I waited almost a month to post this review – I tried to
stay spoiler free, but there are a couple below – so spoiler warning up
top! If you have seen the movie, and you
want to hear myself and a handful of other LAMB members rave about it, listen
here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/lambcast/episodes/2021-09-07T08_55_22-07_00
The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to strive forward after its own Endgame, first with new stories with familiar characters in the Disney Plus shows and in Black Widow, and now with an origin story of a brand new MCU hero.
Shang-Chi made his comic debut in 1973, during the height of
the martial arts craze. The books were
big successes, leading to several attempts to bring him to the screen –
including Stan Lee’s idea to do a movie in the late 80s starring Brandon Lee.
Now, we finally get Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The movie begins in a similar fashion to Black Panther, with Shang-Chi’s mother telling him as a child the story of his father, who found the ten rings and used them to conquer, accumulate power, and gain near immortality over a thousand years or so. After meeting her, he put them away to focus on his family and she stepped away from her village in a different dimension, setting aside her powers as well. Her powers as less clear, but seem to be elemental?
She gives the young Shang-Chi a pendant and we jump ahead to meet him as Shaun, a happy young man working as a valet in San Francisco with his best friend Katy. On a bus ride to work, some members of his father’s crew, including the aptly named Razor Fist, show up to collect the pendant and threaten to go after his sister. Determined to save her, he comes clean about his past to Katy, who insists on joining him as he goes to see his sister. They head to Macao, but his sister Xialing is doing just fine for herself, running an underground fight club that features fights with ‘enhanced individuals’. Just as Shang-Chi and Xialing are reconnecting, their father, Wenwu (or The Mandarin, or any of the other multiple names folks have been calling him), shows up to collect both pendants and both children – and Katy for some reason. At his compound, he reveals the reason Katy is there - to justify lengthy exposition of his history and new goal of rescuing his wife from behind a huge gate at her village. His children, having watched her die, know he is starting to lose his mind and set out to save her village from their father – with Katy.
I loved this movie. I have seen it three times and enjoyed it each time more than the previous time. It can feel a little slow in the middle where all the exposition is happening, but I am not sure how you could have skipped any of it because it helps to clarify and develop all the characters and their backstories. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the movie integrates flashbacks throughout the entire piece, creating a layered narrative that works really well for this particular hero. Several flashback scenes are used repeatedly, but with more information each time, filling in the story as the movie progresses. This allows you to feel very connected to both Shang-Chi and Xialing by the time the climatic action sequence happens. The look of the movie is stunning, especially when it shifts to Tao Lo, the village in another dimension, filled with various creatures from Chinese mythology. The fights and actions sequences are spectacular, especially the bus fight early on. But what really elevates this fairly straightforward comic-book action movie (like most MCU movies) is the actors and the performances.
Simu Liu is the perfect choice for Shang-Chi. He is so
likeable and relatable. I appreciated that while being an origin movie, we didn’t
get an intense training sequence for him – his training is conveyed during
flashbacks and setups so that what would have been a training montage in other
MCU origin stories is covered in pieces that enhance the story. As a side note, if you have not watched Kim’s
Convenience yet on Netflix, go ahead and binge all four seasons of that
incredibly charming Canadian sitcom to fall in love with Simu all over again.
Meng’er Zhang is absolutely wonderful as Xialing. She has a compelling side of the story, but I almost wish there was a little more of her. She is a bit bitter at Shang-Chi for leaving her behind years ago, and as a result, has crafted herself into a bit of an underworld boss. As a slight spoiler – stay through all the credits – I cannot wait to see what they have in store for her next, she was a true bright spot in an already bright movie for me.
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung is a legend in Asian cinema but this may be the first time some American audience members have seen him. On the surface, this version of the Mandarin could be pure evil, and written off as just another MCU throwaway villain. However, through some delicate touches and beautiful moments, he manages to make Wenwu sympathetic in moments, driven to desperation by how much he misses his wife. Only someone with his skill can pull that off.
Awkwafina plays Katy and begins as regular Awkwafina (I do enjoy Nora from Queens on Comedy central, but mainly for B.D. Wong and Grandma), but evolves over the course of the movie to a pretty high-level sidekick. She functions as the audience “in” to the story, because everyone else knows what is going on, so she gets to ask the questions we would ask. I love that she and Shang-Chi have a very strong platonic friendship with no forced romance.
Of course, since the Mandarin is the villain, we are treated to the return of Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery – or “Fake Mandarin” from Iron Man 3 and the Marvel One-shot Short, “All Hail The King”, which is now on Disney+. He is a treat and I love LOVE his buddy Morris, the Dijiang. Delightful.
Florian Munteanu, most recently seen as Ivan Drago Jr. in Creed 2, plays Razor Fist. He is a old-fashioned comic-book movie villain who is able to quickly adapt to a situation that gets out of his control. Plus, he has a pretty sweet car. Andy Le is great as Death Dealer, but I could have used a little bit more of him.
The incredible Michelle Yeoh continues to be incredible as Ying Nan, the siblings’ auntie who lives in the alternate dimension. She’s there to fill in any exposition holes that Wenwu missed in the previous scenes as well as clarify some of Shang-Chi’s abilities to prep him for the final battle.
Overall, the movie is beautiful with fantastic action and great soundtrack and score. I normally only notice the score when it is bad or really good. Here, Joel P. West’s score is noticeably epic, blending traditional Chinese instruments and sounds with modern Asian hip-hop beats and tempos. I love the music behind the final action sequence. I also love the cultural moments, yes, he’s the first Chinese superhero to have his own movie, but even more lovely are the smaller cultural moments in the movie. He goes to pick up Katy from work and has a discussion with Katy’s grandmother about how she is preparing to remember her late husband. Continued representation is key to allow all movie-goers the opportunity to see themselves, their traditions, and culture reflected in the movies we all watch. The movie is a fantastic origin story – certainly one of the best in the MCU and I cannot wait to see Shang-Chi join up with other heroes in upcoming stories.
9 out of 10
In case you were curious how that Dijiang came to be and why
he is so adorable! Spoilers! https://www.etonline.com/how-shang-chi-brought-morris-the-scene-stealing-chaos-god-to-life-exclusive-171995
