Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Review)
In Shang-Chi, Everyone Really Is Kung-Fu Fighting!
Shang-Chi is a character that I never got a chance to know well back when I regularly read comic books. So, I had no idea what to expect from his feature film other than a lot of graceful fight scenes (he is the master of kung-fu, after all). Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hooked from the start as it embraced the rich history of wuxia cinema and recognized that the characters in them were all pretty much superheroes due to the impossible martial arts feats they performed. As much as I loved the thrilling stunts, fantasy elements, and classic kung-fu film homages, it was the characters that stood out most. Fans lost a lot of major players in the MCU at the end of phase three, but after Black Widow and Shang-Chi, I’m pretty excited about this rookie roster, especially after some of the “hints” that have been dropped about their potential future roles within the universe.
In a universe that has literal gods throwing hands with intergalactic tyrants, how’s a guy who knows “kung-fu” going to make a difference? Well, when your father, Wenwu (Tony Leung), happens to have discovered advanced technology 1000 years ago that granted him the superhuman abilities and longevity allowing him to conquer empires and build an underground army of loyal soldiers known as The Ten Rings, you’re not just learning the same old kung-fu. Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) began a brutal training regime after the devastating death of his mother. His father set out to mold him into the ultimate warrior to rebuild The Ten Rings at his side and pushed Shang-Chi to the breaking point on a daily basis. After seven years of this, Shang-Chi finally escaped to America where he because just another high school kid. Ten years later, he’s 24 years old and enjoying his lackadaisical new lifestyle with his best friend, Katy (Awkwafina). Unfortunately, that’s exactly when Wenwu decides to bring home his wayward son. Forced to face his past, Shang-Chi is thrown into a globe-trotting adventure filled with incredible fights, superhuman powers, and beings beyond his wildest dreams.
Simu Liu proved to be the perfect pick for Marvel’s Master of Kung-Fu. He combines the charm of Jackie Chan, the comedy of Stephen Chow, and the showmanship of Donnie Yen to create a character all his own. I liked his swagger from the start, and he proved to have the skills to bring the Master of Kung-Fu to life. Of course, Shang-Chi isn’t a one-man show, and he was joined by well-crafted, badass women. Awkwafina is a delightful addition to any movie, thanks to an approachability that makes you immediately want to be friends with her. Refreshingly, that’s what her character, Katy, is to Shang-Chi instead of a love interest. The real badass of this film though is Meng’er Zhang as Shang-Chi’s equally deadly sister, Xialing. The character has built a respectable empire of her own running MCU underground fights, and will even step into the ring from time to time to freshen up her skills. The moment Meng’er steps on screen a serpentine sense of danger radiates off her and I instantly wanted to know more about this anti-damsel-in-distress. Honestly, though, all of the characters were great and a few fan favorites returned as well, including Benedict Wong’s Wong and Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings clearly takes inspiration from the success of Black Panther in the way it creates a fusion of modern and traditional Chinese culture to create a vibrant world celebrating both. For the most part, I loved the way Shang-Chi transitioned from bamboo forest to urban Macau to showcase just how diverse China and its people are from business professionals to urban rebels to peaceful villagers. There are a number of fantasy elements from the wire-fu that allows them to gracefully fly through the air to even mythical creatures themselves that hit at an even larger world beyond what we’ve already seen in the MCU. This blend of old-and-new and east-meets-west in the production design works wonderfully for the most part, but at times proves nonsensical and cumbersome.
Marvel movies tend to have serious villain issues, especially when it comes to characters getting their first solo adventure. Shang-Chi does much better as it sets up a clash between son and father that no one wants to happen. Both believe they are on the side of good, which gives their relationship a great deal of depth, but then a new villain is shoved in at the end. Don’t get me wrong, it made for a much more exciting and CGI riddled third-act, but left an unsatisfying number of questions. The film also stumbles when it comes to some of the moralistic quandaries the characters find themselves in. The age-old “killing is bad” cliche is recycled even after it’s pretty clear that the characters have killed a number of people so far and will have to kill in order to save the world. It just seemed like a childish attempt to establish black-and-white morality in the characters to make them more audience-friendly. This carries over into the non-lethal weapons used by the Ten Rings, which looked very cool but made no sense. These stumbles stood out though because everything else about Shang-Chi is so dang good!
Despite not being a super-soldier, a sorcerer supreme, or a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Shang-Chi seems like he’s going to be right at home along with the rest of the gang. The film injects a sense of wonder into the MCU and opens up new realms of possibility for its adventures to take place. Marvel has invested heavily in carefully crafting these new characters to not only offer proper representation on screen but to leave you eagerly wanting to see more of their adventures. This combined with thrilling action sequences and some awe-inspiring CGI makes Shang-Chi a definite must-see in theaters and an exciting step forward for the MCU.
Oh, and I have to give a shout-out to Marvel for killing it with awesome female characters these days. I can’t wait to see more of Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing and Awkwafina’s Katy.
