[Hint: The Author's Note is just my statement about the fourth movie. If you don't want to read it, you can jump to chapter 2.]
{Author's Note}
Hello, those who know my stories may be surprised to see this story on my list. For this reason, I wrote a, more or less, long foreword to explain this fact after I watched "Kung Fu Panda 4" today.
Just to make it clear once and for all, I am NOT a supporter of the Kung Fu Panda 4 movie! On the contrary. Personally, I would have preferred it had never come out. There are several reasons for this, which I will explain here.
To sum up my dislike for the fourth film, this is just my personal opinion(!).
For one thing, I found it unfair that, of all three main villains, Tai Lung got all the spotlight. Especially in the very first scene in the quarry. Even in the cage scene, Shen wasn't even allowed to fight, before the Chameleon stole his power. No surprise, Mike Mitchell, as he himself confirmed in an interview, is a big fan of Tai Lung, while he ignored the others. To be honest, I expected a bit more neutrality from a Kung Fu Panda movie director. Especially since the reappearance of Shen and Kai was almost unnecessary and took place without any explanation. Shen was generally declared dead, same to Kai. Does the term "death" need to be redefined in the KFP universe? Furthermore, their presence was meaningless. They neither had a speaking role nor did they actively contribute to the plot. Kai and Shen might as well have not shown up and left them in peace. So it was more like a nostalgia lure for film-goer.
Don't misunderstand me! On the one hand, it was nice to see Shen on the screen again. But I was deeply disappointed that Shen didn't play a role at all. To be honest, I had really hoped that Tai Lung, Shen and Kai would team up against the chameleon at least. This would have been a really good reason and a unique opportunity. So I really don't understand why Mike Mitchell didn't take advantage of this chance. While he won people because of the atmosphere and good cinematic effects, this was a complete waste of potential of the three villains, which, in my opinion, was the worst thing it could have done. It would have been a good basis for debates between the main villains, or for the three of them to confront Po. A lot of fans were really hoping for the three main villains to team up with Po against the Chameleon. Instead, they were taken out of the drawer for a moment and then to disappear again. To be honest, I was really surprised that neither Shen nor Kai asked what was going on. To me they seemed like empty, lifeless shells. In addition, this senseless performance destroyed Shen's survival theory, which I extremely regret most of all. In doing so, DreamWorks refused the chance to produce good stories with Shen in the world of the living, especially since he fulfilled the best requirements of all three villains to have survived and they has trampled down another fan base. (For this reason, Shen's reappearance does not exist in my world, including not this fanfiction story. I will adhere to my Shen survival stories in the future.)
I also thought it was a shame that the Chameleon wasn't as well-developed a character as the previous villains. The fact that it can transform is a feast for the eyes for many people, of course, and triggers fear and respect, but I missed the depth. Even Kai's backstory was better presented. As a result, her character came across as quite cold. I don't know if that was intentional so that in the end you wouldn't feel sorry for the loss.
My sympathy for the chameleon is limited because she used Shen for her plans, but yet I would have liked a different (and better) ending for her. For example, that the chameleon was in danger of being destroyed by something in her madness, and Po might have saved her. At least, I hoped for an ending similar to "Lego Movie". This would have more substantiate the message of the film "Every pit holds the promise of a mighty tree". I was also very surprised to hear that the chameleon wasn't allowed to learn kung fu, because she was too small. Really? Mantis is much smaller than her. Who prevented her from taking Kung Fu lessons, or were they Kung Fu teachers with prejudices? Or had another factor played a role?
So for these and similar reasons, this film isn't my favorite version. The fourth film wasted a lot of potential. I probably never would have thought about writing a chameleon story if there weren't three things that made me do it.
The first reason why I'm writing this story for the Chameleon is, to put it bluntly, I'm so tired of this KFP-VILLAIN-FINDS-BAD-ENDING tradition! I was so hoping things would end differently and the chameleon would stay in the world of living. To be honest, I felt pity for the Chameleon even before the first trailer went online. Since three main villains had already been "destroyed" at the end (as I said, the word "death" probably needs to be redefined), I somehow suspected that it would happen again, but does it always have to be like this? It's getting boring that everyone is always being transported to the afterlife and it saddens me.
Secondly, I found it extremely unfortunate that the inner life of chameleon was missing in the movie. Tai Lung and Shen are still on the top list of their motives. In this story, I tried to give her a background story with more meaning.
And thirdly, in my free time I like reptiles. Chameleons in particular are fascinating creatures.
Additionally, beforehand I would like to say that because I don't like the fourth movie, this chameleon story will be my first, only and last! And not only for the Chameleon, but also for the fourth film itself, I will not write a fanfiction for it anymore. I just liked the idea to write a redemption story about her, because maybe she could have a lot of more potential for a good story.
I don't know what DreamWorks plans to do with KFP in the future, but a lot will probably change. It remains to be seen whether in a possible fifth and sixth film the filmmakers will smooth out what was more or less screwed up in the fourth part, and whether the three villains and even the chameleon will somehow appear again. But even at the risk that the chameleon might return in a new trilogy series, and that this redemption story for the chameleon will end up being nonsense again, I will still write this story and may it be used as an AU again in the distant future.
As I said, those who like or even love the fourth film, feel free to do so. I wrote my opinion about the plot why I dislike (or even hate) this movie. You can agree or not. This is just an individual decision. For my part, I think that the fourth movie focused more on cool action and fight scenes with good effects instead of focusing on a good story and good character development and interaction.
And to come back to this story for a moment, I would like to say, before you read the first chapter, that I still don't agree with Shen's apathetic appearance in the movie (especially that he returned to the spirit realm), and therefore it doesn't count as canon for me. For this reason, this event of Shen's reappearance, or the so-called proof that Shen didn't survive the cannon crash, will be not mentioned here in this story. It simply doesn't exist. Although I'm writing this story after the fourth Kung Panda movie, I do not accept this event. And the chameleon is still not my favorite, but I think she also deserves a better ending. But for a change of thinking, it needs more than just wise words of a Dragon Warrior, because she is very coldhearted and this is the reason why I toughen up on her in this story. Because, as we saw in the movie, she's a monster inside - somehow.