Minor spoilers ahead.
I've watched the evolution of these Hollywood blockbusters made for Chinese audiences for some time now, and "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is a very interesting case. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who hasn't made anything remotely like this movie in the past, it feels more like a Chinese film than most previous attempts, with a significant portion of the dialogue in Chinese, and themes of family reconciliation and legacy. There are a few nods to the Chinese-American experience toward the beginning of the film, and other parts of the Chinese diaspora, but the filmmakers quickly shift gears once the characters get to China. This is a celebration of Chinese culture and mythology first, executed with all the resources of Marvel at their disposal.
"Shang-Chi" stars Simu Liu as the titular Shang-Chi, a Chinese immigrant who lives in San Francisco, parks cars by day, and hangs out with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) by night. Quickly, it's revealed that he's the son of a powerful Chinese underworld figure, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), who wields the power of the supernatural weapons, the ten rings. Wenwu is searching for Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), who he wants to help him find the hidden villain of their late mother, Ying Li (Fala Chen). The family's complicated history and long string of unprocessed traumas pit everyone against each other, providing plenty of opportunity for all manner of fights, chases, escapes, and demonstrations of crazy powers. Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng, and a couple of surprises fill out the supporting cast.
There is a lot of story packed into "Shang-Chi," to the point where there's clearly a lot that was cut out of the film, and it's only in the closing moments when we even get around to asking what the ten rings are or where they came from. I like that the film doesn't waste much time on certain expository things, like explaining what the rings can do, or who some of the minor characters are. We just see them in action and the viewer is left to draw their own conclusions. The action sequences in this film are some of the best in the MCU, using a combination of wuxia, traditional martial arts, and plenty of expensive CGI. I love that they're allowed to shoulder some of the storytelling - revealing Shang-Chi's martial arts prowess, showing changing relationships, and the changing balance of power. Between this and "Nobody," this is clearly the year for beatdowns on buses.
The "Shang-Chi" comic books and the MCU in general haven't had the best track record with portraying Chinese culture respectfully. Here, all the characters have been carefully rejiggered to be more pro-China, well-rounded, and sympathetic. The Chinese dialogue was clearly written in Chinese, and the English subtitles often don't convey all the subtleties of it. Katy, often the only character who doesn't understand Chinese, often feels like the odd one out. The biggest thing on the movie's side, however, is having Tony Leung as Wenwu. The character has such a wonderful, tragic arc, and Leung is given the opportunity to deliver an unusually nuanced, moving performance for an MCU villain.
I'm also happy to report that Simu Liu makes for an excellent new hero, and he has some great humorous chemistry with Awkwafina. These two may not be the Chinese ideal of what movie heroes should look like, but I found it hard to resist their karaoke-warbling charms. This is very much still an MCU film, one that follows the formula to the letter. My biggest complaint with the film is that it ends with a big battle scene with gobs of CGI nonsense, like way too many of these MCU films do. That said, "Shang-Chi" also has my favorite MCU credits sequence ever. I'm tempted to write a spoiler post for this movie just so I can gush more about it.
In any case, the MCU is going strong, it's a relief that the filmmakers didn't screw this one up, and I can't wait to see where all these new characters are going to pop up next. Onward!
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