Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Once again, I decided I had to review another Marvel movie after watching this one.  The idea to make Shang-Chi into a movie goes back to 2001 but Marvel did not get serious about it until the end of 2018.  When Shang-Chi was released back in September, it received positive reviews from critics who praised the acting (especially the acting of Simu Liu and Tony Leung), the choreography of the action sequences, and the representation of Asian culture.  Some people say it has done for the Asian and Asian American community what Black Panther did for the African and African American community.  While I did like the last Marvel movie I reviewed (Black Widow), parts of it were disappointing.  But I was not disappointed with this one!  No offense to Black Widow but, after watching Shang-Chi, I thought it was a much better movie and I will share why in my review below!

In the 25^th film of the Marvel Cinematic universe, a new superhero is introduced, Shang-Chi.  Shang-Chi’s estranged father, Wenwu, has ten powerful rings that grant him great power, and he starts an organization dedicated to conquering lands with these rings, hurting people in the process.  After the death of Wenwu’s beloved wife, he starts brutally training Shang-Chi and then sends him off as a teenager to avenge his mother’s death.  But Shang-Chi avoids his “task” by running away and adopting a new identity in San Francisco.  Now, years later, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after his father contacts him and tries to convince him to search for a mythical village.  His father’s intentions are not what they seem, though; and with the help of his sister and his goofy friend, Katy, Shang-Chi must find a way to save the people he loves, confronting his own past in the process.  After many months of barely watching movies at all, I can say that this is one of the best Marvel movies, and one of the best movies in general, I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s got a very diverse cast, has great character development, awesome special effects, adorable mythical fantasy creatures (including a strange yet endearing “hundun” named Morris), and some very funny moments as well.  It’s definitely tied with Black Panther as Marvel’s most diverse movie (and ironically both of them are by far the most profound movies in the MCU).  I liked it a lot better than Black Widow, as I thought it went a lot deeper than Black Widow did; and I found the plot to be a lot more well thought out.  However, as all Marvel movies go, there is some violence and there’s some language as well, so I would caution parents due to the violence and the language and I would recommend it for teens.  Another one of the many things I liked about this movie is that it shows that Marvel is continuing to get more and more diverse, and I’m so glad about that!  I also really love that it has a redemptive storyline that plays out in the father/son relationship.  Just when you think Wenwu could not be a worse villain, he goes and does something to redeem himself (I won’t say what since I don’t want to spoil the ending for you); and this part of the movie goes to show that people being “good” or “bad” is not always so clear-cut.  But, of course, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader taught us that long ago!

“Lead with your breath. Look into your heart, the light and the dark. To know yourself, you must face them both.”