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Released on March 8 this year, Kung Fu Panda 4 has already grossed $176.5 million globally, making it a box office success. Despite coming out eight years after the last film in the series, the story is still a success for all audiences. But how does it stack up against the previous movies, and is it worth going to watch?
Without spoiling too much, the story focuses on Po’s journey to find the Chameleon, a shape-shifting sorceress who rules over Juniper City, the new setting for the movie. He’s joined by Zhen, also a new character, who helps him get to the city. The main conflict comes from Shifu urging Po to find a successor to be the new Dragon Warrior so he can focus on being a spiritual leader for the Valley of Peace.
Overall, the movie is decent and I enjoyed watching it, but it doesn’t stack up to the series’ other entries, which were much better. The new city they travel to seems like a knockoff of Zootopia and the main villain isn’t nearly as interesting as the previous ones. All of the villains in the first three movies had a connection to Po and mirrored him in some way, but this one is just a generic antagonist there to help the protagonists grow. Every plot twist can be seen from a mile away and some elements of the story are mentioned just never to be brought back up again. I can’t be specific because I want to keep this spoiler-free, but it’s just not as enjoyable to watch as the previous movies.
I don’t want to discourage anyone interested in seeing the movie from going to it, since if you like the Kung Fu Panda series you’ll still have fun watching it. However, anyone who’s not caught up with the series doesn’t need to hurriedly watch all the other movies to be caught up since the new one isn’t worth the effort. It’s only worth it if you want to be up to date on all the movies or if you’re in the mood to watch a fun and relaxed film with friends. If neither of those options applies to you, don’t bother. However, if you sit through the whole thing, you’ll be treated to a Jack Black cover of “Baby One More Time” by Brittney Spears, so pick your battles.
