Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021 Review. Marvel Movie Shang-Chi
and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021 watch at thearter near you.
 |
| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021 |
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021 Review
There
is an instant thrill in having this supersized superhero Marvel movie, begin with a voiceover in Mandarin, as Tony
Leung steps into frame. One of the
world’s great actors, Leung exerts an effortless majesty. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,
he plays Wenwu, an immortal who
possesses 10 rings with enormous occult power.
Wenwu, also known as The Mandarin, heads a criminal organization called
The Ten Rings, which was introduced in
the first Iron Man movie. He is a man
tormented by an insatiable lust for power,
which somehow gets submerged under his love for his wife, but then resurfaces after her death as
something even more twisted and vicious.
Wenwu
is one of the more tragic villains in the MCU
and Leung plays him with this melancholic charisma that doesn’t let up,
even in the climactic battle in which
several CGI creatures snarl and prey and hold themselves at each other. He is one of the many pleasures in this
film. The other is Awkwafina, who
provides the film’s comedy quotient as Shang-Chi’s best friend Katy. Katy is the smart, goofy, non-judgmental,
open-to- any-adventure buddy that dreams are made of. Awkwafina gives her a boisterous energy and
practicality that offsets the heavy-duty family tragedy. Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing are Wenwu’s
estranged, damaged children. Shang-Chi
is living the slacker life in San Francisco, where he works as a valet along
with Katy. Xialing is running an underground
fight club in Macau. He left home at 14
and she at 16. But now daddy wants them back.
Early
in the film, director Destin Daniel Cretton and fight coordinator Andy
Cheng construct a show stopping action
sequence on a bus. It plays like a
mash-up of Speed with a sanitized version of the subway fight scene in The Raid
2. A man with a machete for an arm
literally cuts the bus in half, while
Katy drives and Shang-Chi breaks out the fight moves he learned as a child when his father was training him to be a
world-class assassin. It’s funny and
exhilarating and so packed with adrenalin,
that everything that comes after, seems just a little bit lame. The film showcases various types of martial
arts and some of the action borders on lyrical.
An early sequence in which Wenwu fights hand-to-hand and falls in love
with Jiang Li, the only warrior who's
ever defeated him, honestly feels like foreplay. It reminded me of that sensuous sword fight
in Jodhaa Akbar and the synchronized
archery of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
There’s also a terrific bit of combat on the scaffolding of a high-rise
building. The film sets up Xialing as a
fearsome fighter, just like her brother.
She is also as much a victim. But
ultimately, this remains his story and she, despite her prowess, remains a
supporting player. The sublime Michelle
Yeoh plays Xialing’s aunt, who is also a skilled fighter. This family drama keeps Shang-Chi and the
Legend of the Ten Rings afloat. Cretton,
who co-wrote the script with David Callaham and Andrew Lanham, wisely keeps it
at the forefront.
As with every MCU movie, the fate of the world
hangs in the balance, but the spectacle
is grounded in emotional stakes. This is
the ultimate dysfunctional family brimming with rage, abuse, resentment and
abandonment. Wenwu can’t escape his
past. Nor can he conquer his grief.
There is no healing for him or his children. At over two hours, Shang-Chi and the Legend
of the Ten Rings stretches its limits.
The film is too long and there are passages that lumber rather than
sprint. Especially the interminable last
battle in which the CGI overwhelms everything else. This is the 25th film in the MCU and it’s
getting harder to be dazzled by these endgame scenarios. Eventually, all the creatures blur into a fog
of pixels. But mostly, Cretton manages
to deftly juggle the film’s multiple responsibilities. Shang-Chi is the MCU’s first Asian lead and
like Black Panther, this film carries
the weight of the departure from the all-white pantheon of Marvel superheroes. The writing doesn’t have the depth or the
heft of that film. And while Simu Liu as
Shang-Chi is likeable and effective, especially in the fight scenes, he can’t command the frame or summon the
complex emotions that Leung does with such ease. Still, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten
Rings is a strong step forward. Marvel
fans looking for Easter eggs won’t be disappointed, a few beloved MCU characters make an
appearance and there are hints of what will come. I’m most excited by the possibility, that
somewhere down the line, in this Phase 4
of the MCU movies, Katy and Dr. Strange will join hands. Now, that would be something. You can watch Shang-Chi and the Legend of the
Ten Rings at a theater near you. Please
don’t forget to wear a mask.
0 Comments