The Chameleon: DreamWorks' WORST Villain (Kung Fu Panda 4)
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DreamWorks have a pretty outstanding track record when it comes to creating menacing, entertaining, and all around iconic villains. But with the recent release of Kung Fu Panda 4 giving us The Chameleon, it's not hard to see how the previous films in the franchise wrote their villains substantially better.
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Tracks in order of appearance (Repeats not counted):
Persona 5 OST - Phantom
Persona 3 OST - This Mysterious Feeling
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time! OST - The Hazardous Wastes, 2084
Gravity Falls OST - Let's Rewind
Sonic Unleashed OST - Apotos (Day)
Kung Fu Panda 3 OST - The Arrival of Kai
Yakuza Kiwami 2 OST - Outlaw's Lullaby
Earthbound OST - Buy Somethin' Will Ya!
Sonic Adventure 2 OST - Bright Sound (Dry Lagoon)
Persona 5 OST - Tokyo Daylight
Persona 4 Golden OST - New Days
Picross 3D Round 2 OST - Challenge
Losing Streak - Chew Well (Outro Song)
#rant #entertainment #kungfupanda
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Dude Netflix made a Casagrandes Movie
How long has it been since I saw a sponsor on your videos? I actually don't remember any 🤔
But congratulations on getting one 👏
Yo, Cartoonshi. I've finished watching The Casagrandes Movie and I thought it was meh. Are you gonna watch the movie and review it next video? Please respond.
VELMA IS COMING BACK! But I have an idea for making this awful series go away: DON'T WATCH IT! NOT EVEN FOR HATE-WATCHING! IF WE WATCH IT WE ARE JUST GIVING IT WHAT IT WANTS! NO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT EPISODES, CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING Just... DON'T WATCH IT! QUICK! WARN OTHERS!
@Ame_Okami Yeah, I can't wait. The Casagrandes Movie was so mid.
What’s disappointing is that Po never mentioned to The Chameleon that he was also underestimated. Once Po was chosen to be the dragon warrior by Oogaway, Shifu thought he had made a mistake. That being the case, Shifu was harsh with Po until he accepted the reality of Oogway’s choice and realized his true potential. This could have helped The Chameleon feel accepted and motivated her to change. Such a wasted opportunity.
Honestly I think a better story for her would be Po’s story gone wrong.
She was a starry eyed Kung Fu enthusiast who became a student under a renowned master. Just like Po she kind of sucked when it came to how most learned to fight and she didn’t manage to learn anything. Po was lucky that Shifu found his talent and how to motivate him but Chameleon’s master was not as flexible and simply labeled her a failure and threw her out when he concluded he couldn’t teach her.
With her dreams crushed she sought revenge using any means necessary and therefore turned to sorcery. Combining her natural shape shifting abilities with the sorcery she learned she wanted to rise to the top of the Kung Fu world and prove everyone who doubted her wrong.
Somewhere along the way the power went to her head and she lost track of her original goal and the innocent child she used to be.
@@goatlover6312dude u cooked with this holy shit
@@goatlover6312Also, it would've set her apart from Po in a sense of being yourself: Po learned his own kung fu style, complementing his own characteristics and abilities he previously thought worthless, while Chameleon was thought to believe that her "self" IS, in fact, a failure, so to accomplish something she started literally constantly changing herself to someone else.
Pls no talk no jutsu.
@@goatlover6312🔥🔥🔥
Tai Lung: *Tests Po’s physical prowess*
Shen: *Test's Po’s mental prowess*
Kai:*Tests Po's spiritual prowess*
Chameleon: *Tests the audience’s patience*
Hey, Kai's text is not highlited like *Kai is the main villain of Kung Fu Panda 3*
Kai didn't do nothing of sorts. Po got his spiritual powers through deus ex machina bs at the end of the movie where characters suddenly remembered the ancient art of their ancestors through an arbitrary lesson of "be yourself".
Kai was ok, cool theme but he didn’t really do much against Po.
Stairs: *tests Po all the time*
Kai is still ten times better than the Chameleon
and her naming is sooo lazy.
Tai Lung, a snow leopard
Lord Shen, a peacock
Kai, a bull-yak
The Chameleon, a chameleon
🗿
All previous villains’ names were derived from Chinese words and has some connection to their own characteristics.
Tai Lung-大龍, Great Dragon
Shen-神, God
Kai-開, Open or Enlightenment
You’d think they would give the Chameleon a name related to her power like Bian Xing (變形, shapeshifting) or Qian Mian （千面, thousand faces) but they somehow chose to not do it.
@@AllHisEngines
Thousand faces goes so hard
@@AllHisEnginesWords can't describe how better those names are than "The chameleon"
@@AllHisEngineswhat about the furious 5? They have their animal names as well
Chameleon defeating Tai Lung, Kai and Shen reads like bad fan fiction of an OC.
A real KFP fan could do better writing.
In fact given 2, how is Shen even back to be honest?! He never got into the spiritual world, was there something I missed prior to 4 about this?!
@@thecinematicmind maybe everyone goes back to the spirit realm, when you die, your spirit detaches from your body
@@thecinematicmind Obviously nostalgia bait was on their minds in the writing.
@@thecinematicmind Also, Shen was never a Kung Fu Master... sure, he had some skill in the art and managed well against Masters Croc and Ox, but in that same scene it was established how weak he is against a proper Kung Fu Master like Rhino, so he shoots him point blank with his cannon... THAT'S HIS ENTIRE DEAL.
She seemed like a villain they’d use in a throwaway episode for Legends of Awesomeness
The whole movie felt like a Legends of Awesomeness episode
Jindiao from Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny is a way better villain than “The Chameleon” 🐉
@@k-imCome on now, that's an insult to Legends of Awesomeness.
@@Dragzilla66 paws of destiny was a 6/10 show yet still better than kfp 4
@@SonicSuper65 Agreed, I like some aspects about it. Like the villain and his assistant Jade Tusk. The panda kids idea sucks.
Chameleon: “They rejected me for being small!”
