I don't think it's any exaggeration to say that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is my new favourite Marvel movie. And possibly the best Marvel movie.
Which may well be because it's unlike any of the Marvel movies before it. Even with a non-zero number of cameos by previous Marvel characters.
I have been watching a lot of Asian cinema the last two years. Korean movies, Chinese movies, Japanese movies. And a lot of them martial arts movies, with a large dose of historical fiction thrown in.
And this movie has fingerprints from a number of those marital arts movies all over it. In the best possible way.
First up, the story.
Marvel movies have proved in the past that they're just better when the villain is more of an antagonist than a scenery chewing bad guy or a bit of a damp squid. Black Panther knew that. And in a lot of ways, Thanos had a point about over population in Infinity War. And now we have Xu Wenwu, played wonderfully by Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, a man driven by a desire for power and grief, but still a man who cares for his family, even if he shows it in a really screwed up way, and believes he's doing the right thing.
It feels like a much smaller and more intimate story, the story of one man and his relationship with his children, even if the stakes are mostly set at the usual "fate of the world" stakes. Yes, it's full of the usual clichés.. "finding your power", "doing the right thing", but there are also so many small story moments that feel fresh and are wonderfully done.
I feel like a lot of that possibly rests at the feet of the writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton. I mean, yes, there were other writers, but this feels like a voice that goes all the way through the movie.
And they aren't even all that huge as far as moments go. Shang-Chi has a female friend and there is no romance plotline, and she isn't secretly pining away for him without him knowing. There's a moment where Not The Main Character is crucial to the end of the movie, while Shang-Chi isn't having a hero moment. The moment you've been waiting for the whole movie happens almost without words or a lot of fanfare. The female characters have agency, names and talk about things other than the male characters. A low bar, but one many movies fail to clear.
Speaking of the women in this movie. I was pleasantly surprised by Awkwafina in this movie. Yes, the last thing I saw her in way Raya, and super didn't love her character in that, but she was good in the, admittedly, mostly forgettable Oceans 8. Her character could easily have become annoying or used as the comedy relief character, but, no... she's a fully fleshed out character with an arc and doesn't just become the damsel in distress at the end of the movie. Or worse yet, become a shoe-horned in romance plot as mentioned before. I also very much look forward to seeing what they do with her in later movies.
And as an actress without any movie experience, Meng'er Zhang is very good as Sheng's sister. Likewise, it will be interesting to see what they do with her character in later movies, because she will absolutely show up in later movies.
A quick shout out to Fala Chen in her small role as Shang's mother. Her first scene in the movie, which is also part of the opening of the movie, is possibly one of the BEST martial arts/romance scenes in... any movie.
But... Michelle Yeoh... Michelle Yeoh makes ANY movie she's in better. She may only really be in the movie about as much as Fala Chen, but she's great.
I will also say that the henchman, Razor Fist, played by Florian Munteanu, has something about him... I mean, yes, he's very handsome and he has biceps that are ridiculous... and a super cool villain defining feature. I can't put my finger on why (and no, I don't think it's about being thirsty for the bad guy), but he has that kind of screen charisma that just had me drawn to him. The character is fun enough, his first scene is probably the best, but I enjoyed him a lot.
Which brings us to the titular Shang-Chi... Simu Liu. I wasn't sure about him when I saw the poster, but... damn (also, I kind of thing the photo of him on the poster doesn't do him ANY justice). He also has that screen charisma and a sweetness and warmth that makes him feel perfect for the character (admittedly a character I know nothing about beyond what I've seen in this movie).
But he can do comedy, he can definitely do action and martial arts, and he can do drama and emotion. He also looks great both shirtless and in the Shang-Chi final costume.
On that note, all of the costumes, especially in the latter half of the movie, are amazing. Actually, the entire last... third of the movie in general is great.
As a whole, the movie wasn't really what I was expecting, although honestly I wasn't really sure what I was expecting. But it surprised me. And I enjoyed it a hell of a lot.
yani's rating: 5 dijiang out of 5
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