Do we like them?

Do we like Tai Lung?

A character from Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Our score: 2 out of 10. We wouldn't back him. His hurt is real and you can feel for it, but he answers it with violence and a hunger for power, and he never lets anyone close.

Tai Lung is the main villain of the first Kung Fu Panda film. He is a snow leopard who was raised by the kung fu master Shifu and trained to be the greatest warrior in the Valley of Peace. He is fast, strong and very good at what he does, and the film introduces him as a legend that other characters speak of in whispers.

His story is one of pride and wounded ambition. He believed he was destined for the highest honour, and when it was denied him he couldn't accept it. Years of imprisonment have left him bitter, and he is focused on one thing: taking the power he feels he was cheated of. Ian McShane gives him a quiet, controlled menace that makes him far more than a roaring brute.

We score him low because the film never lets his pain excuse what he does. He is sympathetic at the start, but he chooses to threaten innocent villagers and to hurt the people who once loved him. He is a good lesson in how a talent can be wasted when it is driven by entitlement and not by care for others. He is memorable, but we would not follow him.