in this film hint that this might've been more of a rushed cash grabbing fan service, which is disappointing.

If this is to serve as the conclusion of Po's story and saga as Dragon Warrior, you are better off stopping at Kung Fu Panda 3. I give Kung Fu Panda 4 a 4/10.

I don't have a great recollection of the 2nd and 3rd films, but I still feel comfortable saying that this is the weakest of the bunch. Based on reporting, the budget for this entry was significantly reduced compared to the previous films ($85M vs $135/$150/$145), and you can tell. The animation is noticeably less detailed and the absence of the furious 5 was almost certainly a cost cutting measure. However, the lower budget isn't what drags the film down. In fact, I think it makes sense to push back against bloated animation budgets. Do we really think the primarily younger audiences are going to care about the graphical fidelity of the animal fur or how realistic the water simulations are? I think studios are realizing that there are diminishing (perhaps even zero) returns at higher budgets. While I couldn't find any reported numbers, I expect that animation budget for Adam Sandler's recent Netflix film, Leo, was comparatively low, as they leveraged a stylized/simplistic style that still allowed for all sorts of visual creativity. The point being, creative and engaging visuals don't need to be expensive and ultimately it's the story/characters that do the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, that's where this film disappoints. The story is incredibly rushed, at some points feeling like they cut entire sequences (e.g., [spoiler]when Zhen gives Po a cryptic quote about footprints, we cut to him following foot prints through the snow, and then we cut back to Zhen following up on the cryptic quote[/spoiler]. The movie feels like it's going through the motions, relying heavily on call back material in lieu of anything more original.

It was already clear with _Kung Fu Panda 3_ they'd run out of story to tell, but now they've also run out of visual ideas. There's a general cheapness and disposability to this not found with previous installments. I rewatched the original trilogy not too long ago and I'd argue 2 & 3 are way stronger visually (both in terms of technical execution and imagination). Even the sound mix seems more than a little wonky to me (voices are generally too low in the mix; cheap echo effects pop up everywhere). Doesn't this all feel a little underbudgeted to anyone else? I understand cutting out the Furious Five for budgetary concerns, but bringing in Awkwafina instead isn't much of a creative fix. The story, which has never been a real strength of this series, doesn't leave much of an impression either. I doubt even the target audience will get much out of it with all the poor comedy, underdeveloped new characters and lack of interesting twists. The whole film feels straightforward to a fault and it's forgettable because of that. I still remember bits and pieces from the original trilogy and I just know that's never going to happen with this one. It’s still a small step above the best Illumination films, but very disappointing overall.

3.5/10

**Written by kindergartners using AI**

Even after more than 10 years, I still miss the first Kung Fu Panda movie as it was genuinely a masterpiece. The story, action, dialogues, character building, the tension between Tai Lung and Shifu, everything was fabulous. Well, I can go on and on about the first Kung Fu Panda, but this is about this unbearable trash Kung Fu Panda 4.

This movie is so bad that calling it boring would be a compliment. Out of nowhere, this Zhen character manifests. All the formula film scenes replicated, unnecessary fights, moving around without any purpose, cracking jokes (painfully unfunny) out of nowhere, and so on. I wanted to leave the movie after 20 minutes but then I thought maybe something good would happen. However, I was wrong till the end.

Pathetic direction, dialogue delivery and unfunny jokes started feeling irritating. No chemistry between Po and Zhen, and somehow they both are ready to die for each other. The Zhen character was uninteresting and annoying.

Just like contemporary movies where people get everything without any sacrifice or struggle, they managed to "Mary Sue" Zhen by making her the next dragon warrior.

I am glad that this movie ended this way. At least now I know I won’t be watching any more trash from this franchise.

If you loved the first Kung Fu panda, please stay away from this. Please save and cherish your good memories. You have been warned.

*I wanted to give it 1.5, but the sliding scale couldn’t select it, so I gave it 2/10.

This is probably my favourite of the franchised animated action-comedies, but I think we are now clearly running out of conceptual steam. With "Po" being told by "Master Shifu" that it is now time for him to move onwards and upwards - much to his chagrin - he must recruit a new dragon warrior so he can retreat to more cerebral pastimes. Luckily, though, the "Chameleon" has designs on obtaining all the powers from those now consigned to the nether realm and using the powers of Kung Fu to take over the world. "Po" has to be put his promotion on hold and along with his new-found, and useful, foxy friend "Zhen" try to thwart these heinous ambitions. Though there's plenty of action and self-deprecating dialogue the storyline really is too much of a recycled affair. Even the panda has been drawn into the multi-verse and to be frank, I'm a bit bored with that theme now - especially as it's never really accompanied by much in the way of jeopardy. Yes, this is an entirely predicable story that, in this case, misses out on the characterisations of his pals from the "Furious Five". It's watchable and the story well paced; there's some fun to be had in the wobbly, mountain-top, tavern but I think I've already forgotten most of it.