Sorry, cinephiles! The superhero genre isn’t going the way of the Western just yet. Despite being Marvel Studios’ 25th movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is another fresh direction for the studio’s large, interconnected story. While Shang-Chi is unable to escape the usual Marvel formula hiccups, the film successfully introduces new characters and a new world. It’s full of absorbing family drama and engaging fight choreography, and is an indisputable win for Asian representation in American movies.
Shang-Chi‘s most impressive feat is quickly investing the audience in the lives of its central characters. The plot itself couldn’t be more ripped from the pages of a comic book: the son of a mystical martial arts warlord is forced to confront his past and challenge his father’s criminal organization and the magical ten rings that fuel his power and immortality. Yet the film is never burdened by its own premise, elegantly incorporating its mythology in piecemeal throughout the movie. Director and co-screenwriter Destin Daniel Cretton keeps the story’s focus on Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and his consequential relationships with his father (Tony Leung), estranged sister (newcomer Meng’er Zhang), and best friend (Awkwafina).
The true secret sauce to Marvel’s success is its casting, and Simu Liu’s turn as Shang-Chi is another victory. Liu is effortlessly regal and confident without ever sacrificing charm or personality, never backsliding into a bland, two-dimensional hero. He is surrounded by a phenomenal supporting cast, including cinema legends Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh, who imbue the interpersonal drama with tremendous gravitas and emotional stakes. I was worried the film might overuse Awkwafina as a one-night, comic-relief sidekick (they have a history with that), but her sharp, comedic abilities are smartly deployed and never overpower the dramatic beats, and her character’s friendship with Shang-Chi carries needed dramatic weight in the story.
Even when Shang-Chi falls prey to the weaker aspects of the Marvel formula, none of these flaws overwhelm the film. The usual complaint of a muddy, concrete Marvel color grading is present here, but also beautiful visuals that purposefully evoke (admittedly superior) films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero. And when the final conflict descends into an overblown, CGI-heavy finale between our heroes and an army of nameless fodder, the film salvages the monotony with a unique visual language and absurd magical creatures.
While the finale’s bigger-is-better approach does disappoint, the film’s action sequences in general are beautifully staged and skillfully filmed, showcasing the cast’s and crew’s immense talent and ingenuity. The choreography is wide-ranging, drawing inspiration from a dozen different points in Asian cinema. As an American kid who grew up loving Jackie Chan and his incredible, slapstick-infused fights, the influence of the late Brad Allan, a supervising stunt coordinator on this film and a veteran of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, is noticeable in Shang-Chi’s imaginative fighting style. One sequence in particular—beginning with several combatants scaling the side of a Macau high-rise and concluding in an intimate, deadly knife fight—completely enveloped me and left me with chills. (Props to a film that delivers total immersion when surrounded by oblivious, opening night patrons who often forget they’re in a theater and not their living room.)
It’s hard not to draw parallels between Shang-Chi and 2018’s Black Panther, which gave the reigns to Black storytellers and a predominantly Black cast for Marvel’s first Black-led film. If Black Panther’s resounding success ($1.3 billion at the box office and a Best Picture nod) is any indication, it’s no surprise that Shang-Chi is beloved by critics and holds the largest Labor Day weekend opening ever (and during a global pandemic!). We shouldn’t pat Marvel too hard on the back; they aren’t exactly breaking ground in North American filmmaking with a predominantly Asian-led production. That said, the influence and reach of a Marvel film to global audiences is undeniable, and the importance of an Asian lead prominently joining the ranks of Marvel’s premiere superhero team shouldn’t be dismissed. I’m under no pretense that Marvel films are peak cinema, but as someone who grew up consuming Batman and Superman movies, it means something for kids to directly see themselves in the heroes they cherish on the big screen. But Shang-Chi is more than cynical, corporate-mandated representation; it’s a fun movie, full of rich family drama, thrilling fight sequences, and supremely likable characters—and a promising superhero introduction on the level of Iron Man and Black Panther. Go see it!
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently playing in theaters. It runs 132 minutes and is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and language.
