Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
3.5/4
Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been a firm believer in the idea of going to the movies being an experience and not just a regular family outing. I’ll always treasure having the privilege of being in the generation that got to experience something as historic as the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe has evolved over the past two decades, giving fans of many different demographics their very own superhero. I’m thrilled to tell you that Marvel’s latest outing is no different, giving the MCU its first Asian superhero in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The best thing about this movie is its casting. Canadian actor Simu Liu is fantastic as Shang-Chi and he manages to do exactly what the late Chadwick Boseman did with Black Panther: he gives underrepresented kids their very own hero to look up to. Awkwafina is also very good in this film and she brings a lot of humour and relatability to her role as Katy.
My favourite character in the film by far, though, is the main villain Xu Wenwu, portrayed by legendary Chinese actor Tony Leung. He does a great job taking the character’s vulnerability and relatable motives and blending them together to make a truly transformative performance that really gives the movie a lot of its heart.
Another thing that I can’t rave enough about are the spectacular action scenes. They are just breathtaking and are some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen in a MCU movie for a while. What I really like about them is the kung-fu element. My favourite example of this is the bus action scene in the last half of the first act. The fight scene is fantastically shot and well-choreographed, even if half of it is clearly ripped off from the bus fight scene in the Jackie Chan film New Police Story.
My one complaint about the movie is I felt like there is just no stakes to it. I mean, the movie basically just makes Shang-Chi this unbeatable hero that nobody can lay a scratch on, and as a result I think the movie lost some believability, which may take some movie-goers out of the experience.
That being said, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the finer films in the MCU canon and I do believe that most of the film-going public will at least see this film as an entertaining, fun ride at the movies. It will certainly make MCU fans everywhere want to see more of the title character, and in times like these, what else can you really ask for?