Shang-Chi is a breath of fresh air for Marvel

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is as fresh as Marvel has been in years. A moving tragedy about fathers, sons, and the crushing weight of filial expectations, director Daniel Destin Cretton wraps affecting drama within an effortlessly cool superhero origin story. The MCU’s first film with an Asian lead doesn’t disappoint - even with its muddy, CGI soup third act, there’s a voice within Shang-Chi’s kinetic action, and a powerful performance from screen legend Tony Leung as one of the MCU’s best villains. Minor spoilers ahead…

With 25 movies over 13 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has established itself as an astoundingly consistent blockbuster factory, typically characterized as one with a high floor but low ceiling. The same criticisms have been lobbed at the Mouse House’s hitmaking studio ever since the mid-2010s: cookie-cutter action, undercooked villains, a stifling house style, and unnecessarily grandiose third acts muddled by brain-melting CGI. With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel breaks its own mold on multiple fronts with Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton. Assembling an affecting family drama out of an Asian American superhero origin story, Marvel Studios’ 25th film conceals a surprisingly dark tragedy with the trappings of a martial arts epic. With concise, balletic action and Hong Kong cinema legend Tony Leung in the villain role, Shang-Chi is the most energized the MCU has been in years. And like Black Panther before it, Shang-Chi makes major strides in representation; more than just plastering Asian faces on a screen, the film dives particularly deep into the Asian American experience: the push and pull of identity, grappling with heritage, and the oftentimes suffocating weight of filial expectations.

Shang-Chi doesn’t open on its protagonist. The film barrels forth with an affecting prologue detailing the rise of Wenwu (Tony Leung, owning every second he’s on-screen), a terrifying immortal conquerer who wields the immense power of the Ten Rings, a mystical artifact capable of awe-inspiring destruction. From its inciting moments, Shang-Chi feels different from its MCU peers - with an elegant wuxia influence, the narrative outlines Wenwu’s swath of carnage over the course of centuries. Having run out of lands to conquer, he sets his eyes - and his vast army - on the mystical nexus of Ta Lo, a hidden-away civilization rife with magic. In a swerve uncharacteristic of superhero films, which have become increasingly sexless and puritanical, Shang-Chi’s prologue cranks up the sexiness and romance as Wenwu falls in love with Jiang Li (Fala Chen), Ta Lo’s fierce protector. Their first meeting - and skirmish - is akin to a dance, and it’s one of the most passionate and distinct set-pieces Marvel has ever placed on film. Shang-Chi takes meticulous pride in crafting Tony Leung’s sympathetic villain, adding layers and layers to a character originally introduced as a “Yellow Peril” stereotype.

“In a swerve uncharacteristic of superhero films, which have become increasingly sexless and puritanical, *Shang-Chi*’s prologue cranks up the sexiness and romance…”

In another effort to add shading, Wenwu absconds with Jiang Li to start a family, eventually giving up his warmongering ways; but when tragedy strikes, Wenwu opens the box he swore he would never touch again - the box containing the formidable Ten Rings, and his latent bloodlust. Raising his son, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), to be a stone-cold assassin and heir to the Ten Rings, Wenwu reignites his quest for power. Flash-forward to present day, and Shang-Chi - who years ago abandoned his villainous birthright - has settled down with a new identity and an unassuming life with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina). When mysterious events compel Wenwu to seek out his prodigal son, Shang-Chi must contend with the growing web of The Ten Rings’ influence, and also confront his own dark legacy.

“My father trained me to be The Ten Rings’ greatest weapon, but that’s not who I am,” explains Shang-Chi, early on. Of course, most Asian Americans don’t have an immortal, super-powered, overlord father, but Shang-Chi’s thread on filial expectations is a potent one - one that will undoubtedly spark pangs of familiarity in second-generation children of immigrants. At 2019’s Comic-Con, when Simu Liu was first introduced as the next Marvel hero, he playfully tacked on at the end of his charming speech: “I can’t help but think of my parents. My parents emigrated from China to Canada 25 years ago with nothing except the hopes and dreams to build a family and to build a life for their kids, and all I’ve ever wanted to do growing up was to make them proud. So basically what I’m trying to say is that I’m really happy I’m not a doctor.” His heartfelt joke was met with an eruption of laughter, but this running joke in pop culture about Asian parents stems from a very real place.

