‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ parents guide: Is the sequel appropriate for kids?

Even taking Kung Fu Panda 4 out of the equation, parenthood is already hard enough — at least, that’s the rumor. Some of us never had kids, and we eat handfuls of shredded cheese and beer for dinner and we go to bed whenever we feel like it. 

But for those of you with smaller versions of yourselves running around, there’s a borderline unimaginable list of potential traumas from which to shield your precious young ones. Bullying. Stray dogs. The slim-but-not-nonexistent chance that they’ll be seated next to Lauren Boebert at a Beetlejuice matinee. Then along comes Kung Fu Panda 4, raising more questions than answers about how appropriate it is for children. Sure, the first three movies were made specifically for little kids, but so were the characters that inspired Riverdale and the DCEU. Is this another aged-up gritty reimagining of a beloved cartoon franchise? Is the violence too violent? Do we, to put it bluntly, finally get to hear Po drop a hard F-bomb after getting kicked in the solar plexus?

Kung Fu Panda 4‘s rating, explained

The question of whether or not Kung Fu Panda 4 is appropriate for kids, like the question of whether or not Harlan Coben’s murder mystery thriller Fool Me Once is appropriate for kids, can only be answered with another question: How awesome are the kids we’re talking about?

The good and impartial folks at the MPAA, whose job it is to yuck kids’ yum by mandating how many swears they’re allowed to hear in a given 90-minute period, urge caution. They’ve slapped a PG rating on Kung Fu Panda 4 – not the same sort of PG rating that Jaws or Poltergeist got, but still, a PG rating. Per the MPAA, a PG rating suggests that children watch with “parental guidance,” as the film “may contain some material parents might not like for their young children.” In the particular case of Kung Fu Panda 4, “Martial arts action/mild violence, scary images and some mild rude humor” are listed as the film’s potential problem areas, so no, none of the characters reenact Trainspotting, but they can be expected to punch each other, and get scared by the bad guys.

In short, if you’re responsible for the kind of kid who tries to recreate the fight scenes from TV by crane- kicking the family basset hound, this movie might be one to wait on for a couple of years. If, however, your children are made of sterner stuff, or even if you just don’t like your dog very much, Kung Fu Panda 4 is a perfectly acceptable way to kill an hour and a half with the little ones.

Kung Fu Panda 4 hits theaters on March 8, 2024, and is expected to be available to stream on Peacock once it ends its theatrical run.