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Avatar Generations and the newest Prison Break event are available now for free for iOS and Android devices, downloaded today from the App Store or from the Google Play Store, or you can download it directly from my link in the description. Kung Fu Panda is one of the best trilogies out there, and definitely one of Dreamworks' strongest. The one thing that sets them apart from so many other stories is their antagonists, specifically Tai Lung and Lord Shen, but after re-watching the third film, there is a noticeable drop off in quality for me, when comparing Kai to the two that came before him, and I want to get into why. It was always going to be a gargantuan task, to ask Kung Fu Panda to follow up not only Tai Lung, but Shen, who I believe to be the series' strongest villain. So I want to quickly look at what made Shen and Tai Lung such captivating, compelling villains, starting with Tai Lung. The Snow Leopard's introduction to the movie sets the stage for him. It grants him an aura, a near five minute long prison escape that is made possible by a single feather. In that moment you can see the years of hard work and dedication, and the natural talent that Tai Lung has, in contrast to Poe, and what shines most here is his ferocity. What makes Tai Lung, though, is that he has this harbored rage and his feeling of betrayal that he has kept for two decades, and when his backstory is revealed to us, his rage is somewhat valid and justified. But the important thing here is that his anger, his betrayal, is something that we can genuinely feel and in some cases relate to. And even more so, Tai Lung's story is tied to Poe's, the weight of expectations, the dedication to one's craft, and the burden of fate. These are all things that he and Poe share. Lord Shen is all about his cunning, his mind, his inventions. The way we meet Shen in this movie is through his large silhouette, in search of metal to try and take over China. But what makes Shen truly menacing is again his connection with Poe. Shen is the one Tai that Poe has to his past, and as this film deals with the Panda's lost identity, the peacock uses Poe's desperation and his trauma to his advantage. Shen gives us a reason to root against him, by directly being so manipulative and nasty to Poe. What we can feel and relate to in Shen's case is how he felt abandoned by his parents, how he felt unloved, that everything he did was to try and gain their approval. Shen felt so hurt that he wanted to take over China to prove them wrong. These ideas are things that we can relate to. Before getting into what went wrong for Kai, there were some good things done with the bull. He is still a good and fun antagonist. Tremendously voice acted by JK Simmons to match the bull's incredible design. He has these two massive horns, along with his size, made Kai the most physically imposing opponent that Poe had to face. On top of that, he is strong. He has a great weapon in the chain blades, and a truly great theme. However, it's his characterization that makes him the weakest of the three. Not to say that all villains should have some sort of sob story, but I do think that villains should invoke some sort of emotion from their audience. Whether that is sympathy, fear, anger, they need to hold some sort of weight or purpose. All we are told about Kai in this film is that he was once Ugui's brother in arms, and that he carried the injured tortoise to the secret panda village where they learned Chi, and suddenly he found the ability to take Chi away, and Ugui banished him to the spirit realm because of it. Never once are we told why he did any of it. We only know that 500 years later, he has come back for Ugui. To continue in that vein, Kai isn't as creative, manipulative, or charismatic as Shen, nor is he as motivated as Tai Long. We never understand why Kai changed. Why he wanted the power of Chi all to himself. This lack of driving force is evident in all aspects of his character. The jade warriors that he uses while they are a great touch and a new style meant that Kai for the most part was disconnected from the battlefield, and from the possible interactions that he could have had. Moreover, at the very beginning of the film, in Kai's very introduction, he already fulfills his goal. He beats Ugui. His betrayal of over 500 years was never built up to, nor did it ever really matter. His battle with Ugui felt a little bit like a throwaway, and that spills over to his battles with everyone else. We just don't have a reason to care about general Kai. Perhaps it was that Kai was already so far advanced ability wise than everybody else, given that he was able to defeat Ugui, or maybe it's because he had already achieved his goal, but Kai doesn't have that desperation, that fire, or that ferocity that Shen or Tai Lang had. To me, those moments when Shen and Tai Lang become grounded, where they contemplate why they are doing what they're doing, these are some moments that make them such good characters, and Kai never has any moment to match. And that goes back to the fact that Kai lacked an emotional connection with anyone living in the film. One that would really make us care about what he was fighting for. Kung Fu Panda is a series that likes to connect characters, especially thematically, and so much of this trilogy was about dissecting the theme of identity. The first film was about becoming the Dragon Warrior, assuming a new role, a new identity. Tai Lang felt that he was betrayed, that he was not given what he was owed, when Ugui denied him access to the scroll, and in becoming the Dragon Warrior. That that identity, that role that he worked his entire life to achieve, was taken away from him, and Shifu, who had adopted the Snow Leopard, taken him in like his own son, never once defended his son's character, his son's honor. And that was also tied to Poe stepping into this role without having the proper tools to do so, and yet believing in himself. Chen and Poe were connected, as the peacock was the one who killed his mother, and separated him from his family, from his identity. They were connected through the past, and through the ability to move on and live in the present, without vengeance or fear in one's heart, without letting the past define who he is and what he is. This film had no such connections between protagonist and antagonist. One interesting tidbit that this film introduced, which I thought there was room to really build upon, was the bond between Ugui, Kai, and Poe. This movie was about finding oneself and mastering oneself. The film states that in order to master Chi, one must master oneself, and you must know who you are. Kai has mastered Chi. The way he takes Chi is by reversing the exact hand movements that are required to give Chi. How did Kai figure out how to do this? Did he master himself? Does taking away other people's Chi cost him anything? Does it maybe corrupt his spirit? As the film asks Poe who he is, the film never asks Kai who he is, and we never learn who Kai is, and thus he never becomes a compelling opponent. Even if the bull turned out to be just an unrelenting force of nature that stalked Poe until he was finally able to master Chi and himself, even that could have been a powerful antagonist for the panda, but yet we were given nothing. Ultimately, we are never connected with the bull, who could have been the yang to Ugui's yin, and who could have really explored much more of Ugui's mystique and all of his different abilities, thereby connecting us to the dragon warrior and what it means to truly embody the spirit of the dragon warrior. This trilogy is often lauded as one of body, mind, and spirit. Tai Long being the body, Shen being the mind, and Kai being the spirit just falls a little bit flat for me. While it was enjoyable and it is a good and fun film, I just wish there was a bit more. Here's to hoping that Kung Fu Panda 4's villain, reported as the chameleon, will give us something new and exciting to watch.