On March 8, DreamWorks Animations pushed their much anticipated “Kung Fu Panda 4” movie into theaters after fans did not hear from the series for eight years. 

“Kung Fu Panda” is a TV/movie series that originally started in 2008. The story follows a big panda named Po who unexpectedly becomes a kung fu master in a made-up version of ancient China where animals can talk and do martial arts (kung fu). At first, everyone just sees Po as “that fat panda”, and do not believe in his ability to become the Dragon Warrior, even Po himself. Po, throughout the series, proves everyone wrong and shows he is capable of fulfilling his destiny. 

People should watch the latest iteration of “Kung Fu Panda”  if they want to receive some nostalgia after the 16 years the series has been released. Viewers in the age range of 6+ to 100 will enjoy the film, as the series keeps it family-friendly with its humorous scenes and lines, while also delivering an epic fighting environment.

The story line in the fourth film was pretty good, especially after not seeing or hearing from the series in awhile. People do not necessarily need to know the “lore” to enjoy the movie, but it surely would help to know some background information and context, as they are mentioned throughout the movie. The fight/battle scenes had a mixture of very good animation style, switching from the normal 3D to  some 2D action and stop-motion pictures.

The animation team paid great attention to the details of every scene, making sure the transition and background images were beautiful to the eye. 

The humor was pretty good, but some parts were a little corny, which is expected from the lead voice actor of Po, Jack Black. DreamWorks Animations crew still kept the style of the character’s emotional styles by portraying Po as the somewhat clueless, big, fat panda who is still kind-hearted. 

The scenes, however, felt a little rushed. It makes sense to rush them, as “Kung Fu Panda 4”  is a kid’s movie and most children do not have crazy long attention spans to take in the true detail of the scenes. Although perhaps the animation team was just lazy. The scenes were fascinating, showing that the animation team that developed the movie were committed to showing their best work. Some of the scenes with the storyline could have been extended to make the fourth film as phenomenal as all the others in the franchise such as the fighting scenes or parts where there were important buildup moments. 

While the attention to detail and fight scenes were epic, the storyline, humor, and timing left something to be desired.