"Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" Review - From the Vaults

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"

"Sean" (Simu Liu) is working as a valet in Los Angeles alongside his best friend Katy (Akwafina). His past, however, comes back with a vengeance as he is forced into a conflict with the evil ninja army known as "The Ten Rings", led by his father Wenwu (Tony Leung); and soon he must embark upon a journey to reconcile his past, his family, and his present, and save the world...

Fun Fact: I picked this because it looks like he is punching the pixels out of the original.

This is the most fun I've had at a Marvel film in ages. This is a much-needed shot in the arm to their universe, franchise and whatever else you want to call it. Destin Daniel Cretton has basically rejuvenated it all.

We have a rip-roaring, colourful kung-fu adventure with an almost entirely Asian cast, still finding time to tell a story about identity and reconnecting/reconciling one's past and identity in a modern world; and without a forced fucking romance fucking subplot thank the fucking Lord!

The rapport between the characters is natural, fun, breezy, but Katy still manages to be something of an anchor to this madness around her; the villain Wenwu is absolutely fantastic and certainly one of their strongest (introduced in the opening of the movie, in a brightly lit kung-fu battle of romance, wills and softening hearts which sets up the emotional anchor, it's a fantastic scene, telling a story with its choreography and lighting) and theirs is a delightful road-trip buddy cop movie just before our truly bananas dragon kung fu epic battle.

The action set pieces are the best choreographed I have seen in the MCU to date. You can tell that Simu Liu has been training for over a year to do this. The highlight, personally, was the first attack on the bus, just an electrifying display of creativity on display. But each one is shot in different lighting, to reflect different moods (almost like Cretton has, you know, some measure of talent and understanding of how film and structure work...) and feels suitably different in their scope and impressiveness.

Plus Simu Liu is frequently shirtless (if that is your thing) and there is a poster for "Kung Fu Hustle" on his wall (which is certainly my thing).

It didn't really flag for me, and I currently rank this along my favourite offerings of the MCU, "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Captain Marvel" and "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2".