Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Marvel/Disney's latest, which combines components of other Marvel Cinematic Universe chapters, to introduce a new (Phase IV) superhero to the big-budget screen. This particular enterprise is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who co-wrote the script with Dave Callaham and Andrew Langham, based on the 70s mythology of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin.
Shang-Chi (aka the Master of Kung Fu/Master Hand) is portrayed by Simu (the Akira Project) Liu. The character is a martial-arts expert (with great, assassin potential), trained by a misguided father, Wenwu, the Madarin (not to be confused with Guy Pearce's Iron Man 3 villain), who's portrayed with devilish aptitude by Tony Leung. (In the comics, it's Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu who once acted as Sheng-Chi's dad, but of course the PC police had to squash that historic, pop-cultural tie-in.)
As one might presume, the nimble Shang-Chi has Snake Eyes attributes and like David Carradine's Caine from Kung Fu, is in search of meaning and escape, or in the very least a need to protect his sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang). He can also enhance his martial-arts prowess through ten metaphysical rings, which can be summoned by a few masterful swoops, thus squashing the bad guys in a single, whirling bound. On the downside, a bad guy can also administer the rings, so watch out!
"The Ten Rings" is also the name of an organization that Shang-Chi must engage, as introduced in Iron Man #1. The organization seeks what any such ego-maniacal source would: heedless conquest. However, its obsessed leader, Wenwu, has an even greater cause to fulfill: the quest to seize his wife, Leika (Fala Chen) from beyond a creature-laden land. But is his mission wise? Liu and Leung contrast well as they reveal the answer, tapping their dysfunctional adversity for all it's worth.
To tie the picture's events to those of other MCU chapters, we get Benedict Wong's Wong from Doctor Strange and the upcoming Spider-man: No Way Home. In addition, Tim Roth's Hulkish adversary, the Abomination pounds his way to an energetic cameo, and Sir Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery of Iron Man 3 surfaces for obligatory giggles and a pretty neat Planet of the Apes reference. (Action-movie veteran, Michelle Yeoh also grants an appearance as Shang-chi's aunt, Jiang Nan, and to buffer the attractive veteran, such newbies as Awkwafina's comical Katy and Florian Munteanu's towering henchman, Razor Fist jump on board.)
I liked Shang-Chi for its wild fight sequences, zesty, Joel P. West score and spiffy, Bill Pope photography, but even so, it felt rather like Captain Marvel: more or less jammed-packed filler. Why should I care, though? As I often say, we can never have enough good-vs-bad stories, whether of the comic-book sort or even "real-life" based. The world is too dark and skewed right now not to justify Shang-Chi's existence, so damn it, let the movie (and its hero) reign.
No comments:
Post a Comment