Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Review

September 2, 2021 at 6:04pm
By Jason Stettner

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s an origin story that follows this regular guy living his life in San Francisco. That’s Shaun (Simu Liu) who is also known as Shang-Chi eventually. He’s a valet that parks cars with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) with the two of them obviously being smitten with one another. Anyways, a group of strange well trained men attack Shaun on a bus and he kicks into high gear with his training.

That’s the start of the journey as the two must go on one intense journey back towards his family’s home in order to stop Shaun’s father Xu Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) from doing whatever he’s up to. It’s an interesting journey as you get to see a specific look at the mythology around the character. It’s definitely focused towards a particular part of the global market, and that aside it was actually quite fun. It’s got an interesting use of characters providing them as being rather cool today yet definitely troubled from their past.

It doesn’t shy away from the issues that continue to plague them, whether that’s the loss of a loved one or a strict upbringing. It actually does a decent job of not necessarily painting everyone in an evil light, but one that has been corrupted by loss and longing. There were however some really cheesy moments, and a number of times where you just sort of have to go with things. An awkward transition of weird teaming up, and other moments that felt like random split second shifts in what’s happening.

You do also see the return of the Mandarin which was handled very well. It’s mostly just an adventure film about one’s heritage while battling mythological creatures of the Marvel magical realm that’s continuing to develop. It also would have been a fantastic time to include Netflix’s Iron Fist (Finn Jones), but no such appearance was made. Not saying it would have added anything, but it might have been a neat connection to include for a second or two.

This was actually quite a fun and well paced film. The action scenes were frantic, brutal and very exciting to see in action. A great mix of martial arts and other neat combative styles that were super slick. It definitely feels like a regular Marvel film in terms of overall style, but certainly has its own approach.

The comedy is also more grounded here in comparison to other similar MCU movies, getting some quips but not ruining any of the more sorrowing moments that were shown throughout. It’s really great that they didn’t shy away from the dark upbringing, and actually highlighted it well as character motivation.

I also really loved the dynamic between Shaun and Katy, with the latter’s actress being well balanced for comedic relief. Past that, the father figure was painted quite well as being not necessarily a purely evil force yet one that’s dealt with severe trauma. I still thought a shift of anger at a certain point didn’t make sense with that character though.

For the most part I was quite pleased with the visuals, some of the CGI really stuck out earlier on, but was much better for the more important magical scenes in the latter part of the film. The acting was fine and there’s some neat casual cameos in here for those after credits that make this new style of wild cross-overs seem natural and comic-like.

The Conclusion

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an enjoyable film featuring fast paced action that keeps you engaged the entire way through. Some of the plot points came across as a bit cheesy at times in how they were presented, but I had fun watching.

It was about typical for a Marvel film when it comes to themes and it does a good job of further building up the whole magical side of this growing universe. It introduces some neat characters, providing good context into their backgrounds and it has fun with it.

I look forward to seeing where they’re taking things, and I appreciate the continued work to tie up loose ends in this universe. It’s a wild ride, an enjoyable one and it keeps the pacing going smooth. I don’t really have too many issues with this one, aside from a point here or there and it’s just generally well put together. I look forward to more from the character going forward.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening was Provided by Disney

Rating Overall: 7.7