Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

  • Released: 2021-09-01
  • Runtime: 132 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
  • Stars: Simu Liu, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Awkwafina, Zhang Meng'er, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Yuen Wah, Ben Kingsley, Florian Munteanu, Andy Le, Paul He, Jayden Tianyi Zhang, Elodie Fong, Arnold Sun, Stephanie Hsu, Kunal Dudheker, Tsai Chin, Jodi Long, Dallas Liu, Ronny Chieng, Daniel Liu, Stella Ye, Fernando Chien, Michael-Anthony Taylor, Zach Cherry, Raymond Ma, Lau Ga-Yung, Johnny Carr, Harmonie He, Lydia Sarks, Dee Bradley Baker, Benedict Wong, Tim Roth, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larson, David Chea, Bingchen Ye, Jade Xu
  • Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
 Comments
  • cgtam - 9 June 2024
    Hollywood American Asians stereotype continues; formula Marvel plot
    This long film proves Hollywood bias remains against American westernized Chinese/ Asians. Since "all Asians look the same", just blend & create new styles etc in their unique historic cultures so it becomes sci fi. Director is Japanese, & not one that knows Chinese martial arts nor action. Look at his prior films. Again, he's Asian so it's all the same to Hollywood. Only Europeans can have distinct cultures correctly shown in Hollywood films.

    Here, plot is hodgepodge of snippets of prior action films easily recognizable. Casting isn't suited for most of the characters. Script is bland with no character development, lots of holes, no suspense nor comedy.

    Many posted reviews claim this film is all "China propaganda"; yet I doubt those reviewers watched it. China banned this film, & many wonder why.

    Macau is an island China rigidly regulates in every way bc of legal gambling. Yet here the plot has open unsanctioned cage fights that Supreme Sorcerer Wong regularly partakes. Would Tilda Swan be given that same hobby in Dr Strange?

    This film had lots of potential wasted, incl cast talents. Of course, the female is better than male political gender theme is loudly portrayed here as in all Marvel/ Disney productions. CGI is not consistent, but good plot & acting would've made that less obvious.

    Some reviewers urge American Asians must support these bland biased stereotype Asian films so American born westernized Asians will appear in more Hollywood films/ shows. That simply perpetuates the stereotypes, & is not progress other ethnicities receive in past 7 yrs.

    Marvel finally makes an America Asian hero but maintains all the old negative stereotypes unlike the comic book late Stan Lee created. Big dull disappointment.
  • slowcando - 2 January 2024
    Style over substance, but still good
    This film is gonna serve as my introduction to the new wave of bombastic Chinese cinema. While it's a Marvel and partly set in America the dominant flavour is certainly Chinese. It feels fresh, vibrant and very stylish.

    Stylish almost to a fault, as the plot, characters and action aren't faintly believable (even in the realms of Marveldom). The plot and the way it's stylishly produced reminds me of Final Fantasy stories, in a good way. Charming and fun. The characters are mostly two-dimensional templates, tho' Katy added some welcome dimension. The action, while impressive visually, sometimes reminded of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon's theatrics, so that it felt very staged & overly choreographed. Some hits were so far from making actual contact that the Director should've called for another take.

    The film works if you just accept it for what it is: a silly overly-fantastic action-fantasy with big chinese flavour. There's no real depth, mystery or profound messaging...but there are impressive bus fights, martial arts...and dragons! Pacing was good in the first and final third, tho' dragged a bit in the middle.

    Halfway through I was thinking to myself: "this is a movie Michelle Yeoh should be in" - ....and lo, there she pops up after all! That wasn't the only thing that was predictable.

    Entertained? Yes. And that's the main thing. I'd rank it above the Ant-Mans, on par with Black Panther, but not quite at the level of the best Avengers/Guardians movies. The next Shang-Chi would need to up the mystery, suspense and intrigue. But keep the Chinese flavour, for sure.