Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

 3.5/4

Starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Meng'er Zhang, Michelle Yeoh

Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Violence and Action, and Language

People probably think I hate Marvel and am just a spiteful DC guy.  I'm not.  I'm not even a superhero hater.  What I hate are the by-the-numbers superhero movies.  Where continuity, fan service and in-jokes take precedence over storytelling.  It's a problem that quickly poisoned the MCU and the Nolan-free DC movies.  I felt like if you've seen one, you've seen them all.  So I went into "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" thinking it would just be a cut and paste MCU movie.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Sean (Liu) is an aimless young man.  Although he is highly intelligent, he is content to live his life as a car valet with his lifelong best friend, Katy (Awkwafina).  That all changes when he is attacked on a bus, and to Katy's surprise, demonstrates some serious martial arts moves.  Now, he has no choice but to confront the truth of his past.  And that means confronting his father (Leung).

More than that I will not say.  This is a movie that is best discovered as it unfolds.  That's because it actually has a story to tell.  It's not just throwing special effects and in-jokes at the screen in huge expensive gobs.  Director Destin Daniel Cretton is patient, and he takes his time fleshing out his characters and allow us to get drawn into the story.  One of the problems with the majority of superhero movies is that the scripts are terrible.  The characters exist just for the stunts and the references.  The plots existed to just to set up the next installment.  There were no stakes and no people to care about.

That's not the case here.  He understands that in order for any adrenaline and excitement to take place, the audience has to care about the people and and feel that risk of things going wrong.  That can't happen when things are so choked in ironic distance that we can't buy into the story.  That's not to say that "Shang-Chi" isn't funny.  It is funny, and at times it's hilarious (most of the laughs are provided by Awkwafina).  It's just that the whole movie doesn't feel like one big joke.

It also doesn't overdose on special effects.  There are a lot of those, particularly in the climax.  But they are well-staged and used only when necessary.  We can (mostly) follow along and camera placement is chosen for maximum suspense, rather than the easy payoff.  It's just that the movie takes the time to engage us emotionally so we care about the outcome.  Too few movies bother to do this, and even fewer manage to do it successfully.  But Cretton is up to the challenge.

Most importantly, the film has a cast of people worth caring about.  Most superhero movies these days don't bother with this, and instead rely on the charisma of the actors and the pre-existing relationship fans have with the people on screen.  But Cretton takes the time to flesh them out.  No one here is blazingly original, but they have enough depth to the point where the audience can identify with them.  Simu Liu, for example, can toss off one-liners and has an impressive physique, but he can pull off the heavy dramatic stuff.  He anchors the film, and has the screen presence and talent to do it.  Awkwafina is also impressive.  Best known for her wacky comic performances, she has some dramatic talents as well, and the screenplay allows her to show it off.  As good as they are, their more experienced co-stars steal their scenes.  Michelle Yeoh doesn't have a lot to do, but she makes the most of what she has.  The true star of the film is Tony Leung, who is something of a legend in Chinese cinema.  Wenwu isn't simply a megalomaniac bent on world domination, but a man whose grief has driven him mad.  Leung could have simply said his lines and collected a (hopefully) big paycheck, but the actor takes his role seriously.  That keeps him interesting and makes us care about him, even though his actions are horrible.

Ultimately, the reason why "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" works is because it isn't bogged down by canon, special effects and Easter eggs.  Those things are supplementary, and Cretton treats them as such.  He doesn't use them unless they are germane to the story.  If the MCU put the amount of effort into every movie that was put into this one, they'd be a lot better off.  They'd have a lot more fans than cosplayers.

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