Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Ten Second Review: As Marvel continue to expand their roster of heroes and styles, Shang Chi makes a splash with some of the best action the MCU has seen yet.
My “woo” when new Marvel films are announced is getting wearier as the years go on. It does generally get a little more enthusiastic when the trailers come out, but there have been a fair few trailers recently too. Shang Chi did seem to be offering something different and my interest had been peaked by the inclusion of an actual stuntman and martial artist, Simu Liu, in the lead role!
The film follows the titular Shang Chi (Liu) as he is sucked back into his former life as the son of a 1000 year old warlord. Along with his friend Katy (Akwafina) he will have to stop his father’s plan or risk the fate of the world.
It has to be said that when boiled down to a short (as spoiler free as possible) synopsis, Shang Chi really sounds like any other marvel film, but there are certainly some key differences with the first being the action. I have a proper love for good stunt-work and great fight choreography and Marvel has historically made great action scenes that lack good fight choreography. Most fans will rebuttals with “what about Winter Soldier?” and they’re right, that choreo stands out because of what it’s up against. Shang Chi puts the hand to hand combat we’ve seen in the MCU so far to shame. It’s not always shot how I would prefer and certainly still has some Marvel signatures, but overall it looks so well done and so dynamic!
The film also balances the realistic combat, the fantastical, the serious and the comedy so well. There were a few points that felt a little overly sentimental but not in a way that overly negatively effected the film and may be down to personal preference. I also understand that some people’s personal preference may not be for the fantastical turn the third act takes, but I did really enjoy it.
I also liked some of the surprises that the film had in store for audiences. I don’t want to spoil anything, but for fans of the comics and the MCU specifically who had a problem with a very specific moment a few years back I think Marvel has answered it. It’s not a problem I had, but I know it rubbed people wrong at the time and I think they resolved it in a fun way. (I know this is cryptic but those who have seen it know and fans who haven’t will understand.
There is obviously important strides this movie has made within representation within the MCU, but I’m not best placed to discuss this. I would recommend Brian Tong’s review and discussion on the film, but to pick out an important note he makes; the film balances a kind of Shakespearean narrative with a Asian mythology along with everything we expect and hope for from an MCU film. It feels, from an outside point of view, faithful and empowering rather than cashing in on sentiment. In fact, Brian also mentioned the fact that it was good that this film could come out now given movements like #StopAsianHate, but it’s ability to come out now also shows that Marvel aren’t making it in response to that but because they already wanted to put Shang Chin in to the MCU.
Overall I wouldn’t definitely say go see this film! It’s perfect for the cinema and has enough to appeal to a wide variety of audiences. The action is top tier for a film of this size and the writing and characters are great. We’ll have to wait to see where it fits in phase 4 of the MCU but I’m certainly excited to see where the characters go.
