Movie Review: 'Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings'

Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings stars newcomer Simu Liu in the title role of Shang Chi, Shawn to his friends. Shawn came to San Francisco a decade ago with no family and found shelter with a new friend, Katy (Awkwafina). What Katy doesn’t know is that Shawn is actually Shang, a martial artist and master assassin. Shawn or Shang is the son of a legendary villain known by many names over the more than 1000 years he’s been alive.

Tony Leung plays Shang’s father and Marvel fans may be familiar with the character as the actual villain, The Mandarin. Fans of Iron Man 3 might be scratching their heads, see the movie and all will become clear. What is important to know about Leung’s character is that after centuries of conquering empires and toppling governments, he met a woman who was stronger than he was and fell in love.

Fala Chen plays Shang’s mother, Leiko Wu, and she quickly proves why any man would be willing to give up thousands of years of power in order to settle down and become a family man. It was Leiko’s love that caused Shang’s dad to box up his 10 rings and halt his criminal empire. However, it was her death, at the hands of his enemies, that returned Shang’s father to the criminal world. Reclaiming his 10 rings, he restarted his criminal empire and began training his son to be a master assassin.

Shang was only 14 years old when he was forced to leave behind his little sister Xu Xialing to travel to America on the pretense of killing the man who killed his mother. Shang arrived and was unable to carry out the mission and went into hiding. 10 years later, a letter from Shang’s sister has him curious about returning to his past but an attack by his father’s henchmen, including the despicable Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu), that causes Shang, with Katy tagging along, to return to Macau and search for his mother’s ancestral village, a magical realm hidden behind an ever moving maze of bamboo trees.

Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings was co-written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, a brilliant director with a great eye for action and a great ear for good drama. Cretton and co-screenwriters Daniel Callaham and Andrew Lanham layer in a lot of backstory in Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings and it is a credit to the director that he never gets lost in that backstory. Cretton smartly staggers the backstory throughout the movie, providing information as needed and using intriguing subplots to keep the audience engaged.

It’s not rocket science, it’s just good, smart storytelling. Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just shines it up real nice. Structurally sound storytelling is appreciated when so many other blockbuster movies end up using noise and spectacle to paper over holes in plots. Cretton is a very thoughtful director whose previous works are cerebral, deeply emotional dramas such as his brilliant Short Term 12, the underrated The Glass Castle, and his crowd pleasing and moving based on a true story drama, Just Mercy.

Based off of that resume you might not expect Cretton to translate well to a massive blockbuster comic book movie but he has made the move look effortless. His action scenes are well measured, he doesn’t abuse his CGI, and the fight scenes are well choreographed and underpinned with genuine emotional beats and strong motivations. Yes, Cretton is paying homage in many ways to movies such as House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but he’s not stealing from those movies, he’s merely influenced by them and rightfully so. Those are masterpieces.

The biggest challenge facing Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings was in leading man Simu Liu, a heretofore little known actor with more experience on television than on the big screen. Most actors come to the Marvel Universe with more experience than one other big screen role and fans were not unfair in being concerned whether Liu could stand up to the pressure of such a huge leading role. Thankfully, Liu puts those fears to rest by quickly demonstrating charm in his introduction and then more than proving his mettle in his first fight scene.

The bus set fight scene has featured prominently in the trailer and other marketing materials for Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and for good reason, it’s a killer scene. Director Destin Daniel Cretton cuts quickly but not too quickly and we get to see some strong physical work from Liu. Liu demonstrates a tremendous amount of physical grace and charisma in this scene and throughout the entirety of Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings but this bus set fight is the standout of the movie and the reason why the rest of the film flows so smoothly, you are able to easily buy in on Liu as a movie star after this scene.

I have praise for Awkwafina as well, particularly how her usual shtick is dialed back a little. She’s still quite funny but she finds a few more notes beyond her usual persona. I was especially surprised by Katy and Shang’s complete lack of a romantic subplot. There is some indication that perhaps these two might have a romantic relationship but mostly, they’re just good friends and that was an interesting choice. Their friendship chemistry is strong and it leaves them with plenty to explore in future sequels.

Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.