Not Marvel’s finest (two-plus) hour(s).
An overstuffed screenplay that ultimately left me not feeling much by the time we reached the CGI smorgasbord at the end.
I think Simu Liu has the chops and charm to carry a movie but his Dad got the interesting narrative arc. (Was that on purpose, since Leung is such a huge star in Asia…?)
I give props to Awkwafina. I haven’t seen anyone stare off into green screen space and do shock/awe/surprise/fear as convincingly as she does.
If a movie wants to make a viewer feel something I think it has to sustain a mood for more than five minutes before it veers off into another emotional direction.
YMMV
ETA: Yes, the fight choreography dazzled…sometimes.
“You see…the rest of them are soldiers. But [Wonder Woman] is an artist.”
I only support the made of clay origin.
Posted this on the Shang-Chi Appreciation thread. I'm going to also post it here:
Alright everyone, I've just seen the new movie this afternoon. And my thoughts? I'll be honest, it wasn't 100% perfect for me. I know, I know, with all of the amazing reviews out there and with many of the posters here saying otherwise, a less than stellar review coming from the Shang-Chi super fan here on the boards is crazy! Still, for me, well, there were just some parts that I felt could have been better. For me, the movie's pacing seemed a little too quick, which is something I've felt happens to a lot of MCU films. Sometimes there was a lot of exposition. Sometimes I wasn't too clear on what was happening. Sometimes the movie wore its influences pretty brightly. And the fights, I feel, could have been better. Winter Soldier still holds the top rank for me in terms of that.
BUT, honest to god...............I cried. I fucking cried no less than 4 times during this movie. Because there were moments that really struck hard for me. Yes, there were moments and themes that seemed familiar from other films. But it was still good to see them. Was the fighting the best ever? Not 100% of the time. BUT, I caught excellent techniques and movements. Surprisingly, my favorite part was the part that many reviewers said was the weakest, that final third act. And the actors, all of them gave memorable performances.
In any case, here are my thoughts. Spoilers below! (I always start with the negatives first, merely to get those out of the way):
Cons:
spoilers:end of spoilers
- Lots of MCU movies have this particular trait: pacing. I always feel that they go too quickly from moment to moment. Shang-Chi felt like that. I felt the movie went from plot point to plot point fairly quickly. Shang is in San Francisco. Then he's in Macau. Now he's in the secret base. Wait a minute, now he's escaped and gone to Ta Lo. I would have wanted the movie to spend some more time letting the scene breath a bit more.
Also, I feel the dialogue was functional more often than not. It merely got characters from point A to point B.
- Cretton mentioned how he pulled influences for fights from different sources, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Jackie Chan. As someone who's a fan of those films, I definitely saw them. Still, I case some sideway glances at some fight scenes. For instance, the first scene where the Mandarin and his wife fall in love? I've seen it before in Hero and The Grandmaster. Shang-Chi fighting on the bamboo. That's straight out of Rush Hour 2. When does it stop being an homage and start being a copy? Furthermore, some of the fighting was difficult to discern. It wasn't Jason Bourne stuff mind you. But the bus fight, the bamboo fight, the fights in Ta Lo, I couldn't see all of those clearly.
- Shang-Chi killed those who killed his mom, right? Is that why he left his dad? He was becoming like him? I don't know if I picked up on that.
Pros:
spoilers:end of spoilers
- Yes, the pacing was quick. However, there were definitely good, emotional moments. Some of them were very subtle. When Shang was training as a teen and failing, Shang's father looked down. THAT got me. It's a tiny thing, but trust me, a lot of Asians would know that feeling. There were definitely moments that made me cry. Hell, I cried in the beginning of the film when the Mandarin was conquering others. As a Chinese historian, I was reminded of the times Chinese empires fought against others. When Shang-Chi and his sister went to pay respects to their mom, I fucking lost it. Because I knew one day, I'd have to do that with my dad. Same thing when Wenwu's soul was consumed by the Dweller In Darkness. It reminded me of my father and all the times I had unresolved issues with him.
