"SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" (2021) Review

 

"SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" (2021) Review

I might as well put my cards on the table. I have not fully admired the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since the beginning of its third phase. Nor do I believe that its Phase Four had improved matters. With the exception of a handful of movies and television series. One of those exceptions proved to be the franchise's 25th film, "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS".

The 2021 movie is not an exact adaptation of the Marvel Comics superhero, who had debuted in the comic books back in 1973. However, director-screenwriter Destin Daniel Cretton and his fellow screenwriters, Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham, used elements from the comic books to create not only an interesting backstory for the leading character, but also a solid narrative for the film. "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" began with a warrior named Xu Wenwu, who discovers a set of ten mystical rings that gave him power and immortality. Utilizing the rings and his army, Wenwu (who acquired the name of "the Mandarin") created the Ten Rings criminal organization that conquered or toppled many governments throughout the centuries. In 1996, Wenwu engaged in a search for Ta Lo, a village said to harbor mythical beasts. While traveling through a magical forest to the village entrance, he was stopped by one of the village's guardians, Ying Li. The two fell in love, and when the Ta Lo villagers rejected Wenwu, Li chose to leave with him. They married and conceived two children, Shang-Chi and Xialing. Wenwu abandoned his organization and locked away the ten rings.

The Xu family's happiness did not last very long. Wenwu's old enemies, the Iron Gang, murdered Li in an act of revenge when Shang-Chi was seven years old. Wenwu used the ten rings to massacre the Iron Gang members and resumed leadership of his old organization. Then he forced Shang-Chi to undergo a brutal training in martial arts but prevented Xialing from being trained. When Shang-Chi was fourteen, Wenwu sent him to assassinate the Iron Gang's leader. After completing his mission, a traumatized Shang-Chi ran away to San Francisco, California and adopted the name "Shaun". During his time in the United States, "Shaun" learned English, and eventually became a valet at an exclusive San Francisco hotel along with his best friend, Katy aka Chen Ruiwen. While riding a local bus, Shaun and Katy found themselves under attack by members of the Ten Rings organization. Wenwu had ordered them to steal Shaun's pendant, given to him by his late mother. Despite a brutal fight that left most of the assailants unconscious and the bus seriously damaged; one Ten Rings warrior, Razor Fist, managed to steal Shaun's pendant. Suspecting that his father might also want the pendant given to Xialing; Shang-Chi and Katy travel to Macau to warn his sister. And the trio eventually found themselves swept into a situation in which a threat larger than Wenwu, loomed ahead.

Many fans have declared either 2022's "SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME", "BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER" or "SHANG-CHIAND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" as the best movie of the MCU's Phase Four. My choice? None of them. But I will admit that I enjoyed all three films. Especially "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS". The latter film struck me as a poignant family drama at the heart of a movie filled with humor, pathos, action and magic. In fact, it occurred to me that the movie reminded me of the STAR WARS saga's Skywalker Family Saga - at least the six films produced and directed by George Lucas. Seriously. The Xu Shang-Chi character is basically Luke Skywalker, his sister Xialing could be Princess Leia Organa (only not adopted) and his parents Wenwu and Li - Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Only the Xu family's family narrative differed . . . somewhat. Wenwu's inability to recover from his wife's death led to the family's breakup, and an even more dangerous Big Bad to exploit his grief. Sounds family? However, the poignant flashbacks of Wenwu and Li's courtship, those happy years before Li's death, along with the drama that surrounded Shang-Chi and Xialing's resentment and fear toward their father really cemented "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" as a family drama.

However, the movie did have its share of action sequences. I had nothing against Shang-Chi's reunion with Xialing, which resulted in a funny fight scene inside her Macau fight club; or the siblings' attempt to prevent the Ten Rings from taking her pendant on the construction site outside of her club (a scene that produced memories of another from the 2001 movie, "RUSH HOUR 2"). Also, Shang-Chi's fight against Wenwu in the movie's final action sequence struck me as pretty solid. But I had to choose two sequences that really impressed me, they had to be the one in which Wenwu and Li first met, when she prevented him from entering Ta Lo; and Shang-Chi's fight against the Ten Ring operatives aboard a San Francisco bus. What I really enjoyed about Wenwu and Li's fight is that it started out as a serious confrontation and slowly developed into a sly, yet romantic dance between two people who had become attracted to one another. I believe Tony Leung and Fala Chen's performances made this transformation both believable and very entertaining. For me, the movie's most thrilling fight scene - hell, action scene - was Shang-Chi's fight against some of the Ten Rings operatives aboard a moving San Francisco bus. I would say it was one of the best action sequences I have ever seen in a MCU film. Not only did leading man Simu Liu and the fight choreography team led by Andy Cheung and the late Brad Allan created an exciting fight, but leading lady Awkwafina and cast of supporting performers, cinematographer William Pope and especially director Destin Daniel Cretton all contributed to the sequence's action, thrills and some very sharp humor.

