Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Turnaround, Aug 20, 2021.

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  1. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Not every film, but "Brownface" has become about as socially acceptable as "Blackface."
     
  2. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
    My wife and I loved it! looking forward to the next one...
     
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  3. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    exactly! it entertained big time...
     
  4. CoryS

    CoryS Forum Resident

    I only now just caught this, but I swear Ben Kingsley's portrayal of Trevor Slattery is using even more of a Liverpool accent this time around, perhaps in reference to the Ringo comment from Iron Man 3

    Am I reading too much into this?
     
  5. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    One of the best looking Marvel flicks, and a lot of fun. Almost felt at times like it wasn't even a Marvel movie, just a fun magical kung fu adventure. Had one of those villains where you almost feel bad for them before you remember they're a murdering monster :D Always great to see Michelle Yeoh in just about anything, too.
     
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  6. maccafan

    maccafan Senior Member

    It was ok, still too much comedy for me!
     
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  7. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Good fun movie.
     
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  8. mr. steak

    mr. steak Forum Resident

    Location:
    chandler az
    Marvel/Disney is the most boring stuff done as professional as gets. So slick and shallow with its characters, humor and action.
    Between the 2/3 of this that I got through and the first episode of Loki I will glad to let my Disney plus sub go away.
     
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  9. Claus

    Claus Senior Member

    Location:
    Germany
    I watched a few clips on YT, horrible movie.
     
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  10. MrJerry1876

    MrJerry1876 Short Distance Voyager

    I've been meaning to review this film since I first saw it in November, but it has slipped my mind.

    Shang - Chi

    Marvel has tackled many genres, such as coming of age (Spiderman), historical (Captain America: The First Avenger), time-travelling (Endgame), but Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings is their first Kung-Fu karate film. And I did not like it! The comedy was rather bland, the plot was sorta messed up, and the characters weren't developed enough. I didn't like the reason why Wenwu wanted to go to Ta Lo. The soul-sucker called to him from beyond it's prison? In his wife's voice? I did like the Trevor Slattery character returning. He was one of my favorites from the Iron Man Movies and I am glad to see him return with Morris, who is cute and fun to watch trying to communicate. I did like the bus fight. That was pretty cool! I have never heard of the character Shang-Chi. At least I had heard of The Eternals, that is from a promotional poster of a comic cover, but I had to search up the character to learn about him.

    1/5 stars from me. A good character and a good scene, but nothing else to bump up the rating.
     
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  11. MrJerry1876

    MrJerry1876 Short Distance Voyager

    If you just saw select clips, I would say that those don't do it justice. It's a rather confusing movie, and you may have to see it once or twice to understand it.
     
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  12. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    I thought it was as good as Black Panther. The humor worked for me because it was primarily based on the female lead's self-effacing comments and criticism of her own culture, which was sorely lacking in Black Panther for obvious reasons.

    Also, I'm not sure what confused you about the evil force calling to the father in the mother's voice. There are similar examples of deception in western culture going back to the beginning of literature, e.g., In the Odyssey, Helen of Troy, suspecting treachery, allegedly circled the wooden horse, calls out to various Greek soldiers in the voices of their wives and sweethearts. Would that not motivate him to go to Ta Lo if he's convinced his wife is alive? Of course it would!

    The bus fight was amazing, but the way the fighting was elevated and brought in elements of nature with the scene where the mother and father first meet was just awesome. I think that particular fighting effect is even a step up from groundbreaking films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I also thought the dragons in Shang Chi were far better designed and showed better effects than anything in Eternals.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2022
  13. JediJones

    JediJones Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    The biggest problem with the movie is there is NO REASON why anyone is fighting. Or why they're not fighting. All the fights just stop and start arbitrarily. The character motivation is empty and hollow and the excuses for the action scenes are flimsy and transparent. The way Shang-Chi's character is "developed" is unnecessarily convoluted to the point where trying to squint and find his character "arc" becomes a futile exercise. And the stand-up comedian girl hanging around for the whole movie for no reason and flapping her gums is so dumb and annoying, like a character in a Roland Emmerich movie.
     
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  14. HiredGoon

    HiredGoon Forum Resident

    Subscribed to Disney+ last week, so I have been binging everything (movies and series) from Black Widow onwards. Today it was time for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

    Thanks to the galloping Rona I knew very little about this movie, or any of its comic book origins, so just sat back and enjoyed it immensely. I guess stylistically it was a mix of comedy of Ant Man, the choreography of Hidden Tiger, and the plucky gang of a lakeside village defeating dragons with lucky arrow shots of The Hobbit.

    It’s been a while since I watched Iron Man 3, so it took me a while to recognise Ben Kingsley imitation of Ringo as a returning character :p

    An entertaining movie, will watch again one day.

    Geoff
     
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  15. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Shang Chi was trying to escape his past when the film starts. His father came after him and his sister for artifacts needed to find the mother, who the father wrongly believes is alive and in her native land. Shang-Chi is motivated to fight because his father was abusive and abandoned the family. Shang-Chi blames him for his mother's death. It's not complicated motivation--really straightforward. He also fights to protect his friend. The father has been using the 10 rings and long life to assume much power and wealth--says so right at the beginning. The sister is angry at Shang-Chi and fights him because of family dynamics, but he is not motivated to fight her. Again, straightforward.
     
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  16. JediJones

    JediJones Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    It only sounds more awful when written out on the page. There is nothing resembling human motivation or a relatable story there. The plot is nothing but low-rent, bargain basement schlock. Even calling it melodrama would be an insult to good melodrama. And I hated the way the story was told in a non-linear fashion. There needs to be a good reason to do that. Here it's just done to try to create fake interest in a story that looks flimsy, fabricated and meaningless when laid out to the audience in a straightforward way. "Show, don't tell" is violated time and again in this movie. We're shown elaborate action and then the movie stops to insert obligatory chunks of convoluted exposition that undermine whatever logic there was in what we saw before, while they hope the audience doesn't notice. And not once do they satisfactorily explain the power of what the "rings" do, which is an absolute cardinal sin for a superhero movie. If I walk out of Superman without understanding what his powers are, that is an unforgivable, inexcusable problem. This was one of the worst excuses for a superhero movie ever made, and slick special effects do absolutely nothing to redeem it.
     
  17. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I would say the reason was so it didn’t take half an hour for Shang-Chi to appear onscreen in his own movie.
     
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  18. Drew

    Drew Senior Member

    Location:
    Grand Junction, CO
    I enjoyed the first half .. when they crossed over to fantasy land it went downhill fast
     
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  19. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    I know what you mean. I sort of felt that way on first viewing in the theater. When I saw it again at home I really enjoyed the fantasy world of the mother's hometown.
     
  20. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Lee forbid a series of films based on comic book heroes with fantastic powers ever delve into such lesser genres as *checks notes* fantasy and magic?
     
  21. Stormrider77

    Stormrider77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Middletown, NY
    Solid film, definitely not great BUT it did have great elements. I thought the fight choreography was unique for the Marvel house style, compare this to Iron Fist? Worlds apart in style and action. I agree with some other posters that the second half with its CGI monster battle just kinda caused me to tune out. I didn’t really find the giant bat soul-sucking monster very compelling as a big baddie so that was a disappointment. Suicidal Squad’s version of Starro was much more compelling in terms of a giant monster to fight at the end. But I enjoyed the humor, I thought the ten rings looked pretty awesome in battle. Probably a 3.5/5.
     
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