For many Asian Americans, there is a ferocious push and pull between our parents’ expectations and our own sense of individuality and instilled American self-interest. Shang-Chi - for dramatic purposes, obviously - takes these concepts to their most violent and camp-filled extremes, but the concept of the Asian American identity is the weighty undercurrent that breathes life into the entirety of the film - it’s a theme that pulses beneath every impressive melee, every bloated CGI effect, and every emotional beat. At one point, Wenwu bellows to his son: “Watch how you speak to me, boy.” Many audiences will relate to Wenwu’s paternal love, tenderness, and sacrifice, but they might also recognize his inability to respect boundaries, his fanatic adherence to piety, and his stubborn possessiveness. It’s a thread that perhaps goes a little slack by the time Shang-Chi reaches its otherworldly conclusion, but it’s a moving one nonetheless, and Tony Leung’s performance as antagonist is searing, singular, and faceted; perhaps the best MCU villain to date.

“…*Shang-Chi*’s thread on filial expectations is a potent one - one that will undoubtedly spark pangs of familiarity in second-generation children of immigrants.”

In the end, however, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a martial arts epic, and on that front, it delivers in spades; vocal critics of the MCU’s choppy and indistinct action will have an entire buffet of clear, concise, and finely choreographed ass-kickings to choose from. Anchored by Simu Liu’s charming performance and by letting his stunt-performer past free, Shang-Chi’s action conveys the one thing so many superhero films are missing: flavor. You might recognize tinges of Jackie Chan with a playful flourish of a reversible jacket, or the influences of Zhang Yimou or Yuen Woo-ping in the film’s wuxia scenes; it’s all thanks to the late, great Brad Allan and his team of stunt coordinators. Allan, who passed away as production wrapped on the film, was a member of the famed Jackie Chan Stunt Team, and his unique voice lives within every kinetic beat of Shang-Chi. Serving also as second-unit director along with Bill Pope’s (The Matrix) cinematography, Allan’s choreography is hard-hitting, fluid, and uncut. The action of Shang-Chi is - unexaggeratedly - next level; experienced in a packed theater, gasps of awe are sure to be a dime a dozen.

And while Tony Leung practically acts circles around everyone in Shang-Chi, everyone gets their moment to shine. Simu Liu - along with his easy chemistry with Awkwafina - balances charm, pathos, and ferocity effortlessly; he moves and acts like a genuine movie star, so adding him into the Avengers roster is a no-brainer. But perhaps the dark horse is Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing, Shang-Chi’s sister; a child neglected by the patrilineage of The Ten Rings, Xialing is a swirling maelstrom of gumption and bitterness. Circumstances team her up with Shang-Chi’s quest, and in a lesser film, she would be discarded to the sidelines, but there’s remarkable shading to her character that gives her some of the film’s best moments.

“Simu Liu balances charm, pathos, and ferocity effortlessly; he moves and acts like a genuine movie star, so adding him into the Avengers roster is a no-brainer.”

In many ways, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings breaks out of the typical superhero formula, but, like most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it loves to go big without any awareness of when to stop. In a film supplemented by top-notch CGI - the Ten Rings, which I thought looked like hokum in the trailers, in fact look incredible in the final product - Shang-Chi employs its muddled third act with reckless, disappointing abandon. Like a runaway freight train, the film’s big bad set piece is practically CGI stew; poorly rendered beasties, dragons, and nondescript monsters are all mashed together in a weightless denouement. Thankfully, the emotional beats are strong enough to counterweight some of the slog, but Shang-Chi’s final act demolition derby is an MCU weakness writ large.

Despite its concluding doldrums, Shang-Chi is the most exciting the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in years. Boasting the studio’s best action to date by a country mile, Destin Daniel Cretton’s outing in superhero fare finds a unique voice: an energetic blockbuster that explores representation through romance, tragedy, and family drama. A superhero origin story through the lens of a lost soul struggling with his identity and heritage, Shang-Chi leans into the internalized struggle so many children of immigrants grapple with. There might be superpowers, Kung Fu, and magic - and perhaps even a few Avengers show up - but Shang-Chi never forgets to be spiritually engaging or emotionally layered.