MovieChat Forums > Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Discussion > One thing I really disliked about the fi...

One thing I really disliked about the first movie is...

posted 13 years ago by Taanefindahl
3 replies | jump to latest

Sorry for posting this thread on this board, but I still wanted to post it here, considering that this board has more activity. While I liked the first movie, there was one thing which really bothered me; The character development of Tai Lung. I hate how they made him so one-dimensional and emotionally deprived. Sure, Shifu had trained him to become a great champion. But Tai Lung was still about to kill his father who loved him. Shouldn’t he felt some love affection for his father? I think it was bland choice of the screenwriters to make him all-evil. Yes, his villainy was a consequence of his greediness and wanting to prove himself. However, he had been raised by a father who actually loved him. Didn’t this bother anyone else?

[–] araksue 13 years ago

It's the old question "Nature vs Nurture", or Why do kids from good families turn out bad?
Tai Lung is a snow leopard, and he's a top predator in the mountains of China, so his Nature would be to be the #1 killer of them all. Even if he grew up vegetarian (thanks to Shifu), as soon as Tai Lung tasted blood (the rampage after he was first denied the scroll), his predatory instincts would kick in and he became a danger to all the villagers.
As for Nurture, since they didn't mention if Shifu was married, then I'll guess that Shifu raised Tai Lung as a single dad who didn't know how to be a dad in the first place; if he was a dad at all. Maybe Tai Lung was only #1 disciple and never new that Shifu loved him until Shifu told him at the end of that awesome fight.
I saw that Tai Lung was totally touched by Shifu's admission that he loved him. But being denied his destiny; being beaten by an old turtle, and being imprisoned for 20 years was just too much fuel for his anger.
This is just my opinion. I'm just connecting the dots that I saw in the first KFP. Personally I thought the first one and the second one are too different to compare, but I liked both of them.

[–] loccomotive2000 13 years ago

I think it's just the matter that we all have a different level of threshold towards our desires and emotions. Some can accept that our dreams may just be beyond our reach sometimes, while others will resort to horrible measures to attain them. If I may (mis)quote Mr King, there's good in the worst of us and evil in the best of us. He did show some vulnerability to Shifu's affection during their fight, but the hatred was just too much.

[–] junk-187-374614 13 years ago

Are you actually insane or just incapable of understanding a movie.

Tai Lung was one dimensional? He was a freaking awesome villein.

He was about to kills his father because Shifu planted this idea in his head that he was the chosen one, and than he felt betrayed by Shifu for not standing up to his master for him. Than they FREAKING LOCKED HIM AWAY IN A CRUEL PRISON!

After his escape Shifu was still standing in his way and so they fought!
For a moment there at the end you could see in Tai Lungs face that he still had emotions for Shifu as well but the hatred in him was just too strong.

You boy, need to shut your mouth before more stupid *beep* comes out.