Mantis: “Look at what she needs to mimic only a FRACTION of my power Po.”
I see what you did there lol
Heck even Viper, Shifu, and Zheng are smaller than her 😭
Zheng if the Furious Five was allowed to be in the movie, seeing Viper and Mantis:
"Oh my god... my mom's motivation is... stupid."
How did that become such an oversight? In the first movie Mantis even says he can’t judge someone by appearance because he’s so small
@@TheOneThatLurks But, sHe'S SMoL
@@gtdc4685 🤣🤣
Putting the main villain aside, I'll never forgive this movie for just shamelessly shoehorning Lord Shen and Kai into it without even being given the privilege of having dialogue. Any meaningful comeback they _could've_ had in future sequels has been washed down the gutter for good.
In fact given 2, why is Shen even there to begin when he died from his own weapon?
@@thecinematicmind Why is Kai here if he was disintegrated in the Spirit Realm? Also, wasn't that the point in KFP3 that no one remembers him? How would she know to summon him exactly?
I feel like this could be explained as the chameleon having magic able to summon people not just in the spirit realm or that she can find a way to mend a destroyed spirit but the director was too stupid to even think about letting her have a backstory
they made 1 bad movie and now everyone saying dreamworks is bad now lolll
@@user-yw8ys4kq5xteenage kraken, elementals, megamimd 2
Fun fact: The movie's director wanted her to have NO backstory whatsoever, and by the time the production crew convinced him that, you know, giving the villain a backstory is kind of important, they were too late to do anything but put in those few lines.
He shouldn't be a director
They should've just canned it at that point
Why is he a director....
Mike Mitchell and the writers of this film need to be blacklisted
If that's true, then this movie was flawed from the start and should have never been made to begin with
Kfp 1: Tai lung escapes from a prison
Kfp 2: Lord Shen commits genocide against the pandas and kills master rhino
Kfp 3: Kai fights and defeats oogway
Kfp 4: The chameleon literally poking a guy down the stairs
Kai also stole the chi of every Kung Fu Master in the spirit realm.
@@Dragzilla66which also doesn’t explain how did Kai get defeated by her I call Bullshit
@@elliotsturtplus340 I mean he did lose the chi stones once he absorbed Po's Dragon Warrior chi and exploded but still! No way he would loose to that small Chameleon!
Kung Fu panda 2: Commits genocide
Kung Fu Panda 4: Pushes someone down the stairs.
But they were big stairs
False comparison. She controlled the entire city and the mafia lords. Her pushing the dude off the stairs was a warning. I could easily reverse it to favor her instead of Shen:
Kung Fu Panda 2: Points a small knife at Po.
Kung Fu Panda 4: Dominates local crime gangs to do her bidding through intimidation.
Moral of the story: don't keep hopes up on even number sequels after the second one
@@Arko777777they’re both pretty intimidating due to their feats. I Guess it all comes down to the execution. In the second movie Shen had scenes to show how intimidating and deadly he can be, as he kills Master rhino. But in the 4th, they kinda wasted what could’ve been a great villain
@@thealmostdeadpatient7767 Agreed. She's like a weird mix between Shen and Kai yet the execution of her story was super underwhelming. So much wasted potential.
Tai Lung: Bodied prison guards
Lord Shen: Genocide on pandas
Kai: Defeated Oogway
Chameleon: Pushed someone down the stairs
Kai also stole the chi of every Kung Fu Master in the spirit realm.
I don't like how everyone is downplaying her control over the city by sheer intimidation and influence with what essentially was a warning. Pushing somebody off the stairs isn't the most evil act she can do. Wasn't the message of "stay in line or else" clear enough?
@@Arko777777Intimidation starts with at least describing some of a characters feats so the audience feels the stakes and understands why the main characters should be threatened. You can have a good design and amazing powers but that doesn't automatically polarize a character as a threat. We knew she desired power, sure, but her plans were stereotypical for a villain, lacking unique motivation when compared to past content for the franchise as a whole.
If they were going to dedicate themselves to making just an entity of pure evil instead of a dynamic villain, like the past antagonists, they should have devoted more screen time to the use of her powers or her enjoyment of destruction.
They really could have done a lot with the chameleon and zhen but for some reason they decided to replace that with a ton of filler starring Mr. Ping and Li
@@Arko777777 The problem is they didn't show us the extend of that properly. Yeah she has control, but show us the audience why. The directing and pacing on this movie is a complete mess, but the lackluster writing doesn't help. This movie is a complete mess, and it sucks i can see potential in the Chameleon.
@@miserirken I'm in the same boat. So much wasted potential with her. Too bad everything we got was a last minute decision to add her backstory and not a natural conclusion of the storytelling.
The Chameleon didn't live up to her potential as a villain because she served as a plot device. She brought Kai back with the Staff of Wisdom despite how Po obliterated his spirit in the spirit realm. Not only does this contradict the previous installment, but it proves that she was forced into the narrative.
Shen also. It was never said outright, but the implication in KFP 3 is that only kung fu masters go to the spirit realm. That's kinda the antithesis of Shen's character.
"Somehow Kai returned."
Don't forget how many things kung fu panda 3 contradict just by the fact that Po... died in kung fu panda 3... thus is a spirit warrior... oh oh and how about the fact that Po CAN'T DIE cause he isn't a mortal. Kai not taking the Chameleon's chi is a huge contradiction considering he is able to take someone's Chi if they are weak enough not even *needing to restrain them* Li being cowardly is so damn stupid cause in Kung fu panda 2 he is the only one shown to fight any of the wolves when Shen murders all the panda's and SURVIVES and in kung fu panda 3 he teams up with Mr. Ping to go against Jombie SHIFU! How does the Chameleon even know who Kai is when SHIFU didn't know? How does no one know who Po is yet knows exactly who Shifu is? If the Chameleon knows about Kai then surely everyone should know about Po it's an embarrassment. The Chameleon's backstory make both Viper and Mantis irrelevant *(as if they didn't feel like minor characters ALREADY)* Po having trouble finding inner peace thus breaking Kung fu panda 2. Po letting ZHEN a person he KNOWS ISN'T a kung fu master NOR has ever tried Kung fu he sent to fight the Chameleon when it's shown later he could've gotten out and fought her ANYWAY. C O O L. Shifu taking in five random people to be candidates for the dragon warrior and none of them being the furious five OR EVEN THE FUCKING PANDA'S of the THIRD MOVIE. Disgraceful that is all this movie is.
