Have you ever watched a movie and felt so underwhelmed right from the start? Well, that's exactly how I felt when I watched this one. The beginning was a drag, with Shifu telling Po that he needed to pass on his Dragon Warrior title to someone else. Not exactly the most exciting plot point to kick off a movie, right? And the way it ended just felt rushed.

To make matters worse, the fight scenes were disappointingly short, and Po hardly got to showcase his abilities. I was left wondering why the filmmakers didn't utilize his skills more. And what's up with Tai Lung's sudden decision to go back to the spirit realm? It just felt so unearned, especially since the film barely focused on him. And don't even get me started on Kai and Shen, who didn't even get to speak!

But it's not all bad news. The animation in the movie is simply stunning, and the new city looks gorgeous. And while Po's abilities may not have been used to their full potential, the fight scenes still managed to look decent. I have to admit, I did get invested when Po was betrayed by Zhen. It left me feeling shocked and kept me engaged until the end.

While I didn't miss the Furious Five, who were absent from this movie, it's hard to ignore the fact that certain aspects of the plot just don't make sense. Overall, if you're willing to lower your expectations, you might find the movie okay, but you might end up feeling disappointed so this is a decent movie.

I think the title of my review says it all. If I had to come up with a word to describe the film, it would merely be, "passable." I chuckled a couple of times and my kids (6 & 7) loved it. At the end of the day, I suppose that's money well spent. That being said, I am a huge fan of many DreamWorks franchises, including the first 3 KFP films, with the 3rd installment being the weakest of them, but still a good time. Compared to KP4, which didn't really add anything to the franchise, the 3rd film is a masterpiece. I found the pacing and the humor of KP4 all over the map. It felt like the film was rushing the audience along without time to really feel any of the emotions it wanted us to feel. It felt like a Saturday morning cartoon rather than a memorable addition to the KFP film canon.

So, in the end, I'm glad my kids loved it because I am promptly going to forget everything about this movie. When I think of KFP, scenes like Po finding inner peace in the ruins of his village in KFP 2 will always readily come to mind. I will continue to laugh at the jokes in the first 3 films, but even now I'm struggling to recall the best jokes of KFP4 and I just saw it not even an hour ago. The best, most enduring part of this movie is callback to villains of the previous films. Otherwise, it was one big colorful, fast-paced "Meh."

The kids will enjoy it though.

Man, I really wanted to love this one.

The Kung Fu Panda franchise is interesting because I really love the first two Kung Fu Panda movies as the stories, characters and thrills were really great. I found the characters to be engaging and are some of Dreamworks best movies. However, I thought the third one was okay and I have never seen the television series so I can't comment on that. With this sequel coming out after some time, there are some good aspects I like but even though I knew it might not be perfect, I still was left underwhelmed.

Think of Kung Fu Panda 4 like this. You hired writers who create new ideas and concepts that could have been good but ends up being uneven and at times, uninteresting. Write a story that lacks the uniqueness and charm of what made the previous ones amazing. Have new but uninteresting and annoying characters be given screen time and be provided with some really annoying voice performances. Explore some really really good concepts but not utilizing them well. Hire the filmmaker who is known for making Shrek Forever After, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked be in control. Then, bringing back previous characters that were beloved, yet felt more like nostalgia bait. That is Kung Fu Panda 4 for you.

It is simply really disappointing because the animation, designs, musical score, and Jack Black's performance are really good. Many of the animation models, colors and designs are unique and the voice performances from Jack Black and some of the other cast members are pretty good. Alongside with some of the fight and action sequences that are pretty well done, especially the scene where Po and shapeshifter Po were fighting which had some great visuals and editing.

It's obvious there is talent and passion behind this movie but the uninteresting narrative and missing charm and energy really fails to make it good. The humor isn't strong and the characters, while the character of PO is still fun, the new characters and the villain were really uninteresting, annoying and lacked chemistry. Alongside provided with some bad dialogue which made it difficult to really believe a single word from them.

Some of the lighting and presentation feels cheap, the direction is odd, the atmosphere is solid, and some of the pacing moments were a bit uneven.

I might sound cynical but I really wanted to like this one since I adore the first two Kung Fu Panda movies, but this was disappointing. I was hoping to be surprised like how Puss in Boot: The Last Wish did. But it didn't happen. Overall, it's not terrible and there are some strong moments that I did like. But this shows the golden age of this franchise is no longer the same.

EDIT: Having found out about the behind the scenes of the production, what a shame.