Released on March 8, 2024, the anticipated fourth movie in the Kung Fu Panda franchise was put out for the public to see. In my eyes, there wasn’t too much marketing for the movie: both in advertisements online or on posters, as well in commercials, but perhaps I’ve been off of cable and not outside too much. I am not the biggest fan of the movie series; it has been a while since I’ve seen the original films, but I was excited to see it. Entering the theater, my family and I went to grab some popcorn and a drink, and headed to the screening room. We went through the immense amount of ads before the movie, and finally, the highly anticipated film began.

After Kung Fu Panda 3, Po earned the Staff of Wisdom from Oogway in the Spirit Realm. In the 4th movie, we learn it can call the spirit world and bring spirits to the present. Po is still a super celebrity in his home village and helps out his dads at their restaurant. While helping them, Master Shifu presents Po with a decision. Po needs to pick his successor for the role of Dragon Warrior now that Po controls the Staff of Wisdom. Po is reluctant to give up his position as he enjoys the role and the immense popularity it gives him. While thinking about what he wants to do, Po hears a commotion in the Jade Palace, where many artifacts are held. A very skilled thief was going around stealing the objects, and Po planned to stop them. They almost got away with stealing the artifacts and the Staff of Wisdom, but Po stopped them. After putting the thief in jail, scared citizens came to him, begging him to help as one of the previous villains, Tai Lung, was seen. The prisoner, named Zhen, actually knows what happened. The Chameleon, a skilled shape-shifter, disguised itself as Tai Lung and scared the Valley of Peace.

With the help of Zhen, she and Po left to find the Chameleon. After getting into a fight before being able to enter the city where the villain lies, Po and Zhen are able to catch a boat to the populous Juniper City. After moving through the city, Po finds out that Zhen is a wanted criminal, and after getting into a brawl with the police, Zhen brings the two down a tunnel to the undergrounds of the city, where many thieves lie. They stay there until it’s safe to go out. Back in the Valley of Peace, Po’s fathers are scared for him, and decide to leave in the night to look after their boy. Back in Juniper city, Po and Zhen make it to the palace, but not before Zhen reveals herself as a traitor. She brings the Staff of Wisdom to the Chameleon, who plans to use the staff to call upon the Kung Fu masters in the Spirit World and steal their skills. This would create the ultimate enemy for Po. Still feeling defeated after Zhen’s betrayal, Po intends to leave, but not after encountering his fathers, who want him to go ahead and fight for the staff. Zhen regrets her ways and comes back to Po, hoping to be forgiven. After allowing her to help, Po and Zhen go to the undergrounds and use the thieves to help get into the palace. They defeat all the guards, and after a huge fight where the heroes win. Po decides that Zhen should be his successor and train to become the Dragon Warrior.

This movie had amazing comedy and used music well to show suspense through parts of the film. After Jack Black’s amazing song “Peaches” in the Super Mario movie, Jack Black stunned me again with his rendition of “Baby One More Time,” by Britney Spears. Through the credits and Jack’s amazing song we see the training Zhen and Po are going through in order to be ready for their new positions. Some other aspects of the film that are my favorite are most of the scenes with Po’s dads. While they didn’t have much screen time, they did make me laugh most of the time they were on. Maybe it’s just my humor, but lots of things make me laugh, and their comedy was super funny. Even if it’s a children’s movie, most include some more mature jokes and being able to understand them makes it even funnier.

I think the plot of the movie was also super well written. Of course, it includes your classic villain, like in all the movies. But there were many super good plot points in this film. One such was the amazing plot twist where we learn Zhen was actually working for the Chameleon the whole time. I think it was really well put in, as I think everyone believed Zhen was being a helpful character. Another point in the movie is that we always root for Po. Whenever he’s put in a tough situation, such as when he was originally fighting Zhen or when he was fighting the Chameleon, the writers make it super easy to make the viewers want Po to win.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is definitely a 5/5 in my opinion. It has amazing comedy, great voice actors (love you Jack Black!), and I love the music used. The music created an amazing ambience during many scenes and made the film super enjoyable. It’s an excellent movie, and I definitely recommend everyone watch it, even if you haven’t watched the previous movies.