@@cyborgboy3070 very good and accurate response and i wholeheartedly agree. although the chameleon would know of kai because he returned recently, but shifu didn't because it had been 500 years since kai. I'm sure in another 500 years everyone will go back to forgetting kai, and then hed probably just return even though he should have died and ugh
Exactly!
Why did she steal lord Shen’s king fu? What was his kung fu? Cannons?
Gunpowder is my favorite kung fu style
His Kung Fu style was called fan service.
He is a warrior/martial artist, just not a kung fu master. Im willing to believe that the spirit realm of kung fu warriors also includes other martial artists, but also, I cant help but to feel like Shen would be pissed to end up in the same realm filled with kung fu masters, given the whole, "killing kung fu masters" thing.
I think it's best not to ask questions and leave the decisions they've done be.
The all-powerful Key Jangling Technique.
Between Kung Fu Panda 4 and Megamind 2, I forgot this is the same company who gave us Puss in Boots 2 less than 2 years ago.
While spending money and talent on some things, they tend to save up on others. At least they still *can* do good movies with good stories, unlike Disney.
Hey don't forget Ruby Gillman, that one sucked ass too!
Ad the teenage kraken as a warning from the start and you get a fire hazard on the loose
@@miserirken Dude, EVERYONE forgot Ruby Gillman. Such a terrible movie...
@@ilovemydog240 i didn't forget it, i love how BAD the movie is, 'cause i fell into its rabbit hole production history. It's insane how good it could've been yet these inepts chose not to. Chelsea and Nerissa were never meant to be the same character, but they needed to clean the blood out the Kraken's tentacle hands so the heroes don't have any complexity. Agatha (Ruby's mom) was supposed to kill Nerissa (originally Chelsea's mom), driving Chelsea story arc and creating a contrast between her and Ruby.
Also the movie validates Grandma's racism. At least in the original scripts Agatha would've called her out more actively.
The Chameleon feels like a supporting antagonist who was forced into the role of the main antagonist because Dreamworks could not think of anyone better to fill the role.
Even looks like the kind of character that just follows around the main villain doing no real fighting who jumps in to betray the main villain at the end at takes their power.
How I would fix Chameleon:
Fully play into her disguise powers (but no power-stealing BS). Make her Agent 47 going around assassinating key members, and making herself (or her faction) rise in the hierarchy. Her motive is becoming the most powerful mafia boss. Po is then sent to investigate HER instead of looking for the missing staff (this also removes the OP staff issue), then meet Awkwafina and she tags along.
Po then slowly realize every lead he talked to mysteriously die/disappear soon after. Chameleon disguise as him going around causing trouble and get him hated (this creates the motivation for Po to quickly find the culprit to not further damage his Dragon Warrior status), and also a hint for Po to guess what's Chameleon's power is.
Final battle is in a busy street, Chameleon constantly shifts between civilians to get a backstab on Po, while Po has to hold back to not injure actual civilians around. Then key moment will be Chameleon disguising as 1 of the supposedly disappeared lead from previous, Po sus her out and beat her in 1 shot. Awkwafina then takes Chameleon's role as mob boss, abolish her mafia empire.
Worst villain? No
Worst KFP villain? Absolutely
Worst dreamworld villains go to those new megamind villains
Yes
worst theatrical dreamworks villain?
@@audaciousjones goomly
Worst Dreamworks villain is Oscar from Shark Tale.
No dude it was Patrick Warburton from Bee movie
the Chameleon had the combined strength of every past villian yet ironically felt weaker than all of them
Still better than Kai's final fight in KFP 3. Not a high bar, but still.
Because she’s a copy cat and a poser
@@Arko777777the chameleon was objectively worse than kai in every way
Rewatch KFP 3, pay attention to things Kai does and how story treats him and his undercooked backstory. The moment he enters the real world and memes with the farmers about his tragic past and being robbed of his legacy by Oogway is the starting point.
@@catus-cactusno she’s not you fool they are not even that similar cause she steals kung fu masters abilities to accomplish something and Kai is just greedy and wants to steal every kung fu masters chi cause he’s like, I would say a addict
The whole "too small" thing is suuuuuch bs when we were literally shown MASTER CHIPMUNK'S war hammer which was smaller than Mantises head
How I would quick fix her non-existing back story is first have her play fully into the deceptive spy/assassin type, constantly disguising and manipulating everyone (imagine Agent 47). Then the reason she doesn't have a back story and only tells Po about it in the end is because she went back and kill everyone that knows of her existence.
Kai had like, no reason to be in the movie too. His soul was quite literally obliterated in the spirit realm. He should NOT be alive.
Exactly!!! 💀
Not to mention, Shen was bowing and showing respect to Po, which there is no damn way he would actually do that 💀
"Too small."
Damn, they really disrespecting Mantis and Viper.
If mantis and snake where there when the chameleon dropped her backstory
They would go: How could that happen?
Chameleon: too small, can't learn kung fu
Mantis: his size is his biggest strength
That reasoning could have worked if it was brought up in the movie. Instead, they quarter-assed it.
Fun fact: Mike Mitchell(Director) was planning on giving both the Chamelon and Zhen NO BACKSTORY, despite objections from codirector and writing team. It took til over halfway animating that Mike decided to give them backstories, but by then it was too late so they could only add some lines here or there bout being short.
TDLR: KFP4 was a disappointment b/c the director had way too much control and focused on making KFP a comedy while codirector given no control wanted a movie like the first 2
Show it doesn’t matter if you have the best writers and returning back to a beloved series they wrote amazing.
