KUNG FU PANDA 4

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The film opens in a mine operated by a herd of rams. One of them is met by the terrifying appearance of the long-dead Tai Lung (Ian McShane). He proceeds to attack and destroy the mine, forcing the rams to flee. Tai Lung then boasts that nobody can stop him now, not even the Dragon Warrior.

In the Valley of Peace, Mr. Ping (James Hong) and Li Shan (Bryan Cranston) are running Ping’s restaurant together, but Ping is worried about where Po (Jack Black) is. The Dragon Warrior is fighting a flying stingray by the lake, taking to the skies to defeat his new foe. Po manages to beat the stingray and save three piglets that it ate.

Po returns to the Valley, where Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) tries to talk to him about something important. Po instead goes to the opening of a new restaurant based off his heroic exploits, but Shifu insists on speaking to Po. They walk to the Jade Palace, where Shifu informs Po that he must train a new Dragon Warrior so that he can become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. Po is made to watch several candidates show off their skills, but he doesn’t want to pick anybody other than himself. Shifu then has Po meditate so that he can get ready to find a successor.

Moments later, Po spots a fox named Zhen (Awkwafina) sneaking into the Hall of Heroes. He catches her trying to steal something before he tries to use Oogway’s Staff of Wisdom to fight her. Zhen uses her own sneaky tricks to knock Po on his butt and try to swipe the Staf, but the Dragon Warrior prevents her from escaping and has her arrested.

While escorting Zhen to prison, Po is met by the rams, who all frantically tell him that Tai Lung has returned. Po is shocked but goes to investigate the mine, finding that Tai Lung’s paw prints change to smaller ones in the snow. Po goes to Zhen’s cell to ask her what she knows, and she informs Po that this is the work of a shapeshifting sorceress known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis). Zhen convinces Po to let her free so that she can help him track down The Chameleon, even though Shifu thinks trusting a thief is a bad idea.

Word of The Chameleon spreads to the Valley and causes everyone to grow fearful. Ping and Li both try not to worry for Po until they both break down and admit they are scared for his life, so they work together and go on their own adventure to help their son.

In Juniper City, several crime bosses discuss their frustration in having to give a large portion of their earnings to The Chameleon. They are then terrified to learn that she is among them in disguise before revealing herself. As a result of the disrespect she feels she is getting, Chameleon shapeshifts into an elephant and pushes one of the bosses down the stairs before upping the percentage of their earnings.

Po and Zhen come close to Juniper City but have to cross a large lake to get across. They enter the Happy Bunny Tavern to find a bunch of thuggish animals there. While Po is looking for a way to get to the city, Zhen plays mahjong with the patrons and wins their earnings before ordering a ton of food. It is then discovered that Zhen cheated, prompting the tavern’s manager, Granny Boar (Lori Tan Chinn), to send the thugs after Po and Zhen. This causes a problem since the tavern is teetering over the edge of a cliff. Po and Zhen fight their way through the crooks, with Po utilizing the Staff with a powerful blast, before they fall out the tavern window and onto a boat operated by Captain Fish (Ronny Chieng), who lives inside his seagull mom’s mouth. They proceed to take Po and Zhen to the city.

Upon arriving, Po finds out that Zhen is a wanted criminal, and he gets arrested along with her. She quickly breaks them out, leading to the guards chasing the two of them through the city before Zhen sneaks them to an underground part of the city that she calls “The Den”, which is where she used to live. The leader, Han (Ke Huy Quan), is none too happy to see Zhen over her leaving them, and the rest of the inhabitants are a bunch of crooks who take pleasure in doing bad deeds. They are able to hide there for a brief while, where Po continues to try and teach Zhen how to do good, before Han kicks them back out.

Po and Zhen then make their way toward The Chameleon’s palace. They try to go through a back entrance quietly but accidentally wake up the Komodo dragon guards after Po farts. Then they have to go through a bunch of traps before they make their way inside. A cage then drops onto Po, and he tries to get Zhen to help prop it up with the Staff, only for Zhen to walk back and reveal that she was The Chameleon’s apprentice and tricked Po into giving her the Staff. She had taken Zhen in off the streets after seeing potential in her thieving skills. With the Staff, The Chameleon plans to open the Spirit Realm and steal the essence of the deceased kung fu masters and Po’s former enemies since she was denied the chance to practice kung fu due to her small size. With all the power she can steal, The Chameleon plans to expand her criminal empire across China.

