A Rumble in the MCU: Shang-Chi Review!

The Director takes a swing at Marvel’s Shang-Chi: one of the most unique and emotional entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Marvel is probably in one of the luckiest positions in the entire entertainment industry. Literally, they can touch almost anything in their massive backlog of comic book characters, and there will be an audience there opening day. Whether it’s a stylish metacommentary on sitcoms and entertainment in Wandavision, an emotional 80’s throwback space opera with 70’s pop hits and a talking tree, or even ANT-MAN, there’s seemingly no stopping them…

But we’re also in a post-Endgame world. The Avengers saved the world, the universe, and even tried to restore time. And there’s a question that can’t help but crop up every now and then as Phase 4 of Marvel’s quest for entertainment domination continues undeterred: what can Marvel do differently?

A MIST OF CONFUSION

Domino here sees first hand that Shang-Chi is “as fine as five fridays.“ Also… I’m sure my friend’s thought this multiple times just seeing Simu Liu shirtless as well.

Right around here, it’s customary to explain one’s first exposure to the IP a character is from, and the emotional or meaningful connection they’ve made in their lives… but I’m going to cut the pretense and admit that my only exposure to Shang-Chi as a character was by seeing the panels of the comics float around the internet where the character Domino is absolutely GUSHING after Shang (not too dissimilar to my friend Kaitlyn doing the same for Simu Liu — but I’ll get there shortly).

Needless to say, I have no real connection to the character of Shang-Chi, and when the film was announced, I wasn’t over the moon or thinking “Oh man, FINALLY,“ but instead felt a sudden “Huh… okay.“ But as more details were dispensed over the course of what I’d like to call the gas leak year of the 2020’s, everything started to slowly win me over. I mean — where can the Marvel universe go after fighting a purple faced Alien with his collection of ring pops? (NOTE: This was WAY BEFORE I ended up watching Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki… I had NO IDEA how gonzo Marvel was gonna go at the time.) And when the trailer finally hit, there was just such an intimacy and visceral style with the action and the scope of the film that reminded me of Black Panther’s cultural impact, as well as the best parts of Daredevil on Netflix.

Here I was… looking forward to Shang-Chi.

And how was it?

A KNOCKOUT (IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE)

From left to right: Meng'er Zhang as Xialing, Simu Liu as the titular character, and Awkwafina as… well, Awkwafina! (Her name is Katy)

I mean this with the utmost sincerity, as I genuinely think it’s one of Marvel’s strongest films they’ve made so far! It’s honestly shocking to me that all these many films in, the series is still continuously finding new ways to reinvent itself and breath new life for audiences everywhere.

The acting is perhaps one of the biggest highlights. Just like with the character, I had never seen Simu Liu in anything before this film (I’m aware Kim’s Convenience is a great series, but I still gotta watch it), but he absolutely blew me away with his portrayal as Shang-Chi. His vulnerability honestly makes him stand out from a lot of the other Marvel protagonists, as well as his willingness to give himself to the physicality of the role. But there’s also Awkwafina who does a great job as comic relief that cuts against the out there concepts the film goes into with the world-building. But the stand outs for me were Tony Leung and Meng'er Zhang, who absolutely elevate everyone around them, and are the source of much of the heart and emotion the film packs!

THE PUPPETMASTERS

Director Daniel Destin Cretton gives the lowdown of what he wants in one setpiece that can only be described as “the bus ride from hell,“ with Simu Liu and the rest of the crew.

Speaking of… I gotta give Daniel Destin Cretton credit for being able to adapt to the scope of making a big budget blockbuster film, and somehow being able to feel like he’s done films like this all his career. I’ll admit, I haven’t seen Short Term 12 or Just Mercy, but I did notice there was a much more intimate touch to the film, and a large part of that is due to him co-writing the screenplay with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham off a screen story Cretton and Callaham wrote together. The result is an absolutely fun and emotional film that is just bursting with culture in every single scene, and never once feels like it reduces its characters to over the top stereotypes. Gone are the days of Mickey Rooney in buckteeth, and to see a film on this scale embracing every facet of Asian culture is honestly really inspiring.

But a director is only as good as his motley crew behind the scenes, and boy did Cretton assemble an A-List crew! In particular, the absolutely DAZZLING cinematography by William Pope. This is his “return“ to the MCU as he was originally signed on to be the eye for Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man back in 2015, but after that fell through, it’s just amazing to see his very specific visuals matched up with the broader MCU. The way the camera just flows with the stunning choreography by Brad Allan brings to mind his earlier works such as The World’s End, and The Matrix! Especially when the film enters its second act onwards, the film proves to be one of the more colorful entries in the Marvel filmography (despite what certain people will think on Twitter). And not only does it LOOK good, but it SOUNDS good, as Cretton’s regular composer Joel P. West does for this film what Ludwig Göransson did for Black Panther. It isn’t a generic superhero score with big brass horns and strings only, but an amazing blending of Asian music with the fanfare of superheroics.

DARKNESS CLOUDS THE BRIGHT SUN

Tony Leung plays Wenwu, but he goes by many names over the years…

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk some negatives about the film, as I’ll admit… for better or worse, it does have a lot of the same issues Marvel films do have. In particular, there are a lot of moments where the film cuts away from the tension of the scene to have a lighthearted joke by the world around the characters in order to keep everything grounded. While this isn’t a dealbreaker, and the film honestly gets better at balancing the tones from the second half onwards, its a prevalent issue that the MCU hasn’t seemed to rectify in their almost 30 films and TV shows combined. It works in context with Awkwafina’s Katy, as well as another character that pops up in the third act, but it’s hard to have an audience surrogate that grounds the world around them, when the world around them has to be an audience surrogate as well. As a result, there are some points in the transition from the first to second act that just lull and become eye-rolling. And while I personally love the film’s pacing and especially the third act, with how out there the climax gets conceptually (especially with one of the most horrifying monsters the MCU has introduced so far), it can potentially make people tune out and might have audiences split with how it concludes. Plus, there’s a special cameo (though if you’ve read the title of the film and have kept your finger on the pulse of the MCU over its two decades of life, you’re probably already aware who it is) that may also bring on groans or annoyance.

THE DRAGON’S HEART SOARS HIGH

I honestly have nothing. This shot is just straight FIRE. Shang-Chi’s just so… FREAKIN’ COOL!

These issues are small in comparison to the absolute joy and fun I felt while watching Shang-Chi in the theater. It fuses the world-building and gravitas of the Marvel universe with the choreography and high flying action of a Jackie Chan film in his heyday! Simu Liu is a natural born action star who I have no doubt will become one of the biggest players of the MCU going forward, and if you’re just looking for an action itch that’s still craving more after Mortal Kombat and Snake Eyes earlier this year… this film might just be what you’re looking for! If there’s a sequel not already greenlit, GET ON IT, FEIGE!

9/10
A MODERN CLASSIC!

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is playing in theaters everywhere. Give it a watch, thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for a discussion podcast later on down the road!