Kung Fu Panda 4: A Roundhouse to the Franchise

image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

WGHS students and teachers offer mixed reviews of Kung Fu Panda 4, which came out on March 8th, 2024. Po goes on an adventure to find a new dragon warrior, while battling an evil shapeshifter, the Chameleon. 
by Entertainment Team (Cheyenne Seagraves, Robert Arizmendi, Lochlan Chastain, Chloe Fankah, Danija Thomas, Dayla Wilson)

​English teacher Mr. Walker gives his thoughts, “Overall, it was an amusing and entertaining movie. I didn’t think it was as good [as the first one].” He continued to say it was short of ideas and they stretched it a bit.

The first one is easily his favorite because it was an interesting idea. “I think it taught a moral lesson that is primarily to children, and I remember taking my children there and thinking: ‘Hopefully they got the message that was coming through.’ 

He doesn’t really have any favorite villains from the movie, but he stated, “If any, I’d say the white leopard, Tai Lung… simply because his power is so overwhelming, and his fighting skills are so good. He has that sort of mystique and aura about him. He positively glows.” 

He thought it interesting the way that they had so many villains just making an appearance, he said it was almost like a cameo role.

“I think I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot, and I don’t know whether it’ll go on, because we might have, you know, Kung Fu Panda vs. Rocky. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, so I suppose it probably met my expectations.”

Mr. Walker was disappointed about the Furious Five not being in the movie. “As they included all the villains, I thought it would be more appropriate for them to have included them to remind the viewer just who the good guys were and where it all came from,” he finished. 

image courtesy of IMDB.com

Ryleigh Fox (Senior) watched this movie with her boyfriend, and she says it was funny and had really cool fight scenes. “My favorite scene was when Po was letting Zhen fight the shapeshifter so that she could build her own independence and confidence.” She explained, “The first Kung Fu Panda [is my favorite] because it has the best villain and better storyline.” 

Ryleigh says she didn’t really like this too much because it seemed kinda lazy. They wanted to stick to one thing happening and only pay attention to Zhen, the side character. “I like the Kung Fu Panda movies, [and] saw the trailers and heard the hype going around for this movie, so I had to watch it as soon as I could,” she adds.

Tai lung is also her favorite villain because he had a lot of power. “I really liked how he acknowledged when he thought Po was a mistake and took it back when he saw how Po handled the situation.” She continues, “It shows his character isn’t just an evil villain seeking power, but one where he is willing to see and accept the truth.”

Ryleigh says this movie met her expectations, “I didn’t expect anything too crazy because it was the fourth movie of a series, but it didn’t have a bad story. The fight scenes and humor weren’t bad at all, so there really wasn’t anything to hate about the movie.”

She ends by saying it was kind of weird not having [the Furious Five] be a part of [the movie], but she thinks they were trying to focus more on Po choosing the next Dragon Warrior. She continued to say, “It did feel like they directed all of the attention to Zhen’s character development which got a little predictable at times, but the development of Po’s character was a good addition to the movie.”

Luke Blanchard (Senior) liked the movie and said it was good, even though it was boring at first. He saw the movie on Monday, August 12. This was the worst movie of all the movies in his opinion. “My favorite Kung Fu Panda movie is the first one because it was the most entertaining,” he stated.

image courtesy of NBC.com

​He continued, “I saw the movie because the trailer looked cool. I was a little surprised because I would like to see [Furious Five] in the movie because I feel like they are one of the staples in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.” He also says that Tai Lung was his favorite villain.

He finished by stating that his expectations weren’t very high and continued, “[I think] it’s going to be the final story of Po being the dragon warrior.”

Alyssa Baldwin (Sophomore) says the movie was too predictable. “This movie is probably the laziest one they worked on, not my favorite Kung Fu Panda.” Her favorite one was the first one, “…Because it's just funny and the original is always [the] best.”

Alyssa watched it with her little brother, and they both agree that Tai Lung was the best villain, “He was the most ferocious of them.” Alyssa was also disappointed that the Furious Five were not in the movie. She says the movie just wasn’t the same without them.

Overall, Kung Fu Panda 4 had mixed reviews, mostly negative. Most people who watched the movie said their expectations were not met. Both students and teachers at Walnut Grove agree that the movie was a bit lazy, and the story line was too far from the original movies. Many were disappointed by the fact that the Furious Five did not have much presence in the movie. Kung Fu Panda 4 truly was a roundhouse to the franchise.

​​The entertainment team rates this move 3.2/5 pandas.