Marvel has had another release in their never-ending waterfalls of films and TV shows. Their newest film has arrived amidst their newest TV series What If?, which is mainly zoning in on the whole idea of the multiverse, where there is an infinite number of possibilities that can occur. Their newest film, Shang Chi, did not touch too much on the multiverse, but it did introduce a new character into the MCU and possibly the Avengers. This is the first Asian centric MCU film, which is a huge deal, following up the only Black led MCU film, Black Panther, which came out three years ago. So, the MCU is broadening their horizon in a great way. The broadening of a cultural perspective in such a massive franchise can only help people become more accepting of new cultures and more knowledgeable. Not only was this film culturally rich, but it was also incredibly well done and had a compelling story.
Shang Chi is the story of a valet driver who lives in San Francisco, who has a secret background with a dad who has incredible powers, and a mom who comes from a powerful ancient community, Ta Lo. Quickly we find out that Shang Chi is no ordinary valet driver, he has serious martial arts skills and a father that is searching for him and his sister, Xialing. Shang Chi and his friend, Katy, go in search of his sister, and they quickly find out she is doing quite well for herself. Then Xu Wenwu, Shang Chi and Xialing’s dad, comes and takes them back to his compound. While there, Xu confides in them that he thinks that their mother is still alive, and that she is being held hostage in her home village, Ta Lo. Shang Chi, Xialing, and Katy escape from their capture, and they head to the village. They make it in safely, and then the preparations begin to fight Xu. Despite their preparations, Xu is still able to free the Soul Sucker, the dragon that he thought was his wife calling him. With a pairing of forces, Shang Chi is able to defeat the soul sucking dragon, but it cost him his father, whose last sacrifice was to relinquish the rings to Shang Chi.
One of the best takeaways from the film was the power of family. When the film shifted to Shang Chi, he was far away from his home, but he is quickly called to return to his family. Although Shang Chi and his dad had a very complicated relationship, at the end of the day, they still had an unbreakable bond to the point where his dad died, even though they had just been fighting, Shang Chi was incredibly saddened by the loss. His dad was incredibly hard on him, but Xu sacrificed himself, and he gave Shang Chi his rings, which gave him his powers. Also, the main reason that Xu returned to his evil ways was due to his want to reunite with his wife and to avenge her murder. The mother’s murder was the real cause of the family breaking up. Shang Chi was sent out to kill his mother's murderer, and his sister was not allowed to train in Xu's compound because she was a girl.
Another massive portion of the movie came from the cultural aspect This was the first Asian centric MCU film, which is important. This can be seen in a myriad of ways. One of the biggest comes from the fighting style. A large portion of the film, the main fighting style is in martial arts. Normally in an MCU film the hand-to-hand combat revolves around the typical punching and kicking, but in this film, the fight scenes seemed to be performed in a more beautiful manner. There is something about the martial arts fighting style that flows smoother than the typical punching and kicking. This is the most visible in one of the opening scenes when Xu initially meets Shang Chi's mom. There is also the main location of the film which took place somewhere in China. The architecture of the temple where they train is visibly inspired by Asian culture. Then in Ta Lo, they clearly had a combat style like that of Asian culture. Their buildings where that of Asian culture, and even the mythology of the creatures that lived there were steeped in Asian culture form the dragons that fought to the lesser creatures that resembled something you would see in a Chinese New Year parade. Also, the scenes with Katy's family focused in on Asian culture.
As far as action movies go for this year, this was one of, if not, the best one. The bus fight scene was executed excellently and in such a compelling manner, that it drew the viewer in from the start. Nobody had a similar action sequence that took place on a bus, but this one was much better. F9 was filled with car chases and action sequences, but none of them compared to this film. The bus scene, where the bus was on the loose in San Francisco was much better than any of the F9 chases, and even the scenes where the vans were navigating their way to Ta Lo were better. One of the opening sequences between Xu and his soon to be wife was also an excellent fight sequence where it blended slow motion smooth strikes with fast action. It also hit stronger than Black Widow. By the time that Black Widow came out, it was already dated, and the main story line did not have much of a consequence to the MCU other than introducing Nat's sister. The action was good, but it was not nearly as good as this film. It did have better comedic points thanks to Florence Pugh, and it did revolve a central family problem as well, but it was not addressed as well. Another one of the marquis action moments in this came from the fighting on the scaffolding on the outside of the skyscraper. It was incredibly well done and had viewers eyes stuck to the screen. The final action sequence was probably the worst of the film, but it was still well done.
The last action sequence was mainly all CGI. So, it was different from most of the film where hand to hand combat was the main vessel for action. Also in the final sequence the Soul Sucker was hit and basically killed by Katy's arrow, who had just learned to shoot a bow and arrow. The big bad of the film was killed way easier than Shang Chi's dad. It really reduced the power of this beast that had held such a hold of the people who had been preventing its escape. It was harder to kill Xu than the dragon, which did not seem right.
This film felt very bisected, there was the part that felt based in reality, at least to a certain extent. When Shang Chi enters Ta Lo, the world becomes more mythical. It enters a universe that felt more like Game of Thrones than Marvel. It was not bad, but it felt like Marvel was adding a whole new universe into their already expanding repertoire. Marvel just added the multiverse to their story telling, and now they have these new mythical creatures as well, like dragons, but it seems like these new mythical creatures are going to be left behind pretty quickly and be inconsequential, even though it felt like they could add to the universe.
When it came to the two stingers at the end of the film, the first one showed Shang Chi and Katy being called to a meeting with fellow Avengers. They are clearly going to play a role in the upcoming films, either Spider-Man No Way Home or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Then in the second stinger, it shows Shang Chi's sister as the head of Xu's compound. It seemed like the army she was creating was closer to that of the one that was created in Black Widow, but obviously, the sister will not be as autocratic of a leader as the one of the Black Widows.
Overall Shang Chi was an excellent movie, especially for an origin story. They created a very new original story that was culturally significant. Shang Chi will be a great addition to the MCU. Simu Liu’s performance had a ton of swagger to it, and it seems clear that he will not disappoint in whatever role he takes in the MCU going forward. Hopefully the MCU will continue to grow culturally and continue telling stories that have depth to them. The family aspect in this film gave it a depth that many others in this genre are lacking. I gave this 4 stars.
Other films this week:
The Old Way was the story of a journalist going back to her hometown. She gets captured, and she must go through an exorcism to get a demon out, but she has more demons inside of her than just the one from the cave, and she finds a renewed love for the culture she had thrown out of her life.
Hellraiser is an overly gory, gross, and sexual horror from the 80s, that felt like it fit well into that decade of horror, except it was awful. It was not that interesting or entertaining, plus it included one of the weirdest love stories. I do not know how this was turned into a franchise, but with all that being said, when David Bruckner makes his version, I will certainly watch it.
Movie Rankings:
Shang Chi: 4 Stars
The Old Ways: 3 Stars
Hellraiser: 1.5 Stars
Blow the Man Down: 3 Stars
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