Kung Fu Panda 4 follows the new adventure in the life of Po who has to deal with another nemesis before choosing his successor along the way. The story here is a fun adventure although it isn’t as sharp as its previous three parts. Upfront if I were to rank this part then it would be at number 4 in the 4th film of the film franchise. The reason here is that the story, although good doesn’t quite utilize the powers of the antagonist while also contriving the overall message of the film(which was relevant and nicely done but needed that finishing kick). But what works with the story is the journey itself which has its doses of humour packaged in a screenplay standing at just over 90 minutes. 

The drama begins with the reintroduction of an erstwhile nemesis of the protagonist just to set the tone of the events to follow. Soon enough, you are introduced to the protagonist, our cute little dumpling Po who is the toast of the valley in which he resides. Yet, an early conflict in the drama is introduced when Master Shifu coaxes him to prepare his successor in order for Po to advance in life, much to his dismay. This, while he encounters a new character in the franchise Zhen who familiarizes him with a new threat, The Chamaleon who is out to destroy the valley and attain the powers of Po. Does Po manage to stall her? 

The proceedings here are entertaining and there was an instant smile on my face throughout. But the one thing that this film was lacking was the magic of the earlier installments. And that had got to do with the presence or rather the absence of the antagonist in most parts of the runtime, particularly in the first half. There were only bits of her shown which didn’t quite warrant the threat that she posed while the focus remained on the journey between Po and Zhen and the warm and playful camaraderie which they share. On the bright side, there are a lot enjoyable moments on the actual journey as you get to know some facts about Zhen and her origin. 

I must admit that some parts of the drama reminded me of the Hindi films Pathaan(remember the interval sequence culmination?) and Welcome(remember the finale act that itself was inspired from a Charlie Chaplin film?), which I personally took as a homage and contributed to the humour of the film for me(yeah, I know it wasn’t intentionally integrated😂). A part of the problem is also in the simplicity of the events in the second half that don’t quite hold the conflict together while only looking to get to the resolution as soon as possible. As a result, the little relevant messaging and pearls of wisdom had a reduced impact too, something that ought to have been equated better. This is not to say that the writing is bad, it was quite fun to witness but I felt that the drama was particularly catered to a specific age demographic(read : kids) whereas the previous films were more universally appealing. The finale fight sequence is decent but never quite looked as threatening, contrary to the powers of the antagonist. These were a few flaws along the way that hindered in the screenplay eventually becoming a worthy successor, although I still had a good time witnessing it, independently speaking.