If the director sucks at their job, then it turns even gold into scrap
I feel for the co-director and writers that had their hands tied and could not do anything to fix this pile of dung before it was too late.
What a fucking shame.
The camaleon would've actually been better if she was just a pure evil villain with no backstory, that shitty motive just made her character worse
@@Morales3088 No backstory would work, but ONLY if you can make the character fun to watch on screen. Jack Horner did well cause even with no real motivation he was a menace and had an entertaining personality.
Okay, can we bring back Jennifer Yun Nelson again? The original director of the original trilogy?
Imagine if they changed The Chameleon’s backstory by having her being accepted into the Kung Fu Academy but she begins to notice how her skills and strength aren’t able to match the other kung fu students, so she turns to sorcery as a way to attempt to outperform them, which results in her getting kicked out.
They could use this as her motivation by having her try to prove that sorcery is better and more advanced than Kung Fu.
I agree
@@TheSpecialOne000Or, as another commenter said, have her parents be hard on her, making her feel inferior and adding to the need to be stronger.
@@DrFuntimes yep
Which actually sound parallel to lord shen.
Lord shen fold like a paper when fighting actual Kungfu master but his strength come from weapon of mass destruction he command.
I'm Kung Fu Panda 3's number 1 defender, so it's nice to see General Kai finally get some respect.
I enjoy the hell out of Kai, the only issue is there should had been more Oogway in the film especially a longer version of the backstory.
@@thecinematicmind I totally agree, I wish they expanded on his history with Oogway.
Kai's theme went so hard too. I still listen to it now😅😭
Who?
@@regiboi7709Kai, the red ninja from Ninjago
Chameleon: “They rejected me for being too small!”
Mantis and Viper: “Lol. Lmao.”
Skill issue
KFP fans after seeing the Chameleon: "Um Kai i think we owe you an apology"
Mood. 💀
She feels so half-assed. As if they didn't think her through.
They had to ignore Mantis for her "backstory" to "work".
How I would fix Chameleon:
Fully play into her disguise powers (but no power-stealing BS). Make her Agent 47 going around assassinating key members, and making herself (or her faction) rise in the hierarchy. Her motive is becoming the most powerful mafia boss. Po is then sent to investigate HER instead of looking for the missing staff (this also removes the OP staff issue), then meet Awkwafina and she tags along.
Po then slowly realize every lead he talked to mysteriously die/disappear soon after. Chameleon disguise as him going around causing trouble and get him hated (this creates the motivation for Po to quickly find the culprit to not further damage his Dragon Warrior status), and also a hint for Po to guess what's Chameleon's power is.
Final battle is in a busy street, Chameleon constantly shifts between civilians to get a backstab on Po, while Po has to hold back to not injure actual civilians around. Then key moment will be Chameleon disguising as 1 of the supposedly disappeared lead from previous, Po sus her out and beat her in 1 shot. Awkwafina then takes Chameleon's role as mob boss, abolish her mafia empire.
The Chameleon. Could have. Turned into. Po's MOM.
YOU KNOW HOW HEARTBREAKING THAT WOULD BE?!?!?! How malicious and conniving and utterly evil that would be??
Holy cow, that would've been THE moment.
The fact you are the only person to mention this amazes me and I respect you for this so much. This is chilling and a stroke of genius.
This is the most genius comment I have seen here, how has nobody else thought about this!?
I can definitely see the idea of her becoming Po's mum as a way to strike him very personally while also guilt-tripping him. Or even outright lie to Po by claiming "I was always alive" and using it to manipulate him.
Interesting idea, but doesn't she need to steal the powers of someone in order to transform into them? (I know this didn't happen when she became Po, and it irks me quite a bit.)
@@kaputt_jay3873 Actually no she doesn't. She needs to steal their powers to actually HARNESS their kung fu, shown by the "Tai Lung Nerve Strike"
She could turn into Po, or Tai Lung at any time (like in the intro) without their kung fu ^^
Have the Chameleon's backstory of her just being lazy and taking others powers without putting any effort into it. Like a plagiarist who steals people's ideas and doesn't believe in herself. It wasn't because she's small it was because she was lazy that she steals others talent. He her vices be sloth and envy.
Maybe we don't even see her true form until the end of the movie. Only after the final battle does Po start to understand why she lashes out and never shows her true form (mirroring Po's struggle with self acceptance). Po tries to offer help, but The Chamelon tries to attack him. Tai Lung could save Po after seeing Po's worthiness and takes The Chameleon with him to the Spirit realm.
@@rubenduenas5881 holy shit that would've been awesome, literally perfect way to give a positive development to tai lung without a full redemption arc
She should've been the villain protagonist and become the apprentice of Po. Get rid of Awkwafina's character.
Disappointing how all these comments bring up much more logical/interesting routes that could’ve been taken but never will be
"Goes down, to be frank, like a bi-" [Ad Break]
I see TH-cam finally learned how to give their ads comedic timing lmao
*Tai Lung:* I was raised with high expectations and was imprisoned after being denied my destiny.
*Lord Shen:* I was banished by my parents for committing mass genocide in hopes to change my fate.
*General Kai:* I was betrayed by my brother-in-arms and had my legacy erased.
*The Chameleon:* I ' M S M O L
We've all seen that YT video
Plus, Oogway didn't betray Kai. Kai was driven by greed
@@survivorofthecurse717 He betrayed Kai because he just suddenly fucking killed him when Kai did what they always did, they both swore to be conquerers.
How I would fix Chameleon:
Fully play into her disguise powers (but no power-stealing BS). Make her Agent 47 going around assassinating key members, and making herself (or her faction) rise in the hierarchy. Her motive is becoming the most powerful mafia boss. Po is then sent to investigate HER instead of looking for the missing staff (this also removes the OP staff issue), then meet Awkwafina and she tags along.
Po then slowly realize every lead he talked to mysteriously die/disappear soon after. Chameleon disguise as him going around causing trouble and get him hated (this creates the motivation for Po to quickly find the culprit to not further damage his Dragon Warrior status), and also a hint for Po to guess what's Chameleon's power is.
