There is an unspoken rule about jokes in animated films that have anthropomorphic animals in frantic action sequences: at one point, a bull has to run through a china shop.

Since the Kung Fu Panda series of movies are set in a serene, small corner of ancient China, the joke about the china shop, and the bull twinkle-toeing around delicate cutlery, hits more than one note.

See, Kung Fu Panda 4, which DreamWorks pictures head Jeffrey Katzenberg wished would lead the next trilogy, is a delicate movie. Like the china in the shop, it is prone to break by the mere idea of heavy-handedness.

The animated film, playing now in cinemas across Pakistan, is meek, generic entertainment that keeps its limited budget in check (the film was made in $85 million — typically, big budget animations are made in twice that amount).

Kung Fu Panda 4 makes for what one can call ‘agreeable entertainment’ within its limited budget. You nod your head at what the film has to offer, which is not a lot

The film, therefore, is an exercise in restraint — which by the way is one of the ideas floating in the movie — so, out go celebrity actors Seth Rogen (he has one scream in the film), Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and David Cross, who voiced the Furious Five champions that once trained Po, the Kung Fu Panda.

Replacing them are Awkwafina, Viola Davis and Ke Huy Quan, and returning voices are Dustin Hoffman (as the wise and very much retired master Shifu), Ian McShane (as Shifu’s long-dead pupil-turned-adversary Tai Lung), Po’s birth and adopted fathers (Bryan Cranston and James Hong, a panda and a crane, respectively) and, of course, Jack Black as Po.

Speaking of Po: it is time for him to retire as the dragon warrior of the land, find a successor and live a life of wisdom. Po’s heart, still young and restless, doesn’t yet accept the idea and, as expected, wisdom is still a few decades away from his brain.

Fortunately, he is distracted soon enough by a ninja fox (Awkwafina), who has stolen one of the ancient artefacts he safekeeps to stop a shape-shifting villain with magical powers (Viola Davis). Most of the film, from then onwards, jumps, kicks and tumbles through recycled jokes and predictable plot points.

Honestly, though, the meek, unimaginative, visibly-low-in-budget, non-confrontationist film, like the bull in the china shop, delicately avoids notions that would incite uproar in any corner of the world for anyone watching it.

Kung Fu Panda 4 makes for, what one can call, “agreeable entertainment.” You nod your head at what the film offers — which is not a lot — and munch popcorn. A few minutes into the movie, you know what you’re getting, nothing more and nothing less. One doesn’t lose brain cells, nor gains wisdom like Po, no matter what the film promises in the climax.

The kiddies will love it, because the film is designed not to fly over their heads, and so might the parents, because it doesn’t insult their intelligence. Overall, that’s a fine deal if you ask me.

Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Darren Lemke, and directed by Mike Mitchell, with co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, Kung Fu Panda 4 is rated PG for cartoony violence brought about by cute furry creatures

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 31st, 2024