Title - Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Production - Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios
Starring - Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Zhang Meng Er, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Yuen Wah, Fala Chen, Ben Kingsley, Florian Munteanu
Writer - Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham
Director - Destin Daniel Cretton
Release - 3 September 2021
After having watched this twice now, I have realized why this wasn't a better movie.
First off, the action sequences were definitely fun. Everything that happened on the bus was something that looked like it would only happen in a Jackie Chan action movie. So on the front of being a kungfu movie, it delivered.
Unfortunately also, that was pretty much the only real highlight for being a kungfu movie. Everything else that followed was more of a typical action flick. Even the final showdown between Simu Liu's Shang Chi and Tony Leung's Wen Wu was too short and too disappointing.
Without Tony Leung, this movie would not have had a real class acting performance. As a debut from a Hong Kong movie star in Hollywood, this was the best in terms of acting as well as speaking in English. Sure, he perhaps had to speak slower, but that was part of the creation process for this character. And his acting was so good that, as of now, I would include him in the next Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Also, without Awkwafina's Katy, this movie may not be as engaging. Her personality cut through the screen and the character of Shang-Chi would not have been as appealing without her.
And here's the major problem. The character of Shang-Chi was written very poorly in this movie. Unlike, say the more superior Black Panther with superb writing, Shang-Chi had no personality. Everything that he did or say as Shaun was a reflection of Katy. And when he revealed his true self, even that self had no personality.
Others have asked him the question "who are you", prompting the audience that he needs to find himself. He has been living in the shadows all these years, hiding from Wen Wu, with no other purpose in life. Even when meeting Michelle Yeoh's character, and we also saw it in the trailers where she said to him, "you are a product of all who came before you", a line that was supposed to be the start of a change; but that change never came.
By the end of the movie, we knew nothing of who Shang-Chi is. He never "found" himself.
And once again, the big fight at the end was a CGI fest, which I'm not a fan of. So that was also disappointing.
I have to say, the real superhero in this story was Zhang Meng Er's Xia Ling. And here's a tiny bit of SPOILER.
She grew up without her father's attention, abandoned by her brother, was forbidden to train with the boys. Even as an adult, she was being ignored by every one else who gave their attention to Shang-Chi because he was the male in the family. She taught herself how to fight, created an underground fight club, found an escape route when Shang-Chi was captured. Her name wasn't Shang-Chi and yet she obtained a magical weapon, saved the dragon from soul-sucking flying beasts, gained its respect so much that the dragon allowed her to ride on it. All on her own.
Whereas Shang-Chi had one job in the end, to stop his father. Failed at it. And also failed to keep him alive. Almost drowned. Needed the dragon to save him. Needed Katy to save the world. And finished a CGI with a less than convincing pose.
Lastly, a minor disappointment at the subtitles for when the characters spoke in Chinese. There should have had the essence of the phrase translated because Wen Wu had the best line but in Chinese when he was scolding Yuen Wah's character. Also, contrary to the popular meme, Shang-Chi's mom never said "I'm proud of you".
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