'Kung Fu Panda 4' runs out of moves, but it's still good fun

After three death-defying adventures defeating villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (voice of Jack Black), is called upon by destiny and his master, Shifu (voice of Dustin Hoffman) to become the next spiritual leader in the Valley of Peace and relinquish the title of Dragon Warrior. However, when a sorcerer chameleon with the ability to shapeshift into any being (voice of Viola Davis) appears, Po must team up with an unlikely companion - a thief fox named Zhen (voice of Awkwafina), who just may end up being the right candidate to replace Po...

It's fair to say that 'Kung Fu Panda', as a creative force in the world of animation, is spent. The last movie was released in 2016 and more or less wrapped up the thin plots and sent the tubby panda off into the sunset with little in the way of a needed sequel. More than that, the notion of a kick-fighting panda had been wrung of any remaining laughs and jokes by then. Yet, here we are in 2024, and 'Kung Fu Panda 4' is still trying to throw shapes and make itself into a force to be reckoned with.

There's a far more paired-down cast this time around, with the Furious Five (that's Po's band of sidekicks voiced by Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, and David Cross) out of the way and probably out of budget. Instead, Po finds himself running the story with the help of Awkwafina's fox-ninja-thief-whatever and going up against Oscar winner Viola Davis, who plays a shapeshifting sorceress that can - conveniently enough - take the form of previous villains in the series. The story also ropes in Po passing over the title of Dragon Warrior to a worthy successor, with Dustin Hoffman's gravelly tones warbling through the beginning and end of the movie as Master Shifu.

For the most part, 'Kung Fu Panda 4' is relatively predictable stuff, and the action and choreography is exciting and vibrant. You could even read Viola Davis' character as a subtext for the oncoming AI apocalypse for animation; a faceless villain who is able to copy the moves and look of anything, thus rendering the years of training and mastered skills of Po useless. That may be giving it more credit than what is ultimately an agreeably mediocre animated sequel, but it's there nonetheless. For her part, Davis is clearly having a blast in the recording booth as she hams it up in every scene she's in. The great James Hong turns up as one of Po's two fathers - the other being Bryan Cranston - and gets some of the best laughs in the movie.

For Jack Black and Awkwafina, there's the useless hijinks and hilarity, but again, you get the sense that the best years of 'Kung Fu Panda' are in the rearview mirror and this is, when you come down to it, a victory lap and nothing more. When compared with something like 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish', which had no right being as good as it was for a sequel spin-off, 'Kung Fu Panda 4' is using the same moves, but the kicks and punches just aren't making the same impact. Nevertheless, it's still fun to watch.