“Whew! Shang-Chi was pretty bad ass!” ~ Joshua Diaz
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Written by: Destin Daniel Cretton, Dave Callaham, Andrew Lanham
Cast: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Meng’er Zhang
Swift shot: Welcome to the MCU, Shang-Chi!
I never really liked watching Kung Fu movies as a kid. The closest I got was anything with Chuck Norris. It wasn’t a race thing, so much as I hated dubbing. It has always annoyed me how the voices and mouths don’t line up. But, I remember that Kung Fu movies were always just kind of on, and they all blended together in my memories as one long viewing, spanning several years.
It wasn’t until I saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that I truly appreciated Asian cinema. So, I kept comparing Shang-Chi to Hidden Dragon and finding that it definitely matched up. But it also had that familiar MCU feel that I have come to love.
Imagine if your father was the head of an ancient, evil empire, and you parked cars for a living to elude his grasp.
Shaun (Liu) has been trying to escape from his past since he was a teenager. When he first got to the States, he met Katy (Awkwafina) whose family essentially adopted him as their own. He is incredibly close to them all and is grateful for their love and protection.
But Shaun never reveals his true identity to his new family. And one day he receives a postcard from his estranged, abandoned sister with an address in Macau.
He’s not sure what to make of it, but when a gang of well-trained thugs jump him on a San Francisco bus and steal something important from him, he knows it’s time to head home and warn his sister that she could be their next target.
This bus fight and chase scene is such a thrill too. With a nod to both Bullitt and Speed, you get a kick ass fight with Katy driving the bus without breaks and providing comic relief, all while learning that her friend Shaun is more than she ever imagined! Plus there’s some great color-commentary that I don’t want to spoil here.
Awkwafina is the main reason that I wanted to watch Shang-Chi. And she came to play. She has great chemistry with Simu Liu, and you can tell they loved working with their Director, Destin Cretton.
[Swift aside: I have never even heard of Liu before this movie, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Apparently he used to be an accountant who got his start as an extra on Pacific Rim! And now he is in the MCU, working alongside Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Wah Yuen. There’s a lesson here, folks. Shoot your shot!]
Katy insists on going with Shaun to Macau, and he stupidly lets her. But honestly, we all hoped she would tag along, because it makes the movie so much better.
In Macau we discover that Shaun’s sister, Xialing (Zhang) is actually thriving, and she isn’t too worried about being attacked. Katy provides more comedy relief, as Shaun has to keep saving her uncontrollably hilarious ass from some Ten Rings henchmen.
After Shaun and Xialing battle it out to settle some sibling stuff, they discover their father, Wenwu (Leung) is behind the attacks, and he has been dealing with ghosts from the mystical land of Ta Lo. Ta Lo is where his wife, Li (Fala Chen) was born. Li was protecting the ancient city’s entrance when Wenwu first encountered her.
Wenwu is convinced that although she is dead in our world, there is a chance she could actually be hiding in Ta Lo.
Eventually everyone gets to Ta Lo, along with a surprise cameo I won’t give away here, and they try to warn their Aunt, Ying Nan (Yeoh) that Wenwu is coming and is seeking out Li.
Everything changes in Ta Lo, as the forces of the Ten Rings converge on the mystical village, complete with mythic monsters from Chinese legends. Creatures that Egg Shen from Big Trouble in Little China mentioned existed . . . and you see these beasts coexisting in a Utopian Asian paradise. Honestly, I was jealous, because these creatures were just magnificent to behold.
There is an epic MCU battle complete with magic, monsters, and heroes. It’s everything you have been hoping for from the time you heard about Ta Lo.
I liked this movie so much, I grabbed one of his comics and read through it just to see how it compared to the film. Turns out, it was nothing like the film, but the elements of redemption for the father were there, and it is clear that Shang-Chi definitely has some prospects on the love front.
I loved that the fights were all important and not just tossed in to provide gratuitous gratification. And the fight choreography was on par with classic Martial Arts movies. There was a kind of balance to each one.
I also dug Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu) he’s gonna be like Shang-Chi’s “Jaws” (Richard Kiel); I hope. At first glance you think, he’s just another dumb thug to get through, but he does steal a few scenes.
I didn’t like the music too much: I remember feeling Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and to a lessor extent, feeling Raya. But with Shang-Chi, I just wasn’t moved by the score, at all. It didn’t work for me. It was almost like it was for the wrong movie. I was expecting more traditional Chinese influences, but apart from a few pivotal scenes, the music felt off.
That minor quip aside, I really couldn’t find much to not like about Shang-Chi. I am sure Producer Kevin Feige will carefully place him in some other MCU films. I hope he will get a standalone sequel, as he has earned his place amongst the gods and monsters of the MCU!