I certainly do not have any complaints about the performances in "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS". The latter featured solid performances from Randolph Fields, Charlotte Leonie, Jodie Long, Jayden Zhang, Arnold Sun, Wah Yuen,
Kunal Dudheker, a very imposing Florian Munteanu and Stephanie Hsu. The movie also featured cameos from the likes of Benedict Wong (as Wong), Tsai Chin (whom I have not seen since the Marvel series, "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D."), Tim Roth (or perhaps I should say a CGI image of Abomination aka Emil Blonsky), and a surprising and funny Ronny Chieng. It was nice seeing Michelle Yeoh, who portrayed Shang-Chi and Xialing's aunt Ying Nan. But if I must be honest, I found her performance solid and serviceable - nothing else.

The performances that stood out for me came from the likes of Meng'er Zhang, who portrayed Xu Xialing, Wenwu and Li's only daughter. I thought Zhang did a first-rate job of conveying Xialing's anger and resentment toward both her father and older brother. She also did an excellent job of revealing how the Xu family's break-up had affected her family. Not many people approved of Ben Kingsley's return as Trevor Slattery, the actor who had been hired to impersonate the Mandarin in 2013's "IRON MAN 3". I had no problems seeing Kingsley in the role again. He was funny as ever and it felt nice to see Slattery express remorse for his false portrayal of Wenwu and come out of his situation as a better man. Fala Chen gave an elegant, yet slightly sly performance as Ying Li, whose warmth and strong will kept the Xu family together, while she lived. Awkwafina proved to be as hilarious as ever with her portrayal of "Katy" Chen, Shang-Chi's somewhat witty best friend. Not only was Awkwafina funny, I thought she did an excellent job of conveying Katy's difficulty in finding a solid direction in her life and reactions to her friend's past and the world of the Ten Rings and Ta Lo. If I had to give the award for the film's best performance, I would hand it to Tony Leung's portrayal of Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi's father and leader of the Ten Rings. Leung did a masterful job of portraying a complex man, whose decisions led him toward a path of a loving family man, feared parent, villainy and convenient tool for a bigger villain. More importantly, I found Leung's performance skillful, subtle and worthy of a major acting award. You know, looking back at Leung's portrayal of the "Mandarin", I found myself wondering why Marvel Films/Disney had originally thought that casting an European actress was the only way to avoid any Asian clichés of the Ancient One character in 2016's "DOCTOR STRANGE".

Some film critic had expressed disappointment that actor Simu Liu's portrayal of Xu Shang-Chi was not as charismatic as his true self. I found this criticism rather ridiculous, if I must be honest. Since when was Shang-Chi supposed to be a "charismatic" or extroverted personality in the first place? I certainly did not get that impression of the character as a young boy. Following my viewing of "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS", I came away with the impression that Xu Shang-Li was a reserved child forced to tap into his aggression by a grief-stricken father, obsessed with revenge. I also came away with the impression that Shang-Chi's time in the U.S. and his friendship with Katy gave him an outlet to forget his past and just enjoy life. But the return of Wenwu and the Ten Rings in his life forced him to realize he had to face his past. THIS is what I came away with Simu Liu's portrayal of Shang-Chi. And I thought he did an excellent job in conveying every emotional beat of the character's adult life through most of the film.

I wish I could end this review with a declaration that "SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS" was a perfect movie. Or even one of the best in the MCU franchise. But I believe the movie possessed enough flaws for me to not come to that conclusion. My first complaint centered around the Wong-Abomination fight at Xialing's fight club. What on earth were they doing there? Why did Wong break Abomination/Blonsky out of prison for a match in the first place? The Disney-Plus series, "SHE-HULK: ATTONEY-AT-LAW" actually provided an answer and it proved to be pretty lame in my eyes. However, I believe most of the film's problems had materialized in the film's second half - when Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing and Slattery arrived at the mystical realm of Ta Lo. At this point, the film into the typical MCU film finale. The major protagonists prepare for a fight against a deadly foe. A battle ensues - first against the Ten Rings and later, against the film's real Big Bad. And yes, the battle had its moments of the usual MCU humor - especially from Ben Kingsley and Awkwafina. I am only thankful that audiences were spared the usual Marvel wit. There is the issue of Katy's participation in this battle. The movie had hinted her talent as a skillful driver. But can someone please explain how she had become a talented archer within a space of a few hours (or days)? You know, a part of me wishes Wenwu had turned out to be the film's main villain. Unfortunately, the "the Dweller-in-Darkness" (which had originated in Marvel Comics) was no Emperor Palpatine. Instead of a demon, the Dweller-in-Darkness turned out to be a mystical soul-consuming dragon that used Wenwu's grief and ten rings to break free and enter Ta Lo. And the battle between Dweller-in-Darkness, the main protagonists and another dragon called the Great Protector. Needless to say, I was not impressed by this final action sequence. I found it clumsy, overwrought and at times confusing. You know . . . the typical MCU grand finale.

I would never regard "SHANG-CHI AND THE TEN RINGS" as one of my favorite comic book movies or MCU films. But I still believe it was definitely better than average, thanks to director Destin Daniel Cretton. After all, the film did feature some top-notch action sequences, a decent narrative and first-rate performances from a cast led by Simu Liu.