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Did “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings “live up to expectation?

By Maggie Ma from「UNE」

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”was one of the most anticipated superhero movies since announced. On one hand, it is the first Marvel superhero movie stars with Asian , on the other hand , just because most of the casts are Asian, many people still doubt whether can it has the same commercial appeal as other Marvel movies.

However, Disney is very confident with the film. Although the film is going to release on September 3, it was shown to the media three weeks in advance, and US News Express was also invited to watch the film in advance. The embargo was officially lifted on August 23rd. The film got 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest among Marvel movies.

Most American critics love the action/fighting sequences and choreography in “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings”. The critics compared the action scenes with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and many Jackie Chan’s action movies. Actually the fighting choreography in the film was designed by Cheng Jia Ban , founded by Jackie Chan. You will see many similairity between Shang-Chi and Jackie Chan’s fighting style.

Both of them are quick, flexible and  good at hand to hand combat without showing too much violence. Except WenWu and Shangqi, there are also many female characters kicked asses too.For this reason, besides Asians, the target audiencse of this film also will include those who love kung fu movies and may stir up more interests towards this genre from Western audiences.

However, what unexpected and may surprise people is the fantasy elements in the third acts of the film. Although parts of the film take place in China, because of the mythology of the story itself, people cannot tell the specific location and era. Even the story is moved to other places on the earth or in space, it can still happen. It’s an universal family tragedy with elements of Eastern culture without any real historical elements involved, thus it is easy to avoid controversy, and even add more magical creatures in the myths.

There are many unexpected , visually stunning moments in the third acts of the film. For example, for the first time in a Hollywood movie, we can see the Chinese dragon and the small creature named “Dijiang” with wings but no face. Those gives the film a magical elements that beyond people’s expectation. And the CGI monster showed up in the end of the film also can tie in to other cosmetic beings that in other marvel movies.

As Marvel ‘s CEO Kevin Feige explained before, Tony Leung’s father and son relationship is the core of the movie. Wen Wu is a not just a typical villain, or cannot be called a villain at all. He is stubborn and a narcissist but he is also a man really put his wife and family first, which fits in the traditional values ​​of Asians.

Tony Leung didn’t disappoint either, his performance is calm and restrained. He showed audiences that Wen Wu was once an ambitious conqueror, like Genghis Khan, but in fact he was lonely and longed to be loved. When he met his true love, he was changed.  That makes him very different from Starlord’s father in “Guardians of the Galaxy 2”. Although the two father-son relationships have similarities, for example, both fathers once hoped that their sons can be their descendants , but Tony Leung ‘s Wen Wu is a more complexed character who dealt with pain and lost in a wrong way.

Throughout the whole movie, there are small connection with the Marvel universe, which will excite the fan. For example, Shang Qi and his friends mentioned in the conversation that they had experienced the blip in  “Avengers 4”.

Wong from “Doctor Strange”also showed up fighting with the “Abomination” from the “Hulk” movie. Even a guy who filmed Shang-Chi on the bus is the same guys in Tom Holland’s  “Spider-Man: Homecoming”. More other Marvel characters will  appear in the post credit easter egg, making people looking forward to see Shang-Chi fight along with  other Marvel superheroes in the future.

There are many strong female roles, even with lines talking about equal rights of women throughout the film. Although the film revolves around the father-son relationship, Shang-Chi’s  sister, mother, aunt, and  best friend all play an important role to help and guild him during the process of finding his true value.

For example, her sister Xia Ling was treated differently from his brother and didn’t get to be trained as his brother. But later on in her life, she learned everything herself and became this strong , independent female boss.  Shang-Chi’s mother is also very rebellious. She chose to run away with her true love even her people in the village are all against this marriage. Shang-Chi’s best friend Katy also clearly knows what she wants even her family expected her to do different job.

As a comedian, Awkwafina made Katy very relatable and funny.  She is very loyal to her friend but also occasionally not afraid of making fun of him. She , as an outsider, will guide the audiences to be on an adventure full of unexpected surprises. At the same time, she also got her moment to shine as well in a big battle . What rare about Katy and Shang-Chi’s relationship is that they are opposite sex but not in a romantic relationship. Both of them enjoys spending time with each other and very supported to each other. They also represent the typical Asians who love Karaoke

However, some film critics believe that Simu Liu’s performance is flat. May be because Tony Leung’s character Wen Wu carries more emotion scenes. Also part of the film happened when Shang-Chi was a child so the young actor also has lots of screen time in the film . But most media praised Simu Liu’s performance and believe he will be a big star.
“Shang-Chi and Legend of the Ten Rings” indeed has the most action scenes among all Marvel movies. As a hero’s origin movie, it also opens a new world , which audiences can be excited about. Especially after Captain America and Black Widow “retire” from the Marvel universe,  Shang-Chi can surely bring more interesting fighting sequences . The magic and origin of the ten rings is not clearly explained in the film. We probably have to wait a little long to find out more about its mystery.

There are two post credit scenes in the film so don’t leave the theater too early and wait for the credit to end.

“Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” opens only in theater on Sept 3rd and will be on Disney+ after 45 days after that.

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Rose Hills 玫瑰岗 福地

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