Is Kung Fu Panda 4 OK for Young Kids? What to Know Before Seeing the Animated Sequel (2024)

Kung Fu Panda is back with another playfully action-packed adventure.

This Friday, 16 years after the original film, Kung Fu Panda 4 hits theaters, bringing back Jack Black's lovable Dragon Warrior bear, Po.

The new entry, which continues to pack the punches and puns, is geared to kids, of course, but contains some mildly scary moments.

Like the past three Kung Fu Pandas, this one is rated PG. This time it's described by the MPA as having "martial arts action/mild violence, scary images and some mild rude humor."

Read on for some of the moments parents might want to be aware of before bringing their young kids to theaters. (Warning: This article contains spoilers for the film.)

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There is cartoonish violence throughout

The fourth Kung Fu Panda film contains as much action as its predecessors, all involving animals with different martial arts styles. There's no blood, and most of the fight scenes are brief.

One fight sequence is shown in silhouettes, there's a bar-brawl style showdown, a climactic face-off with the main villain, and three child rabbit characters chant "more violence" at certain points.

"I think it’s the funniest of the four, and it’s action-packed,” star Black told reporters at the film's recent premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone just kills it, and it’s so fun to be back. ... It’s really exciting to be back on a horsey blowing people’s minds again. I can’t wait for everyone to see it."

There are lots of weapons

Lots of weapons, including swords and knives, are used in the fight sequences and are frequently onscreen, though there is never any blood or clear stabbing, nor guns. Characters are also hit on the head with various objects.

There are implied deaths and peril

In one scene, Awkwafina's grifter character Zhen plays dead and Po (Black) initially believes it. She quickly wakes up and teases him.

During some of the fight sequences, some characters are knocked out and some are thrown off cliffs into the abyss. There are several moments when protagonists hang on for their lives while dangling over cliffs.

There is a menacing villain

Each Kung Fu Panda movie has its own scary villain. In this film, Viola Davis voices the tiny yet formidable Chameleon. She can shape-shift into larger animals and is on a mission to acquire fight skills from the spirits of defeated villains from past films.

The Chameleon is shown being threatening in multiple scenes, pushing people off ledges and reveling in being bad. For the climactic fight, she morphs into a gigantic monster that's a combination of several animals.

Speaking on a different role (in The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Davis told PEOPLE that she enjoys playing a villain because "I get to show people a different part of myself."

"I think that people see me as nurturing and kind, and I'm all those things, I'm shy, I'm introverted. To just get out of my comfort zone, to just be sort of uncomfortably just fun and evil. The scope of it was a joy for me," she said.

There are brief suggestive jokes

Some of the puns and gags act as playful innuendos that will likely go over the heads of children. When Po and Zhen are chased through a town by bulls, Po says, "That's a lot of bull."

Another character, who is a fish, is said to "drink like a fish" and is shown at a bar being served a beverage. Later, someone questions if the fish character "should be driving" as he captains a ship seemingly while drunk.