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KUNG FU PANDA 4

Name: KUNG FU PANDA 4
Item: KUNG FU PANDA 4
Author: Lillie Jaenchen

"Stopping the “Empress of Deception”"

Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

KUNG FU PANDA 4 begins with Po, the Dragon Warrior, learning he needs to appoint a successor to his role as protector of the Valley of Peace. Po meets a female squirrel named Zhen, who tells him of an evil sorceress called the Empress of Deception. They team up to find and stop her. The Empress is trying to steal Po’s Staff of Wisdom. She wants to use the staff to release Po’s former opponents from the Spirit World, steal their power and take over the Valley of Peace.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 is a funny, well-done animated movie. However, it has a strong Eastern Religion perspective. Characters talk to the “Universe”, and there are references to a Spirit Realm and to a Staff of Wisdom with a yin and yang symbol. KUNG FU PANDA 4 also has a very scary villain, who shape shifts into other characters. That said, there are some positive moral, redemptive themes. For example, KUNG FU PANDA 4 promotes repentance, forgiveness, trusting people, and caring for others more than yourself. In addition, one character gives up their villainous ways.

Content:

(PaPa, FRFR, O, BB, C, VV, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Mixed pagan worldview with some false religion such as a character tries to speak to the “Universe” (in place of God) and talks to his Inner Self, there are mentions of the spirit realm, there’s an “urn of souls,” a “Staff of Wisdom” has an Eastern yin and yang symbol, mitigated by some strong moral content with redemptive values such as themes of repentance, forgiveness, trusting people, and caring for others more than yourself;

Foul Language:

No foul language, but there are some jokes about passing gas;

Violence:

Multiple martial arts fighting scenes;

Sex:

No sex;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

Characters in a bar, jokes about a character drinking too much;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Lying and deception, but rebuked,

More Detail:

KUNG FU PANDA 4 stars Jack Black as Po, the unlikely martial arts master, who must find a successor to his role as the Dragon Warrior protecting the Valley of Peace, but must do one last battle when Chameleon, the “Empress of Deception,” tries to steal his Staff of Wisdom. KUNG FU PANDA 4 is a funny, well-done animated fantasy, but it has some scary villains and a mixed worldview with strong themes of Eastern religion combined with moral, redemptive themes of repentance, forgiveness, trusting people, and caring for others more than yourself.

Po finds out he needs to have a successor to his roll of Dragon Warrior in KUNG FU PANDA 4, but when an evil villain, The Empress of Deception is trying to steal his staff of Wisdom, Po has to fight back. KUNG FU PANDA 4 has a strong theme with Eastern Religion interwoven, along with characters talking to the “Universe” and very scary villains for younger audiences.

Po is told by Master Shifu that it is time he steps down and finds a successor. Master Shifu tells Po that when Po decides to step down and find someone, then Po will turn in to a Spiritual Leader in the Valley of Peace. Po is saddened by the fact he would not be battling villains and saving the day. When some potential candidates for Dragon Warrior come, Po cannot make a decision. He goes to a Cherry Blossom tree, to talk to the “Universe” and ends up hearing from his inner self. During this time, he finds out that someone is in the temple trying to steal some of the items in it.

Po enters the temple to find a squirrel named Zhen, but realize Zhen is trying to steal Po’s staff of Wisdom that he carries with him. The two fight and then Zhen tells him there is a Empress of Deception that is trying to get all of the land and all of the powers from the those in the spirit realm. Zhen convinces Po she is the only one to help him get to the Empress of Deception. Together, they go on a journey to try to stop the Empress, all the while fighting bad guys along the way.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 is a funny, well-made movie. The movie’s best part is its depiction of Po’s humor and kindness. However, the movie has a lot of dialogue to explain the story’s more convoluted elements. The plot itself isn’t convoluted, but the scenes and journey to get there uses a lot of explanation to explain all the movie’s Eastern Religious ideas.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 is filled with Eastern Religion where each character participates in Hindu and Buddhist practices. A big part of the story line is about the Spirit Realm, The Staff of Wisdom is a Yin and Yang sign, and characters talk to the universe, among other things. The movie has an extremely scary villain who shape shifts into other characters. On the positive side, however, KUNG FU PANDA 4 has some moral, redemptive themes of repentance, forgiveness, trusting people, and caring for others more than yourself. A redemptive subplot involves one character giving up their villainous ways. Finally, many characters may be scary for younger children.

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