There are more villains in Kung Fu Panda 4, but the Fantastic Five are missing

We had to wait many years for Po, the protagonist of the saga Kung Fu Panda, will return to cinema screens. Only eight years passed between the first and the third, the same amount of time for it to arrive Kung Fu Panda 4. It may not have been for lack of ideas, nor because they didn’t trust the film with the voice of Black Jack it couldn’t work.

After Po (voice of Jack Black: look at the billboard because there are rooms that show the original version) is chosen to become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, his mentor and teacher Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) explains to him that he needs to find and train a new Dragon Warrior.

But Po doesn’t like this new title and prefers to continue as a Dragon Warrior.

But, yes, there has to be another one, but for the film to begin, he meets a thieving fox, Zhen (voice of Awkwafina) who tells him that there is an evil witch, the Chameleon (Viola Davis). Chameleon, who is precisely a chameleon and can magically transform into whoever he wants, summons all the evil masters that Po defeated and who were in the spirit realm.

So yes, it’s as if in the absence of a single villain (the sorceress) there are all the above, and Po embarks on a journey to fight her.

With all of this, fans will be wondering: what about the Furious Five?

It may be for budget reasons, but the characters we are referring to are not there. Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen and others lent their voices. For those accompanying children and who have not seen the three previous films in the saga, it is not relevant because they can still understand the plot.

It’s just that director Mike Mitchell (The Great Lego Adventure 2, Shrek 4: forever AND Troll) wanted to focus more on Po, which probably explains why he left out the Furious Five.

Yes, there’s Po’s adoptive father, the goose Ping (James Hong), and his biological father, the panda Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), who worries about Chameleon’s cruelty. And of course they will come, in their own way, to your aid.

But yes, sometimes there will be a certain nostalgia in this new adventure which has Jack Black’s signature humor. The film has many gags and action sequences.

The fact that Po, having already mastered his abilities, becomes the spiritual leader allows the story to explore themes of legacy and passing the torch.

Is the saga over?

The twist towards the end was quite predictable, and it’s also true that many of the best gags were in the trailer…

Since there is no post-credit scene, we don’t know, but the fact is that the boys can leave the room before going to the bathroom… But they would miss the cover of Baby, once again (1998, by Britney Spears) sung by Tenacious D (Jack Black’s band) during the closing credits.

“Kung Fu Panda 4”

Action comedy/Animation. United States/China, 2024. 94′, ATP L. From: Mike Mitchell, Stephanie Stine. With the voices of: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman. Rooms: Hoyts Abasto, Cinemark Palermo, Cinépolis Recoleta and Pilar, Showcase Belgrano, Haedo and Norcenter.