Final battle is in a busy street, Chameleon constantly shifts between civilians to get a backstab on Po, while Po has to hold back to not injure actual civilians around. Then key moment will be Chameleon disguising as 1 of the supposedly disappeared lead from previous, Po sus her out and beat her in 1 shot. Awkwafina then takes Chameleon's role as mob boss, abolish her mafia empire.
Early on, Po could've discovered his staff was stolen, so he goes on a journey with Zhen to find it, only for the betrayal scene to reveal that it was Zhen who had stolen it from the beginning
Watching these clips made me realise how the fourth movie is nowhere as stylistically interesting as the previous three. The three earlier villains had their own signature colours: blue for Tai Lung, red for Lord Shen, and green for General Kai. Heck, even the scene in which Shen killed Master Rhino had the sky coloured red, drenching the whole scene in Shen’s menace.
The Chameleon had no colour. No anything, really: no real name, no backstory, no motivation, no intimidation factor. Sigh.
I think the fact she don't have her own signature color was another call to her lack of originality/being copycat/her whole plan of stealing powers from other masters instead of working hard and create something new on her own. Or at least that's how I see it
Shen being in the spirit realm doesn’t make sense and he dies while tai lung got sent there with the Wuxi finger hold
Yea like Shen should be in Chinese hell (Diyu)
They just stopped caring at this point 💀
I think the funniest thing that came out of Chameleon was now all the fandom suddenly sees the value Kai's Character now after long years of saying he had no merit
Perhaps we treated him too harshly
I always liked Kai
@@rubenduenas5881just like how every scooby doofan feel about scrappy doo after velma came out.
We truly treat Scrappy doo too harsh.
@@tatarchan5212 I mean that's just choosing between the 2 lesser evil, no?
My rewrite on her motivations would be that Chameleon THOUGHT she was too small to do kung fu, incapable of getting her head out of the thought that she is not able to fight because of her size, without noticing that a true kung fu master reaches that status by hard training no matter their size or origin, so she used her chi stealing technique as an easy cop out, without noticing that by doing that she is skipping a very important part of Kung Fu: the training, as a foil to Po who got where he is due to hard training, she got where she is due to cheating and trying to get things easy
Yea she could’ve just learned the hard way like mantis did
Something I noticed that the Chameleon lacked that every other Kung Fu Panda villain has is a personal connection to a pre established character, Tai Lung was Shifu's adopted son and first student, Lord Shen was responsible for the near genocide of the Panda species, General Kai was Oogway's friend, these connections not only gave these characters more interesting backstorys but also gave each story (especially the second one) a much more personal stake which made the story infinitly more engaging. The Chameleon doesn't have a connection to any character that we care about, so it's hard to get invested when I couldn't care less about the story or this character.
In fact I would had thought The Chameleon would been personal not only to Zhen but Tai Lung in the past.
Another reason i find that 6 movie plan hard to believe
@@jskywalker58exactly the “they planned six movies” is incredibly obviously dream works propaganda
Glad to see Kai is now not the one being clowned on and still deserves more respect than the Chameleon.
I will always defend Kai to this day.
@@thecinematicmind me too man. Like it wasn't horrific. lf kfp 1 and 2 are 100% masterpiece, 3 is like 70-75% masterpiece. Meanwhile, this new crap, ldk what to say.
Kai was cool asf, shame his final battle with Po didn't hit that hard...
@@p.m.693 To be fair, Kai's fight wasn't much different tone-wise than Tai Lung's was. Both of them essentially got clowned on when they fight against Po directly.
The co-director had so many ideas for Chameleon and how to make her a great villian but the director basically was an entitled toddler and didn't listen to a single one.
This is why this movie feels so much different than the others; it was made by a director who was basically like: "It's a kid movie, who cares about a good plot. Lol. "
Quite disappointing!
This is the same exact mentality that Disney has and look at where that got them😒
honestly the mindset of "its just a kid movie lol so nothing matters lmaoo" just feels like an excuse to never try. i find it sad how producers, especially nowadays, think children just deserves mindless nonsense. if anything, i think actually TEACHING kids meaningful messages is important. shouldn't we use media to teach the next generation good things when they're at their most vulnerable and impressionable? but nope, f*ck them kids i guess
@@sephoramandondo2548illumination also have that mentality, but it wasn’t recently developed, they always had it
Them allowing Mike Mitchell to direct this movie was probably one of the biggest goddamn mistakes in movie history. He does not have a good fucking track record, like at all, except for Shrek Forever After. Aside from that, every movie that he was involved in has fucking tanked, or no one gave a shit about it
Exactly, they should've listened to Stephanie instead.
Tai Lung: shows how a title does not define who you are
Shen: shows how peace is achieved when you accept your past and future
Khai: uhhhh I haven’t watched that movie in awhile but it’s probably something about the soul or something
Chameleon:
Shows how a company will always be a company, and when they get directors that only see projects as “kids movie”, it ends in shallow writing and a loss in sales.
Sad but true.
Funnily enough, Kai also represents change better than the Chameleon.
A lot of people don't know this, but there is more to Kai's motive and backstory besides destroying Oogways' legacy. Oogway was a conquerer like Kai, and most certainly had evil or malicious traits like him too. But after learning from the pandas, he managed to change, but Kai did not and saw only power that Oogway would've seen. Oogway changed for the better, while Kai empowered his greed and way of thinking.
This also makes more sense for Kai's hatred toward Oogway as well. His best friend suddenly switches sides on you and betrays everything you fight for, then after killing you, lets your memory and legacy be forgotten by time. It makes much more sense while he's bitter, and it even ties into Po as he also has to experience a way of change from student to master, but also having to understand himself on a spiritual level.
But then we look at Chameleon who's motive is that she's small, despite the fact that there are several kung fu master much smaller than her yet are renowned and far more experienced.
