Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings review

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS: 

SHANG-CHI’S FIRST CINEMATIC OUTING IS TRULY QUITE EXCITING AND ONE OF THE MCU’S BOLDEST FILMS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

MARVEL STUDIOS

Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

 

            Marvel is back in full force with one of their boldest outings throughout their entire 13-year history in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the latest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and second entry in Phase Four following Black Widow. This marks the first MCU film to feature mostly an Asian cast, very much like what Black Panther did with a mostly African American cast and I have to say…this is everything the Snake Eyes movie isn’t. 

            One of the MCU greats? Not really, but it’s a visually dazzling, action-packed without any obnoxious camera work, and funny installment of the series that has a tightly written story, very charismatic characters, and unlike in Snake Eyes, the main character is actually likable and charming. Not quite on par with most of the Avengers films, Captain America 2 and 3, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor: Ragnarok, or Black Panther, but this is the first MCU movie I really enjoyed since 2019. 

            The film follows Shaun (Simu Liu-Blood and Water, Kim’s Convenience, Yappie), a man with a shady history who left his past behind in favor of living a normal life with his friend, Katy (Awkwafina-Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell, Raya and the Last Dragon). However, his past soon catches up with him as he is forced to confront it by leaving San Francisco and returning to China where was trained to be an assassin. 

            There, he learns secrets about the Ten Rings, a powerful artifact that his family has controlled for centuries while also discovering some dark secrets about his family, particularly his father, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung-Hero, 2046, The Silent War). Shaun must learn to step up and become the new hero in town known as Shang-Chi.

            The film also stars Fala Chen (Steps, Tales from the Dark 2, The Undoing) as Ying Li, Florian Munteanu (Creed II, Violence of Action, Borderlands) as Razor Fist, Benedict Wong (Sunshine, The Martian, Raya and the Last Dragon) reprising his role from Doctor Strange and Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame as Wong, Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Avatar 2) as Ying Nan, and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List, Ender’s Game) reprising his role from Iron Man 3 as Trevor Slattery. 

            Overall, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings not only delivers another exciting entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a visually dazzling, action-packed, and funny superhero film in its own right that has a well-written script, charming characters, and it explores and celebrates Chinese culture in a big, epic way. What I really appreciate about this movie is I found the chemistry between Liu and Awkwafina to be quite funny and charming that you could have taken out all the superhero stuff and I probably would have been just fine. 

            I was a little worried that Awkwafina would make the movie a little too jokey (Even by MCU standards), but many of her lines end up getting some of the biggest laughs throughout the entire film and I like how they keep her as a close friend to Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and not force a romance on us by the end. It’s a rare time where I enjoyed hearing the banter between the protagonist and his friend more than the superhero action. 

I just really liked listening to and watching them together, both of them have their moments of witty dialogue. I never thought they were only acting, I thought I was watching two people who knew each other for a long time. 

            I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Shang-Chi and his father, while he is made out to be the villain of the film, he does have some sympathetic moments and even goes through a bit of an arc as the film progresses. It’s sort of like a less threatening version of Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming where even though he’s the villain, you understand where he’s coming from and why he feels the need to do these things, in this film’s case, he just wants his deceased wife back. 

The action sequences are exhilarating, though the climax is filled with a lot of CGI like in other MCU films, most of it has some spectacular and thrilling scenes with impressive fight choreography, personally I would have preferred more on-screen action and less CGI and green screens, but for what I got I was very satisfied with catching this one on the big screen. 

Two of my favorites in particular are the fight scene on the bus and another scene where Shang-Chi is in a cage fighting Marvel fan favorite the Abomination (Not played by Tim Roth this time around!), there wasn’t a lot of shaking cameras, I was able to make most of it out, and there was CG utilized when applicable. 

When necessary, the film can also be quite funny at times and not just from Awkwafina but Ben Kingsley, who was one of the most polarizing aspects of Iron Man 3, but here he goes full-on goofy and gets some huge laughs. 

Granted, I was a little disappointed by the lack of characterization of some of the side characters, often whenever the film reintroduced some characters I was like “Oh yeah, I almost forgot that character was even in this!”. I was very underwhelmed by the Abomination as I thought he was built up as this big deal in the film when really, he was just in one scene while being trained with Wong. Also, does that mean Wong is keeping Tim Roth from The Incredible Hulk like a pet?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a film that reminds me why I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the first place (Even after a couple minor blunders like Captain Marvel and Black Widow), this film brings the magic back into the franchise and sheds some light on a very unfamiliar character. It’s one Marvel origin story that’s worth every “Ring”.