★★

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.