Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Film Review

Cast: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Part homage to Chinese films, part pack horse to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its propensity for awful conclusions, large swathes of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings prove to be potent material for entertainment.

Essentially an extended exploration of grief and guilt, it's the story of Simu Liu's Shang-Chi who's seemingly tried to leave his past behind after moving to the US and living a quiet life as a valet with long-term friend Katy (a brilliantly cast Awkwafina).

However, when Shang-Chi's bus journey is interrupted by a bunch of goons warning him he and his sister are about to get what's coming to them, Shang-Chi has to head back to his past - and face the family he'd abandoned.

There's much of a high octane feel to large parts of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, plenty of which is clearly choreographed, almost balletic martial arts that's visually thrilling and engaging. But it's in the human elements that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings soars - certainly as its weaker water-set CGI finale demonstrates.

Liu and Awkwafina have an easy chemistry and their friendship feels lived-in and real, along with a script that peppers in jokes and a playful tone that helps greatly. But it's Awkwafina who makes more of a compelling presence than Liu, who's serviceable enough, but not quite as full of personality when next to Awkwafina's Katy. 

Leung and Yeoh bring a reverence and earnestness to their roles - it's telling the script shies away from a universe-threatening big bad and instead makes the threat a more intimate one, while not forgetting the Marvel tenets of their blockbuster franchise. There are thematic elements shared with the last MCU release Black Widow and an exploration of daddy issues and familial abandonment, but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings's treatment of them within their cultural context is sensitively and smartly handled.

But a finale that simply throws CGI (and elements of Raya and the Last Dragon) together loses the reality of what's been constructed over the past two hours, and jettisons it for Marvel's usual bluster. 

Marvel may have worked off the mantra of "If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing" for the start of its Phase 4 of its cinematic universe and tried something new with the homage to Chinese action movies, but it's telling they can't help fall back on the usual tropes of their movies. 

Thankfully, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an origin movie that for the large part its director Destin Daniel Cretton knows the more personality-led moments are the stars of the show. As a result, this Asian-led blockbuster shows when Marvel wants to deviate from its boiler plate, it can make something that matches the hype and that feels fresh in a franchise that occasionally deals too much in their own bloated mythology.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is streaming now on Disney+