“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Review
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) prepares for battle in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the most recent film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After an incredible achievement in cinema with “The Infinity Saga,” the decision of Marvel Studios to continue the Marvel Cinematic Universe is both exciting and terrifying. With so many films all building towards an epic battle, a new world of possibility emerges from the aftermath of “Avengers: Endgame.” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” gives us a new look at what’s to come from Marvel and it’s much more fantastic and new then any of us could have realized. While I have enjoyed most of the Marvel movies of late, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is easily the best film in the series since “Endgame” and is as epic as it is fun.
Set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) is an underachieving valet who spends his days hanging out with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) in San Francisco. However, his past comes back to haunt him when assassins try to kill him and Katy, leading the pair to venture to Shang-Chi’s home in China where he, Katy and Shang-Chi’s sister Xu Xialang (Meng’er Zhang) confront Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), Shang-Chi and Xialang’s father and head of the Ten Ring’s terrorist syndicate. Armed with the mystical relics, the Ten Rings, Wenwu aims to unleash chaos upon the mystical village Ta Lo and the rest of Earth leaving Shang-Chi and his allies the only to stop him and save the world.
Simu Liu’s portrayal of Shang-Chi is fantastic with Lu providing a lot of depth for a character who, in the eyes of people who don’t read comics, is fairly unknown. What makes Liu even more impressive is that he does the majority of his own stunts utilizing a variety of martial arts techniques. Shang-Chi is a very relatable protagonist, wanting to avoid his father’s organization, but has himself thrust into the world he thought he left behind.
Joining Shang-Chi is Katy who is a complete scene-stealer thanks to Awkwafina’s excellent comedy. If you’ve ever seen “Crazy Rich Asians” or “Nora From Queens,” you’d know that she is absolutely hilarious which translates over very well to Marvel’s consistent sense of humor. And if you haven’t seen Awkwafina in anything, I feel sorry for your stunted sense of comedy. However, Katy isn’t just comic relief and, in fact, becomes kind of a bad-ass by the end of the film and Awkwafina’s work as an action star is both cool and funny.
As far as the MCU goes, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is one of the more funny films in this series. While something like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and its sequel is probably the funniest Marvel film, both I and the audience were constantly laughing throughout the film and enjoying ourselves at our screening.
(Left) Katy (Awkwafina) provides a lot of humor to the film and the friendship she has with Shang-Chi is one of the most endearing parts of the film.
While I liked “Black Widow” and felt it did service to the titular superhero, I felt that the film’s villain was underdeveloped. In the case of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Wenwu is one of the best Marvel villains of recent years and his character is very fleshed out with his relationship with Shang-Chi being center stage. Tony Leung, one of Hong Kong’s best actors, has a very layered performance consisting of a struggle for humanity and his interactions with Simu Liu are one of the highlights of the film.
The film’s action is incredible and the way it’s shot by Director of Photography William Pope, of “The Matrix,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Baby Driver,” reminds me what good action should be. Unlike something like “Snake Eyes,” which tried to hide average stunts by constantly quick-cutting, the action of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is mainly shot in long, sweeping takes so the audience can see what’s going on. While there’s obviously Computer Generated Imagery used in the background, the stunts are so impressive and the fighting is so slick that you could take away the CGI and it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
While the film is very engrossing, the story can drag at times, particularly in the second act, because of the introduction of various plot elements and establishing the mystical realm of Ta Lo. However, once these elements are introduced, it is a very fantastic film especially visually. The entire film is full of color and Ta Lo is one of the best looking realms of the MCU: on par with Asgard, Wakanda and Kamar-Taj. Visually, the film is a beautiful combination of Hong Kong action cinema, classic East Asian cinema of the 1950s and American superhero films, resulting in a unique addition to the MCU.
While part of the MCU and referencing past films, the film has an independence from the rest of the franchise. Instead of building up other films or tying in to an upcoming project, the film is purely dedicated to being an origin story for the main character which is refreshing after all of the sequels and crossovers of recent years.
The film is very different from other films in the MCU and, despite being the 25th film in the series and part of a larger universe made up of films, television shows and short films, really sticks out. With the MCU proving to be consistently good, the biggest sin a Marvel film can commit is feel standard. However, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” far surpasses the bar set by previous entries in this ever-expanding franchise.
