'Shang-Chi' Makes Comic Books and Fantasy Collide
Starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen and Michelle Yeoh
Rated PG-13
Action, Fantasy
Run time: 2 hrs, 12 min
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
In theaters September 3, 2021
It seems we may have movies like Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Black Widow to thank for giant companies like Marvel realizing people are happy to see superhero tales based around women and people of color. And, if Shang-Chi is any indication, we’re going to be proving that fact right for quite some time in the future. In fact, they seem to be leaning in even more, considering a decent amount of this film actually was in Mandarin with some English subtitles, and that was truly delightful to me. Now, I am a white female, so I can’t fully attest to how well Marvel handled various aspects of Chinese culture, but it delved more into the mythos, history and aesthetics than I had seen in most summer films outside of Crazy Rich Asians, and to have the lead of a superhero film be Asian and unapologetically himself was one of Shang-Chi’s best qualities.
Shang-Chi is simultaneously a stereotypical comic book movie and the exact opposite of what you would expect. We get a bit of an origin story, though it is more about Shang-Chi’s father than it is about him. Fast forward a bit, and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) is actually Shaun and is working as a valet with his best friend, Katy (Awkwafina). Suddenly, he’s attacked by a group of clearly highly trained martial artists and he shocks Katy, and the rest of the bus passengers by clearly being a force to be reckoned with and fighting back with skill that surpasses his attackers. From there we, along with Katy, learn a lot more about Shaun’s past, his family and just what he seems to have accidentally gotten himself into by fleeing a world he once knew.
There are so many things going right with this movie. Liu is a charming and endearing lead who we can easily forgive for any faults he may have. The fight scenes are flawlessly put together when the focus is on some truly incredible hand-to-hand combat. Awkwafina and Liu have chemistry that makes me believe they legitimately were friends for a decade before putting this film together, and rather than pigeonholing her character into being solely the comic relief, they allow her to find her own place along her best friend, even when her entire knowledge of him is turned upside down. The supporting cast is rounded out with a variety of players who capture your interest instantly without being too stereotypical, even if we do get a few cheesy emotional lines in the second half of the film. If we factor in the overall look of the film, it’s hard to create a superhero flick more beautiful than everything that unfolds before your eyes in Shang-Chi.
Like most movies, where there is great, there is also some things lacking. This film leaned more into the fantastical that I’ve seen in any comic book story, and it felt like an odd pairing. I tend to associate sci-fi more so than fantasy with my blockbuster heroes, and it felt disorienting to suddenly see creatures that looked more like Pokemon than anything that would have jumped up from a Marvel comic. This was also one of the first MCU films that I felt dragged on a bit too long. We all know that the ‘big fight’ is coming in the last third of an action-based big screen production, but Shang-Chi’s theatrical fight scene climax would have benefited with a few less dizzying we-shot-this-so-it-would-look-cool-in-3D scenes. Some of my favorite parts of the film were things I didn’t expect until I saw it happening on the screen right in front of me, so unfortunately, I can’t rave about everything I’d like to for fear of ruining others’ surprise and enjoyment. For that information, you’ll have to find your way to see Shang-Chi yourself - and stay for the post credit scenes, of course.