Tai Lung gave Po a physical challange
Shen gave Po a mental Challange
Kai gave Po a Spirital challange
The Chameleon gave Po a excuse to legit run away from his responsabilty
Which he didn’t cause he defeated her
This movie feels like a cheap excuse to introduce a new main character.
Tai Lung and Lord Shen are two of the best cartoon villains ever made in my opinion. Beautiful designs, intriguing backstories, and great motivations. And even though Kai obviously couldn’t live up to them, he still had a wicked cool design, good gimmick, and dope theme. I was hoping the Chameleon would have SOMETHING fun for me to enjoy about her…but, uh, no :)
"DreamWorks' Worst Villain"
**The Doom Syndicate would like to know your location.**
Whats the Doom Syndicate?
@@NoobTheNewt the villains from the recent Megamind sequel. (Don't watch it.)
@@NoobTheNewt they're the villains from Megamind 2, a recent film.
@@Cuber875 there’s a second megamind film? It sounds like a good idea, hopefully it’s a good movie and not a cheap cash grab with terrible animation, unfunny humor, lame writing and a straight to streaming service movie which disrespects the legacy of the character.
@@NoobTheNewtabout that…
Having someone use magic to make up for their lack of Martial Arts skill is pretty neat. It separates the Chameleon from the other villains but all her sorcery amounts to is just Kung Fu but she looks like the person she’s fighting which is just a less impressive version of Kai’s Jade Zombies
She could’ve been a really cool side villain if she turned into the Furious 5 and fought using their different body types
If they wanted the Chameleon’s backstory to be “she was too small”, they should’ve made her the size of an ant or something
One thing I’m not sure anyone has talked about is the sheer poetic irony behind each of the villain’s defeats (prior to this one)
Tai Lung dedicated his entire life towards obtaining the dragon scroll, but was defeated by Po when he rejected its true meaning
Lord Shen wiped out every Panda to avoid his fate, but by doing so only sealed it by starting Po’s journey to find inner peace
General Kai was obsessed with having all of the chi in the world, but was destroyed once he had more chi than he could handle
The Chameleon just gets oneshot by Po’s staff when he remembers he isn’t a moron 💀
*Kai’s Theme* - PEAK FINAL BOSS FIGHT
With Kai’s backstory he indeed got power hungry for chi but also hated the fact that Oogway never told new generations of China about Kai’s existence after he had been defeat, effectively erasing him and his Kung Fu accomplishments from Chinese history. That’s why he attacked the Jade Palace than just gathering more chi from the rest of the Furious Five that were left. Crane and Mantis were already jade zombies at that point.
The chameleon and to be honest the whole movie kinda just feels like an extended episode of a KFP tv show
When one there’s a few KFP shows
Viola Davis can do menace. Look at her performances as Amanda Waller and Dr Volumina Gaul. She can be scary but KFP4’s script gave her so little.
As for why she would be turned away from learning Kung fu, what they SHOULD have done was turn her away not for her size, but because she wanted to learn it for the wrong reasons. Not for betterment of herself and to protect, but for the power and to make people submit to her. That’s what gets her kicked out by her first teacher, and every other teacher after that once they discover why she wants to be taught/realize they were being misled by her. After so many times, she then finds a teacher in sorcery who does teach her into mastery of the craft. Maybe she tricked her sorcery teacher into doing so having learned manipulation from her failures with previous teachers and then further honed this skill when she took over Juniper City.
Then add all of your additions on what to do different with her and voila.
Wow...the fact we got a villain SO bad, that she deserved her own video....and sadly not in the bad she should've gotten.
The one great thing about the Chameleon is she made us realize that perhaps we may have treated Kai too harshly.
We're sorry, Kai. You are no longer the worst villain in the franchise.
The Chameleon: ''I too came from humble beginnings and dreamed of becoming something more. I wanted respect and power. I wanted to be a master of kung fu. I was turned away from every training hall I went to. They would say I was too small, too lowly, and that kung fu was not my destiny. And so, I chose a different path...sorcery. I grew, I excelled, and I got everything I ever dreamed of.''
Po: ''... That makes NO sense.''
The Chameleon: ''My motive doesn't HAVE to make sense, you fool!'' *shapeshifts into a form of Po*
We already had a villian stealing the Kung Fu/chi of kung fu masters. Except Kai can summon a literal army of them at once
Tai Lung: Brings chaos to the Valley as he wasn't worthy for the Dragon Scroll
Lord Shen: Banished by his parents and commits Panda genocide
General Kai: Gets betrayed by his brother Oogway and steals every Kung Fu master's Chi
The Chameleon: *Pushes some down the stairs and too small.*
what's absolutely wild to me is that even when you consider the shorts where the Furious Five didn't all start out as kung fu masters, Mantis (AKA the SMALLEST), *does*
I don’t know if I’d call her the worst Dreamworks villain in general. There’s Prince Charming from Shrek 3, the lame villains from Turbo, Home, Boss Baby, The Kraken Movie, and the Doom Syndicate.
Her coming from such a strong franchise does make it hurt a lot more tho.
At least Prince Charming had a reason and a better motive to get revenge on Shrek. All he wanted to do was avenge his mother. The Chameleon's motivation was dull and unreasonable
@@azizshamsi6044 true
Doom Sydndicate isn't dreamworks movie. Its a peacock movie. Also Megamind sequel doesn't exist thank you and goodbye.
Prince Charming HAD motives, Megamind 2 Is not a Dreamworks Movie, Boss Baby's…
Okay you’ve got a point
There is no Megamind show
There is no Megamind2
And there is no Queen of Engla-
I wish she could've been like a subtle or hidden threat that we never noticed until it's too late, maybe having the audience to feel something was off with certain characters in the background.
Maybe she could've been an agent for a much bigger threat that could justify another sequel :_
After leaving the theater with my family, i said "wasn't what the Chameleon doing the same thing Kai was doing?"
They actually reused stuff from the 3rd movie.
Chameleon Is shang tsung
They did what Kai did in the 3rd movie, but worse
I get the feeling they wanted to create an Agent 47 type of villain that rely on deception and mind games rather than raw power but gave up half way through, only keeping the disguise stuff.
