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Sunday 19 September 2021

Movie Review - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings


Marvel continue to expand on their shared universe with another acclaimed installment, this time based on a protagonist who may not be as familiar to general audiences. Said protagonist comes in the form Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), whose own origin new story begins with his father Xu Wenwu's (Tony Leung) discovery of the mystical Ten Rings thousands of years ago. The powers they gift him he ultimately uses to seek vengeance against those who murder his wife, and trains Shang-Chi as a pawn in this goal throughout his childhood. Chi eventually flees from his father and starts a new modern life in San Francisco, but his dark history makes its way back in good time.

Shang-Chi seldom does anything to build upon Marvel's traditional formula, with a lot of pop culture humour, thunderous set pieces, and fairly standard emotional sequences. This won't have a negative impact on many viewers, especially Marvel diehards, but a failure to develop this trademark formula will allow a lot of people to predict what may come of certain scenes; this makes little room for interesting twists and surprises, which to be honest its intriguing premise could've really benefited from. The only fresh aspect of this narrative is inevitably the new origin story, but the flow of said story is largely quite predictable.


A Marvel film is of course going to host a number of gripping action sequences, and Shang-Chi is no exception. Its set pieces boast some stylish fight choreography, and their scale expands dramatically as the film nears its conclusion. Some are slightly overlong and can ruin their own tone with forced, unwanted gags, but they still make for a thrilling experience that most fans will certainly enjoy. The film also fails to disappoint when it comes to the visual effects, which are beautifully crafted and seamlessly integrated, and so bolster these action sequences even further. Most of the film's cast also do a good job in their roles, primarily Simu Liu as our leading protagonist.

So while Shang-Chi has has all the usual positives one would expect from a Marvel film, its still conjoined with a number of disappointing flaws, and it honestly should've done a lot more with such a complex premise. Its attempts to inject an emotional vibe into this narrative largely feel like an afterthought, and can often be ruined once again by a forced integration of daft humour; this is especially apparent with Awkwafina's performance, which is overly reliant on unfunny silliness. It's a story with many charming moments, but it should've taken its interesting premise a lot more seriously.