- Yes, the fight scenes weren't that clear, but they all had just enough clear moments where I could understand what was going on. Maybe it was the tornado kick or the push. Some of the fights had deep messages behind them. Shang learning the Tai Chi, soft styles from his aunt, that's very deep. Like I said, I liked the CGI fight at the end. Seeing Shang with the rings, that was cool.
- There were a lot of good character moments. Shang was the conflicted son. Katy was the plucky sidekick. Xialing was the defiant daughter. I liked what was done with the Mandarin though. It was very easy for him to turn into some megalomaniac bent on taking over the world. But the plot wasn't that. Instead, we have a once hardened man trying to get back his wife. The execution could have been better. Maybe there could have been more of a scene where he reflected on how much he loved her. But what occurred was profound.
- Great instances of Asian and Asian-American culture here. All night karaoke binges, figuring out what to do in life, talk of Qing Ming Jie and finding a spouse, yeah, we all know that.
So, those were my thoughts. Overall, I came out satisfied. Things could have been better, but what I got was good. I think I'll see it one more time though, just to make sure. Anyway, would like to hear what you all had to say about it.
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
It was fairly fun for me -- I expected it to be a CTHD/MCU lovechild, and that's basically what it is. Shang-Chi is a badass -- now I realize this was another reason to not continue with the Netflix shows, LOL. This guy could easily solo those fighters, maybe most if not all of them at once. But that talk is for Rumbles threads.
I agree that the pacing is a bit too quick in the more recent MCU flicks, this one is no exception. But I'm now expecting this, so I take it in stride.
I thoroughly enjoyed the mid-credit scene. And yes, there is a post credit scene, too.
Original join date: sometime in 2002
I pretty much agree with everything you said.
For me, this would definitely be in the top 10, and Wenwu would be in the top 5 MCU villains.
As to your question, spoilers:end of spoilers
I took it to be a situation like Cassandra Cain. That character was raised from birth to be an assassin, but when she was sent to kill her first man- and she does- the act of taking a life horrified her, because she could 'read' his death. And so she swore never to kill again. It seemed like the same situation with Shang-Chi. He killed his first man, the act horrified him, and he swore never to do it again.
I just want to here about the martial arts and lore in this film, instead everyone is just posting their reviews.
Tony Stark is no longer the sexiest Tony in the MCU.
Shang-Chi was good (I have also been pronouncing it wrong my whole life).
I gave it a 7 1/2 out of 10. It’s definitely different from most MCU movies.
The actors/actresses did a good job, the writing was good, the CGI was……okay. There were moments where they seemed to go a bit cheap on it to my eye, but otherwise it was fine.
Story wise it was fine too, but there are a few times where there is some real lazy writing to my mind, and that really made me roll my eyes a bit. spoilers:end of spoilers
How Shang and co get go Tao Lo was…lame. That creature just happens to know the way, knew their mother, AND somehow can speak to Trevor. Really?
spoilers:end of spoilers
Wong is badass. Also cool seeing Bruce and Carol, though why Bruce was human was curious
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I enjoyed it. I feel like I should like it more than I did, but I don't know exactly why. Perhaps it's the traditional asian aesthetics (I am asian btw) which I'm not so much a fan of, at least not when it is so clean looking. I would put it at the top of the 2nd tier of Marvel films (1st tier being the very best), which may or not just be recency bias speaking. Also I missed like the first 5-10 mins or something like that, but can't imagine it would change my opinion that much.
Shang-Chi: I think a character/actor with potential. I think the story kind of hand-holds him, where he kinda just has to be there, but not necessarily carry the movie. It'll be interesting to see later films where he carries more of the film. But overall, if we are trying to build an Avengers 2.0, I feel like he fits very much into the Steve Rogers slot. Not the most dynamic of characters, but being the more quiet/subdued everyman type. And I was always a Steve guy. He's definitely not there yet, but I could see him doing very well.
