Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) Review

The next instalment of the MCU, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has come out and I managed to see it the other day and I have finally found time to review it and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a young martial artist forced to face his past when his criminal father comes hunting for him. 

Main Character

Relative unknown Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi and he is really good in this role. He really delivers a strong performance and you will come out of the film really liking him and caring about the character of Shang-Chi. The focus on his family dynamic is really well done and Liu does a great job in selling that and showing the pain that he has been through in his life and bringing this great hero to life. He is also fantastic in the action scenes and that is a huge part of this film and you have to believe in the heroes capabilities and I really did. 

Supporting Characters

Awkwafina plays his best friend Katy and I feel like this character is really going to split opinion, some will hate her, some will love her. I pretty much hit both ends of the spectrum, I thought she was really annoying in the first act of the film and it hurt my enjoyment, but as she had her role slightly lessened she became much more likeable and her character arc became very clear. Tony Leung plays his first role in an American film playing Wenwu and this is one of the best antagonists in the current MCU. I loved this character and performance, he isn't just some generic bad guy and at times I really understood his motivations and saw the emotion from his performance and it was really strong. Meng'er Zhang plays Xialing and I liked her character here and I thought it really complemented Shang-Chi really well. There is clearly issues there and the film plays it up well, and makes her more then just this female sidekick and she is given a personality. 

Story   

The story is at its strongest when it focuses on the family issues between the characters, in particular Shang-Chi and Wenwu. That father and son dynamic is great and both actors deliver really well in their roles and it makes there clashes feel even more important as you genuinely care about both of them in the film. The issue is that the film kind of strays away from that and tries to focus on too much. It has plenty of exposition scenes and fits so much in that it distracts from the main thing that makes this film great. The final act puts the focus in the wrong place, its hard to explain without spoilers but I think you will know what I mean if you watch the film. 

Script

The script is okay, the drama is really well done and made me care about these characters and the emotional predicaments that they are put in during this adventure and I actually think this film is held back a little bit by the fact that it is in the MCU. What I mean by that is that it has the humour you come to expect from the universe is here but it is done poorly and I never really laughed at all and that was a disappointment.

Style  

The film looks fantastic, the CGI is all beautiful and I think it does an excellent job of building this world of Martial arts that is very different to other elements of the MCU. The fight scenes live up to the hype and are the best that have been seen in The Marvel Cinematic Universe, the flow so well and are so hard hitting that it is easily the best element of the film. 

Overall

Overall, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is a great film and another solid addition to The Marvel Cinematic Universe. It isn't top tier Marvel but does a great job of introducing a new hero in Shang-Chi. 

Rating - 8/10