Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight’ On Netflix, Where Jack Black Comes Back As The Roly-Poly Warrior

Is it a big deal that Jack Black is back voicing Po in a new Netflix Kung Fu Panda series? Definitely; he hasn’t done the previous two series and his presence signals that this story might be back to basics for the furry big guy. Read on for more.

KUNG FU PANDA: THE DRAGON KNIGHT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: For what seems to be the umpteenth time, we hear a quick version of how Po (Jack Black), a dumpling-driven panda, became a Dragon Master.

The Gist: Po seems to be living a peaceful life with his noddle-slinging dad Mr. Ping (James Hong), and he’s preparing to go on a food tour of China, eating noodles and dumplings and greeting his fans. His goal is to get to a village with a “fat gobs” restaurant run by a woman named Pei Pei (Amy Hill). When he gets there, he’s greeted by a throng of fans, so many that he can’t get to Pei Pei’s restaurant and he’s starving.

When he finally gets there, he’s waiting for his fat gobs when a ruckus occurs outside. Two weasels, Veruca and Klaus Dumont (Della Saba, Chris Geere), are determined to steal a powerful glove called “The Gauntlet”. Po eventually hears the ruckus and bounds out to defend the village, but misjudges the power of the Gauntlet and accidentally destroys the village when he captures it in the battle, and even though he chases the weasels, all he’s able to come away with is the thumb.

But, by then, not only is the village destroyed, but so is his reputation. When he returns home, Mr. Ping tells him that his Dragon Master title is being revoked.

During his battle with the Dumonts, Po encounters a mysterious-looking knight he thinks is helping them. But when the knight comes looking for the Dragon Knight she heard about, he finds out that Wandering Blade (Rita Ora) came all the way from England to battle against the Dumonts; they will wreak havoc on the world if they use the Gauntlet and other dangerous jewels. Po wants to join her in her quest, but all she can see is the bumbling panda; Po so wants to get his reputation back, he’ll do anything to convince her he’s worthy.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Of course, The Dragon Knight is the latest in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, which includes 3 movies, a number of shorts and specials, and now 3 TV series. This is the first of the TV series to have Black playing Po.

Our Take: With the return of Black, who is also an executive producer along with Peter Hastings and Shaunt Nigoghossian, the Kung Fu Panda franchise gets back to much of what made the original 2008 film so appealing. Even though Po is no longer the underdog he was in the original film, he’s now been humbled by what happened when he battled the Dumonts, and it looks like he’s going to try to rebuild his reputation from scratch, with the help of the Wandering Blade.

While Mick Wingert did an admirable job as Po in the other two series, Black brings a degree of anarchic energy to the rotund warrior that was hard to duplicate. He’s adept at giving Po that degree of confidence that shines through despite his stumbles and fumbles, all the while staying relatively down to earth — and always focused on his next meal.

It’ll be fun to see the eager-to-please mania of Po playing against the restraint practiced by the Wandering Blade. The jury is still out on whether Ora can pull off the voice role and if she can hang with Black, even if the two of them aren’t doing their voice work at the same time. But the idea is likely that the Blade will help Po focus and Po will help Blade loosen up.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is rated TV-Y7, and that sounds about right as far as what age would appreciate it: 7 and up.

Parting Shot: Blade leaves before Po wakes up. He sees she’s gone and yells “Nooooo!” When Mr. Ping asks what’s wrong, Po says, “I lost something… and I’m gonna find it!”

Sleeper Star: Oh, we will give this to James Hong in whatever he’s in. Hong has been making Mr. Ping a goofy delight since the first movie 14 years ago.

Most Pilot-y Line: Blade gives her full knightly name, and Po responds: “I am Po! That’s all I got right now… title pending.” Not sure why. but that line isn’t as funny as it should have been.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is a back to basics story for Po, which makes the fact that Black is back doing his voice all the better.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.