Katy: I think she works in the film. Personally, she's not someone I connect with or would want to be friends with per se. (I don't hate her, just find her mildly annoying) But it works in the film, and even the best of friends can be annoying so its not a huge negative. She fills the role of the "ordinary POV" and the early comic relief, which is usually not a role I want/expect to have much to do in films, and she has more to do here than I would have had her do. But shockingly never got to the point where I hated her, which tbh I sort of expected. But I think she earns her screentime all the same.
WenWu (sp?): I think a very good job in the film. Overall, like Infinity War is Thanos's movie, well, it doesn't quite get to that point, but it trends in that direction. I think a very good job of splitting the duality of being a personable father figure and a threatening villain. The rings are very well re-imagined, and I think they are easily the best visually represented super-power in awhile. Captain Marvel people take note, audio design is very important to creating a sense of realness and weight. I wasn't as weepy as some people are about the film, but I never am, but the father/son stuff didn't touch me nearly as much as the Quill/Yondu/Ego stuff in Guardians 2.
Story: People have commented on pacing, and yes, but also the Disney+ series have had their own pacing issues in other directions, so I at least found it to be a refreshing change. The early fight scenes are not as good as the scenes they are taking a clear homage too, but still good. The later "en masse" fight scenes are kinda just goofy looking to me, but it's what it is. The final fights with Shang-Chi are pretty cool, and sell the character well. I think the true final boss should have been alluded to far earlier (though perhaps that's the first few minutes I missed) so it comes out of left field a bit, but it mostly works and has a cool visual design, and glad to see that sort of visual being in the MCU. I half-expected the rings to be obnoxiously powerful the way I've heard some describe it, but I pretty happy with the level they are at.
As far as the post-credits scenes, there is a mid and a post. They both honestly as far as alluding to the future are pretty vague, so it's nothing that gets me super excited, but I do think they are nice character epilogues.
Overall it doesn't reach the top end of Marvel films (which of course it probably wouldn't), and it might just be recency but it's near the top of that the next section of very good and enjoyable MCU films.
I mean, there are times where lazy writing is reasonable. This isn't really about that spoilers:end of spoilers
i.e., it's not a "adventure" film in the sense of the narrative is so much about the physical journey, it's kinda similar to how they just gloss over the whole "you were involved in an incident where a bus was cut in half and wrecked tons of other peoples cars and city property and no one seems to care", which tbh i think is more of a writing issue. but it's kind of presumed as part of the suspension of disbelief that they'll be able to just walk away from stuff like that because otherwise the story would then be muddled with like learning about insurance and law enforcement, lol.
So I don't really see what belaboring the point of how they get there would be. Honestly, I would have rather it had been more lazy than less lazy, i.e. just have Wenwu need a day or two to get his men ready, and since Shang-Chi doesn't need that time, Shang-Chi is able to get there sooner. But thinking about it now, I kinda imagine there was a Disney note about wanting a fluffy creature to sell, and to give it a scene or two to make it endearing and sellable.
Last edited by Gorthon616; 09-04-2021 at 05:23 AM.
Makes sense bro. And yes, that play out similarly in the comics. Thanks!
Check out this video from Comic Tropes. Touches on origins, similarities, and differences between both the comic and movie. Careful though, there are spoilers!
I could understand the responses to both sides here. I agree with Cleric in that spoilers:end of spoilers but can see it from Gorthon. There's enough suspension of belief, enough plausibility for events to happen.
finding Trevor and that little creature from Ta Lo was pretty happenstance
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
Overall I liked it more than Black Widow. Honestly surprised . I admit some of the dragon stuff took me out of it in the end.
the action (at least in the first act), the villain and surprising good comic relief characters spoilers:end of spoilers really helped elevate this one.
Katy and Trevor
they should do a WhatIf!? Tony had to fight the "real" Mandarin episode. That would be interesting. I still like Iron Man 3 despite some weird creative choices. I wonder which version of the 10 rings, real or fake, captured Tony in the original Iron Man.
spoilers:end of spoilers
since Hydra has been played out way too much, I wouldn't mind the sister's 10 rings being the next go-to evil organization. Assuming they don't become good guys.Anyone else think that mask guy was set up to be more important, but the guy with the sword arm kinda overshadowed him so they got rid of him?