Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

This combination of modern Chinese action movie with folk tales works. Disney understands that it’s making movies mainly for the Eastern market and so they honor their view of the world with occasional bow to the West. Shang-Chi’s acting is spot on. Simu Liu is a nice guy, despite the weird trailers, and comes across completely natural when he sings karaoke as well as in battles. Tony Leung steals the whole movie for himself and his "daddy" is another one of those baddies who you side with more than with the main hero. Choreography perfect, action just fantastic. Special effects are a bit shaky in places, but other times breathtaking. Thumbs up. P.S.: At the end, Bruce does more to attract you to watch his further adventures more than Wong. (09/03/2021)

Shang-Chi mixes in a mostly artful way the audience-appealing elements typical of the MCU (spectacular battles, action laced with humour, the importance of team/family, etc.) and as an added value offers (in the context of Marvel movies) an unfamiliar Asian setting. The Hollywood-style action is interspersed with fight scenes that are more typical of Asian films, all wrapped up in almost "magical" clashes (like in Doctor Strange), which I really enjoyed. Visiting Ta Lo and seeing all those creatures made me feel like I was watching an Asian version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. My only major criticism would be the sometimes weaker visual effects (compared to other MCU-movies), like, for instance, the forest maze or the water scenes in general. Of the new characters, Ying Nan, Xu Wenwu and partly Katy won me over the most; the main character was rather bland. It was also nice to see a smaller role for Ben Kingsley (a.k.a. the Mandarin). I didn't even mind that a good part of the plot was a kind of family drama, as in this case the motivations and actions of the characters were understandable and this line didn't interfere with the film’s fantasy-action level. (09/10/2021)

The low-key Shang-Chi is actually the son of the leader of the world's largest criminal organization. And even though he's been hiding from his daddy for ten years, he must now return to the world he's been running from for so long. But the family reunion won't be entirely joyful, and beings not of our world will have a say in it. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings surprises with its fast pace, likeable hero and great action in its first half. Unfortunately, the closer the film gets to its conclusion, the more it relies on visual effects and it becomes clear that director Destin Daniel Cretton may have bitten off a bit too big a bite. Overall, this is a fine Marvel film peppered with Chinese mythology that offers exactly what you expect when you buy tickets to see it. (09/02/2021)

An enjoyable Marvel origin story that turned out better than we all expected. I’m a lover of Asia and I was quite looking forward to Shang-Chi because who wouldn't be tempted to see the Marvel version of an Ip Man, right? In part, Marvel succeeded, even if the film is split into two halves, where the first one is significantly better. The protagonist is the unknown Simu Liu and he is surprisingly proficient and likeable enough for the viewer to root for him. the scene on the bus is the clear highlight of the film (greetings to Nobody), and the action scene with the Ninjas was awesome – that physical and high contact kung-Fu action was handled very well by Marvel and even though it's not completely realistic, it's spectacular and gripping enough for me to forgive it. The second half slows down the pace considerably (Shang-Chi runs out of breath for about half an hour). Fortunately, the finale is nicely spectacular, it's rendered in a fantasy style, China's second most popular genre after martial arts, so for me a perfectly logical explanation for why to split the film into two different genres, and the spectacular battle of the two dragons was absolutely killer (I can't remember a bigger fantasy barrage since GoT or Lord of the Rings). I also lie the awesome soundtrack, every single track is already on my playlist. The film has a few flaws, though, for example Awkwafina, who is quite unbearable for me, the humour, which downright missed me – I really don't know what was supposed to be funny here – and the villain, who although had a clear motive, didn't really show much in the end. Visually, it feels a bit like Marvel in the early days, but you can turn a blind eye to that. I'm glad Marvel stuck with Wu Xiu. Overall, decent, definitely better than Black Widow, but I'm not buying into a second screening. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 1/5, Violence 0/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 2/5, Actors 3/5. 7.5/10. (09/06/2021)

Marvel has gone the route of exploiting Eastern Asian culture and I would not mind if the final product was entertaining or at least interesting to the audience. This movie is neither. I got tired of live-action CGI comic book nonsense a long time ago, and Tony Leung and a few pretty choreographed scenes is not going to change that, unfortunately. (05/08/2022)