Po breaks through the floor and fights more guards before making it to the bridge. The Chameleon disguises herself as Zhen to trick Po and throw him off a bridge, but Ping and Li arrive in time to save him after taking their journey all the way to the city. After Po expresses dismay over Zhen’s betrayal, his dads give him words of encouragement to keep going on the mission. They then see Chameleon’s guards bringing giant cages into the palace.

The Chameleon uses the Staff to open the portal to the Spirit Realm. Tai Lung is the first to come out, expressing surprise at Chameleon having acquired Oogway’s staff. He then proceeds to mop the floor with Chameleon’s guards, with the same ferocity he used in life, but The Chameleon uses her tongue to steal his essence and then use his own nerve attacks on him to trap him in the cage. She then proceeds to summon other villains like Lord Shen and General Kai.

Po runs across the bridge to try and get back inside the palace, only for Zhen to try and stop him from getting himself killed. They have a brief fight until Zhen hugs Po and expresses remorse for deceiving him. They reconcile, and then go with Ping and Li to the Den to convince Han and everyone else to join the fight, but they only agree because it means they get to do violence.

The Chameleon finishes stealing the essence of the villains and kung fu masters and imprisoning them, getting ready to head out and conquer the land. Outside, the crooks beat up Chameleon’s guards, allowing Po and Zhen to get back inside. When they make it back to The Chameleon, she shifts into the forms of everyone she has trapped and making Po fight his old nemeses once again before turning into a monstrous hybrid of everyone that flies Po and Zhen to the top. They bring her back down, and she shifts into an evil version of Po, meaning Po has to kick his own butt. The Chameleon ends up trapping Po, so he gives Zhen the Staff after he gets it back and convinces her that she has the power to use it. Zhen fights The Chameleon and uses the Staff to summon the same dragon chi energy as before, knocking her down. She goes for one more move, but Po takes the Staff back and whacks her over the head.

The kung fu masters are freed. Tai Lung approaches his nemesis and admits that Po is a greater warrior than he originally believed. Tai Lung, plus Shen, Kai, and all the other masters then give Po the fist-and-palm salute before Po opens the door to the Spirit Realm and sends everyone back, with Tai Lung grabbing The Chameleon and taking her with him.

Zhen joins Po, Li, and Ping in returning to the Valley of Peace where she is willingly turning herself in to go to jail and later turn over a new leaf, but Po instead escorts her to the Jade Palace so that he can train her to become the new Dragon Warrior. Shifu protests, which makes Zhen question if she really does have what it takes to become the Dragon Warrior, but Po tells her something that Ping told him, which is “sometimes the best dish comes from the most unlikely ingredients.” Zhen agrees to join Po, while Shifu goes to meditate near the peach tree, and it is shown that the tree he planted in the first movie (before Oogway died) is starting to grow.

During the credits, Po is joined by the Furious Five (who were off on their own adventures) to help train Zhen, though she ends up wiping out just like Po did when he started.

Po is told by Shifu that he must train a new Dragon Warrior so that Po can become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. However, a new threat arises in the form of The Chameleon, a shapeshifting sorceress seeking to steal the essence of past kung fu masters and villains so that she can expand her criminal empire across China after being denied the chance to train in kung fu due to her small size. Po teams up with a fox thief named Zhen to track down the villain. Meanwhile, Po's dads Ping and Li head off to help their son after fearing for his safety.

Po and Zhen make it to Juniper City, where they find The Chameleon's palace. After making it inside, Zhen steals Po's Staff of Wisdom, as it turns out she was always working with The Chameleon since she had taken Zhen in as a child off the streets due to seeing potential in her thieving skills. Po escapes from The Chameleon's trap but is almost killed by her until Li and Ping manage to save him after tracking him down to the city.

The Chameleon uses the Staff to open a portal to the Spirit Realm, bringing back Po's old enemies Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and General Kai, plus other kung fu masters before taking their abilities from them and keeping them prisoners. Zhen apologizes to Po for her deception, and they gather a group of thieves that she used to work with to infiltrate the palace and fight The Chameleon. She shifts into a monster, plus an evil version of Po, before Zhen uses the Staff to beat Chameleon. The villains and masters all show Po respect and gratitude for his heroism before he sends them back to the Spirit Realm, and Tai Lung takes The Chameleon with him.

Po brings Zhen back to the Valley of Peace since he has chosen her to become the new Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five return from their own adventures to help Po train her.