The Chameleon just pushes someone down the stairs while the 3 villains are goated 😂
Why is nobody talking about Chamelia's INSTA-WIN move? Her tongue is faster than Tai Lung, and can take anyones kung-fu away. Just as Po forgot about his staff, she forgot about her unique ultimate weapon
Yeah I don’t get why she didn’t just tongue Po to steal his skills. I mean they could’ve at least established that, similar to tai lung’s pressure point move, that it didn’t work on him for some reason. When I saw her turn into Po in the trailer I assumed that meant she’d stolen his kung fu but she never did
I swear this entire movie was only to test animators and animation itself while ignoring if something makes sense or not. Apparently the Chameleons animations were super impressive and they did something they've never done before with her. Beside that this movie is entirely pointless storywise..
I feel The Chameleon could’ve worked better if her backstory had involved her strict parents never truly thinking her Kung Fu was good enough. Which led to her internalizing that and also believing she wasn’t good enough. Which is why she felt she had to steal the skills of dead Kung Fu masters, because she believes she isn’t good enough as herself.
She’s just a symptom of a much bigger problem.
The fact that this movie cannot justify its own existence or message like the other three films within its story or its characters.
It says nothing. It accomplishes nothing by existing. It’s just a lazy cash grab in a franchise that was already over.
At least the boss baby 1 villain at least had a motivation/reason to be a villain
Kung fu panda 4 really disappoints when they didn't add the po and tai lung team up.
A po and tai lung team Up would have been peak fiction
@@isauldron4337In fact I thought Tai Lung had a tragic or dark history with the Chameleon and was manipulated by her you know but he isn’t much in the film. Maybe I thought there was going to be a redemption for him of sorts.
So her backstory was "im too small and no one would train me" bro we have MASTER CHICKEN IN KFP3
Earlier in the same movie, we had that one master's war hammer that broke the urn. Did the writers somehow forget what they wrote???
I'm not mad at the Chameleon. I just wish they gave her more screen time and developed her more.
This is the same for me.
comparing dreamworks villains to other modern villains is like putting a toddler against a professional swimmer
So which is the better one?
@@imaaronsebastianDreamworks
@@azimmeme9994Even The Boss Baby and Trolls villains?
@@WhatchaLookinAt-l4w Probably yeah
@@WhatchaLookinAt-l4w hey i wont accept Trolls 3 slander
The chameleon don't even have a name just a title.
If it was like she had different aliases to show her strategies of power and determination to hide her own master of none inside her. It would be interesting, but the name is eh?!
In fact why is Shen even in the film, wasn’t he dead from his own weapon so how was he in the Spiritual World to begin with?!
Shen and Kai shouldn't even be in the movie, but Mike only brought them back for soulless fanservice
Here's how I would've written her backstory (I'm not too familiar with Chinese history/mythology, so if anything I say is inaccurate, please let me know if your more well researched with it)
Ever since she was a child, the Chameleon was always interested in sorcerery, having been told stories about those who are being highly respected, so for most of her life she studied to learn magic, eventually learning the ability to shapeshift. However some kung fu masters started to believe that sorcerery was dangerous and evil, especially after what happened with Kai, so they started banning the use of sourcerey, spreading fear and lies throughout the land, which causes many people to shun sorcerers, including the Chameleon, and in extreme cases even kill those who they believed would use their magic for evil. Angered by this the Chameleon now wishes to take the power of all kung fu masters, both living and dead, to not only to become stronger, but to also use her shape-shifting ability to paint kung fu masters as dangerous so people start to fear them, so they can know what it's like to have people turn their backs on them because of fear and lies spread by those who don't understand
While I'll admit it's not perfect (it might be a little too similar to Tai Lung and Shen's backstories) it would've been a far more interesting backstory and motivation for her, you understand why she's doing this and to an extent can sympathise with her, but also see that she's going too far with her actions
See that would've worked so much better holy shit
"They rejected me bc i was short" - Wrong, inaccurate, we've seen Masters that even she would tower over just by standing
"They rejected me bc they considered my sorcery a threat" - Powerful, sure it's a bit cliché but tropes and clichés aren't inherently bad to use, I legit just a huge fan of the idea of a villain that only became one in the first place bc they were treated like one simply for having a power people looked down on and shunned them for.
This reminds me of a rewrite I was doing on one of the villains from the Inazuma Eleven series, but that rewrite was more or less to expand on that one villain's background to give them more weight as a character (it also wasn't the best rewrite either).
That is actually such a good idea. Its kinda like Shen's "destroy Kung Fu" but its still an interesting thing to see, and the fact that its so simple yet better than the actual chameleon is just crazy
Everybody seemed to be D-riding Dreamworks after Puss in Boots 2(which is goated), but I always knew they were experimental and the quality of their projects varied, I mean they made Shrek 3 and both Boss Baby movies, and their styles are never the same, so I knew to be cautiously optimistic
The Chameleon doesn’t even have a name! Absolute trash character.
The true worst DreamWorks villain is that racer in Turbo.
Is there a way a studio can recall/un-release a movie/show? Like take it back in and fix it? Because at this point I think the industry needs it.
Recall this and Megamind 2 while there at it
Don't forget Megamind Rules! as well
@@E4S65
Recall this and remake it the other director's way, she would've saved this film.
I just want to know why she looks like a gecko instead of a chameleon
Shen's cannons are the most terrifying thing because they are modern weapons that you can't kung fu against, since its an object. The destruction of them is horrifying to the characters
Funny to think Shen’s story tied into a remark made by Ugway. “One often finds their destiny on the road they take to avoid it”
Gotta love how they copied the first 3 movies. “Let’s have a dragon warrior and screw w/ Shifu like the first movie. Let’s take over a city like the second movie. Let’s have the move set be Kirby like the third movie.” Not plagiarism when you’re copying yourself. 😂
Pretty sad this movie wasted Viola Davis’s performance compared to the others, she can play a great villain but the script let her down.
