★★

There’s always been something pleasingly unfussy about the Kung-Fu Panda franchise. It’s a three-word premise. A panda…does Kung-Fu. Eight years on from the last film – and fifteen since the first – nothing has changed. It’s still about a panda, he still does Kung-Fu. Fine. Funny, too. The premise, that is. There is a niggle, though. Eight years ago, Kung-Fu Panda 3 closed off a well-liked trilogy rather too well for its own good. Four films in and the mileage limitations of a three-word premise are beginning to show. It’s never a great sign when a franchise resorts to raking up past foes to emulate past victories.

So it is that Kung-Fu Panda 4 opens with a return for Ian McShane’s supernaturally powerful snow leopard, Tai Lung, once again threatening localised domination. Only, things are not quite as they seem. You see, the new big bad is a shape-shifting chameleon sorceress known only as ‘The Chameleon’ (Viola Davis). Tai Lung’s reappearance is, then, but a trap to lure in the Dragon Master himself, Po (Jack Black). Naturally, the trap works, not least owing to Po’s wish for distraction from his own destiny.

Back in the Valley of Peace, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) instructs Po to choose his successor as Dragon Master. It is time for Po to ascend to Spiritual Leader, the highest rank in all of Kung-Fu. He doesn’t want the job – Dragon Master is a much cooler moniker – but 94 minutes won’t fill themselves. Chief candidate for Po’s successor is newcomer Zhen, a fiendish fox, voiced by the increasingly ubiquitous Awkwafina. You may remember, way back when, that Angelina Jolie’s Tigress once wanted the job. Like, really, really wanted it. Awkwafina is, however, much cheaper than Jolie. Thus, the Furious Five enjoy a mere silent cameo here. No Jackie Chan, no Lucy Liu, no Seth Rogan. Pity.

All told, it’s a surprisingly dull plot that sees Po and Zhen trek cross-country to Juniper City and the Chameleon’s layer. That’s not to say it’s not well put together. Impressively choreographed set pieces do much to pep up the pace when things drag. There’s slapstick aplenty – not least some fun with bulls…in a china shop – while a tavern based fight proves particularly diverting. As for the backdrops, Kung-Fu Panda 4 may not follow the path of Puss in Boots in advancing to DreamWorks more recent – and dazzling – house style, but it’s a richly textured affair.

Black and Awkwafina prove a neat match at least, elevating a script leaden with as many gag misses as hits. Neither is challenged to stretch from their usual schtick but, oh, they do it so well. Davis, too, is strong but wasted. Her Chameleon has promise but isn’t a patch on the franchise’s nefarious predecessors. With half the lines, McShane enjoys double the menace here. That’s not owing to stronger work but more organic characterisation. The Chameleon exists as a pawn in a contrived narrative arc, one lacking in originality or verve. The key message here is the exaltation of change as a necessity in life. Perhaps you can see the irony. It’s same old, same old.

T.S.