Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.
















Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

"You can't outrun who you really are."

Marvel's latest venture into blockbuster cinema, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is proof that Marvel can produce almost anything at this point and reap the rewards. This is not in the sense that Shang-Chi is poorly made or even close to being a bad film; I actually rather enjoyed it. However, ten years ago, when Marvel was producing mega-hits like Captain America: The First Avenger, the blatant nationalism of that hero was bound to bring in big domestic audiences. Yet here, a film based on a relatively unsuccessful comic book character (in America) has become the box office hit of the summer as masses of families flock to see a film without a word of English for the first ten minutes.

Indie darling Destin Daniel Cretton of Short Term 12 fame takes the camera in a film that features: legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung's American film debut, Malaysian powerhouse Michelle Yeoh, Marmite comedian, Awkwafina and relative unknowns in Simu Liu and Meng'er Zhang. They all pull off some pretty standard Marvel performances, nothing out of the ordinary. This is apart from Leung, who is, frankly, the best part of the whole film. His character has the most intriguing relationships; he never lands on the side of true evil or true good, and he provides a convincing performance with exposition delivered in vaguely innovative ways for Marvel Studios.

The world-building is always pretty decent on Marvel's part, and it's clear the studio gave the people behind this film money to invest in creating a vibrant world for the film to take place in. The culture is a huge part of the film, much like the set-up of Wakanda in Black Panther and the devotion to making that feel real. Shang-Chi never quite reaches those heights, opting for fictional species and magical equipment over the technology-driven focus of Wakanda. Nevertheless, it's always fun to see something new and bringing out a tremendously large dragon from beneath the ocean is certainly something I've not seen on a cinema screen in a while.

I wish it was just a bit more consistent. Some of the fight scenes look impressive and really get into the spirit that the film attempts to maintain, whereas others are paint-by-numbers and totally wasted. It's the same on a visual front, where Cretton attempts to keep things interesting throughout and fails on several occasions because a large percentage of the film is visual-effects-driven. The San Francisco stuff feels a little out of place at times, but then sections like the karaoke nights out feel quite natural and relieving.

Shang-Chi is far from perfect, but it's also pretty unique for a blockbuster these days. It deals with The Mandarin and Ben Kingsley from Iron Man 3 nicely without feeling too much like a public apology by the writers, and I'll mention him again because Tony Leung deserves all the praise he'll get for this. I'd love to say this is a nice step for Marvel, but I know it won't last. The post-credits scene only proves that just like Black Panther, once the primary character leaves their standalone franchise and enters the wider universe, their culture and distinctiveness is diluted heavily.

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