The Kung Fu Panda series has always had a delightfully unpretentious style. The premise is only three words. Panda …… knows kung fu. It’s been eight years since the last film and fifteen years since the first, but nothing has changed. It’s still about a panda, and it still knows kung fu. It’s beautiful… and funny… the premise… but there’s a small problem. Eight years ago, Kung Fu Panda 3 ended the hugely popular trilogy. The mileage limitations of four films and a three-word premise began to show. It’s never a good sign when a team mimics past victories with past enemies.
Thus, as soon as Kung Fu Panda 4 opens, the supernatural force of Snow Leopard Tai Lung, played by Ian McKessin, makes a comeback and once again threatens local dominance. Only, things aren’t what they seem. You see, the new Big Bad is a shape-shifting chameleon witch who goes by the name of “Chameleon” (Viola Davis). The reappearance of the big dragon, then, was just a trap to lure Bo (Jack Black), the Dragon King. Of course, the trap succeeds, not least because Bo wants to distract himself from his own fate.
Upon returning to the Valley of Peace, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) instructs Po to choose his Dragon Successor. It’s time for Po to be promoted to spiritual leader, the highest rank in all of kung fu. He doesn’t want the job – “Dragon Master” is a much cooler nickname – but 94 minutes isn’t enough. The main candidate for Po’s successor is newcomer Precious, a vicious fox voiced by the increasingly common Okafina. You may remember that a long time ago, Angelina Jolie’s tigress once wanted to take over Po’s job. Really, really, really wanted to. However, Okafina was much cheaper than Jolie. As a result, the Fast and Furious Five brothers are just silent cameos here. No Jackie Chan, no Andy Lau, no Seth Rogen. Pity.
All in all, it’s a surprisingly tedious episode, with Bo and Jenny taking a long time to trek to Juniper City and the Chameleon Tier. But that’s not to say the episode wasn’t tightly plotted. When things move slowly, elaborate scenes can speed up the pace considerably. There’s plenty of farce – especially the bull in the china shop – and the fight in the tavern is particularly entertaining. As for the set pieces, Kung Fu Panda 4 may not feature DreamWorks’ more modern, flashy interiors like Puss in Boots, but it’s richly textured.
Blake and Okafina proved to be at least a perfect pairing, and they were equally as funny as they were wonderful in the script. Neither of them challenged their usual shtick, but, oh, they did it well. Davis is also strong, but wasted. She’s promising as the chameleon, but not nearly enough compared to the series’ evil predecessors. McShane (McShane) has half the team, but the threat here is double. It’s not because the work is done better, but because the presentation is more organic. Chameleon is a pawn in a narrative arc that lacks creativity and vigour. The key message here is to see change as a necessity of life. Perhaps you can see the irony in that. It’s the same old, same old.