11:39, also Mantis, a literal insect kung-fu master exists in this universe, so the "too small" argument falls flat.
This is a small critique here, but another element they should've added to the chameleon is her own unique color theme, similar to how they did with the past three villains, Tai lung blue, Lord shen red and Kai green. It's a cool detail that adds so much more to their character, personally i think purple would've been a good choice for her, as the color is usually associated with Royalty, which is kind of her role in this movie, it helps her stand out but also stay in theme with the past villains.
When you kick someone down some stairs they usually don't crawl back up. They could've made that a slightly more brutal.
All they had to do was write her and Zhen to have connections to po. Make Kung Fu Panda 4 abt po learning to move on
Zhen would be the foil to him that doesnt move on and is content where shes at. Chameleon would be the version of po that didnt have oogway and other leaders to help set the right path. She would give reason for po to wanna be a leader
I just realized. The Chameleon is literally store brand Kai.
Why do I feel like Hollywood writers nowadays are just paid to write crappy fanfiction
Don't blame writers. Blame director for not giving them freedom to make Chameleon's backstory.
This movie should've been so much longer because it feels too RUSHED. The previous major villains didn't even get a spotlight, and Tail Lung is just basically talking through a jail cell. And him USING his secret move is just for plot convenience for the Chameleon, he literally used that secret move against a mere guard. A MERE GUARD
It was so fast from beginning to end. It left me stunned by this until I realised how short the film is of the four.
All The Chameleon did was spawn camp. This is why she will never be a good fighter
I love her character design. The way she transforms looks so cool.
Having her turn into Oogway just to break down every inch of Po's core belief in himself near the end or even just as an exchange alone would have made her a far more compelling villain, on that knows her opponents and their weaknesses and brings back old scars to the surface making Po ultimately confront his wrong doings and the weight of the death of his past villains and failure of Oogways' ways or even just how he cant be a master or a spiritual leader and a disappointment on every regard because of everything happened in the past movies brought back to haunt him and make his failures overshadow his successes. Having the chameleon be another of Oogway's students who failed her everything and turned into not embracing herself and who she is, creating this personal turmoil and identity crisis taht fed her hunger of power and prooving herself as better than everyone including her own master by feeding on thr power of others to proove she can be better than all of them and defeat the strongest warrior there ever was, letting her anger out on Po for everything hr is that she could never really achieve, which lead her empty could have strenghened the themes of Po being a spiritual guide and what were to happen did he not take on that hold, giving space for villains like her to take advantage of the breach and destroy the balance for their own benefit while also providing self reflection and closure on po for having to become a master and find a successor, learning to become a better master than Oogway himself could earlier on in his life. That would have been powerful
It’s funny how the director wanted to do the fanservice by bringing back the old villains, but somehow he messed up big time. Literally this is a film for a 5-year old kid, not for kungfu panda fans.
The director believes po sees the world in black and white😊
The main director screwed up, but the co-director intended for it to be the same quality as the previous films, along with Tai Lung having a *proper* redemption arc.
I was just finishing rewatching your Kung Fu Panda 4 review when this posted, TH-cam knows what I want I guess
When it comes to the Chameleon and her backstory, I would’ve made it so she was very passionate about kung fu and ‘getting stronger’, but believed it would be too difficult to her, and instead took an easier route of just stealing the powers of other villains to make herself stronger, which also causes her to become power hungry in a sense. It would kinda mirror Po in a way, as despite everything Po didn’t give up, and worked for the entire first movie to get his abilities, while the Chameleon does zero work at all and simply takes the abilities of others to make up for her lack of power and experience in kung fu.
I haven't watched the movie. But I have heard how bad the Chameleon backstory was.
Honestly, they could've said she was too frail and weak to do kung fu.
And I mean like, someone couldn't do kung fu because of a health condition/disease, she'd be jealous because her dream of doing kung fu was taken from her since birth.
Her powers can work with this. When Chameleon transforms, she feels happier because she is someone else, Instead of her weak, frail self.
It would also be a dilemma for the movie and what the message would be.
Because the movie would be like "Be yourself, rely on your own strength." But how can she rely on her own strength when she never had strength in the first place (physically).
That would be an interesting story to tackle.
It has a few parallels to Po's whole journey in the last 3 movies, to find who he was. Now he has to fight someone who is just as lost as he was back then.
It's too bad that they fumbled with the story.
I don’t see many talking about this. But think about this, we got Tai Lung, Lord Shen, General Kai… and now “The Chameleon”. The moment I realize that this is just her name made me laugh at how dumb that is. Or if she does have a real name and not just a lame title I must’ve missed it
And the final marshmallow of the night goes to Kai you are safe for having a banger theme and being an actual serious threat, the chameleon you have been eliminated for not being that big of a threat and having tons of more flaws
How I would fix Chameleon:
Fully play into her disguise powers (but no power-stealing BS). Make her Agent 47 going around assassinating key members, and making herself (or her faction) rise in the hierarchy. Her motive is becoming the most powerful mafia boss. Po is then sent to investigate HER instead of looking for the missing staff (this also removes the OP staff issue), then meet Awkwafina and she tags along.
Po then slowly realize every lead he talked to mysteriously die/disappear soon after. This also mean Chameleon having no back story is because SHE WENT BACK AND KILLED EVEYONE THAT KNEW OF HER EXISTENCE. Chameleon disguise as him going around causing trouble and get him hated (this creates the motivation for Po to quickly find the culprit to not further damage his Dragon Warrior status), and also a subtle hint for Po to guess what Chameleon's power is.
Final battle is in a busy street, Chameleon constantly shifts between civilians to get a backstab on Po, while Po has to hold back to not injure actual civilians around. Then key moment will be Chameleon disguising as 1 of the supposedly disappeared lead from previous, Po sus her out and beat her in 1 shot. Awkwafina then takes Chameleon's role as mob boss, abolish her mafia empire.
Can’t wait to watch this video! :D
Also the new blue theme is working pretty well >:D