Kung Fu Panda: Le Chevalier Dragon

Po is undeniably an audience favorite and a spin-off series with Po voiced by the legendary Jack Black sounds like a good idea. But is it? The animation is poor with a few good-looking frame. You get used to it after a while and it's definetly watchable. Kids will like it.

The story is basically Infinity War. The trilogy was already perfect and it showed Po grow into a true master, and now this is what he acts like? It's however not the biggest deal since there's been Kung Fu Panda spin-offs before. It's a fun watch but nothing close to the movies, but kids will enjoy it.

I read other reviews, and while I do think some points are exaggerated in their quality, I understand where people are coming from. Dreamworks had hyped up Jack Black being on the project a lot, portraying this show as an unofficial Kung Fu Panda 4, when in reality this was just another generic kids show based on a Dreamworks property.

Are all Netflix Dreamworks shows bad? No, their other action shows like Kipo are one of my favorites as a matter of fact, but this show does little to stand out from others in its genre. The characters aren't doing anything for me despite having good backstories. Blade, for example, has a neat backstory regarding her brother, but her personality is the by-the books hardened and stoic type. Po is a lot less endearing and more annoying, but this isn't a complete character assassination (although the way he handles his status really irks me). As always, Mr. Ping is the best character.

The animation is pretty inconsistent. If the show aired 5-10 years earlier, it would be alright, but it didn't. The lighting and set design look really good and are the highlight visually. The new character designs suck and the villains especially look dog****. The actual animation feels off. IDK if it's because it's animated on twos or somsthing, but it felt less impactful.

Overall, a pretty average show that a 7 year old might like, but nothing beyond that. They could've executed this better.

"Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight" (S01, 11 eps, 24-mins, Netflix) is a disappointing sequel series to KFP: Legends of Awesomeness (2011-16). First, you'd think Jack Black voicing Po would be great, but I really prefer Mick Wingert who voiced Po in Legends and other KFP series and video games. In fact, Jack Black is an EP for this series and he seems to have banished Mick and the others that voiced the Furious Five. The only carryover character is Po's "father" Mr Ping still voiced by the same guy. Anyway, there's new villainess "Veruca" the weasel who's voiced with an annoying Cockney accent so you despise her even more. Though the series lacks supporting characters - only Luthera really, and lacks the "heart" of Legends, the animation is still excellent, and the story is pretty decent with a good hook for its sophomore season as Po continues his evolution from Dragon Warrior and Dragon Master to Dragon Knight.

I felt this was a major step back from the original films. Jack Black is great as ever but the rest of the cast just take this to a different level, in a bad way ... the original films had some seriousness to them with a great cast and were easy and very fun to watch as an adult. This feels like it should be on CBeebies with some of the voice acting and animations, as it seems more tailored for children rather than the audience that enjoyed the original films.

Also ... why have they made the Kung Fu Panda far less powerful? It really annoyed me during this that everything he learned from the films was lost!

Story progresses so slow that if you miss several of the middle episodes still it will create no impact on the storyline. PO is so strong in movies and here he's shown very weak and immature. Kids will definitely love it but as a kung fu panda trilogy fan I didn't liked it at all.