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Movie Review: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Mike Tyrkus

The latest offering from Marvel Studios is Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. Despite the oppressiveness of the title, this film is one of the breeziest and remarkably entertaining martial-arts laden superhero films you may ever have the pleasure of seeing (and actually enjoying).

The story follows its title character, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), as he confronts the demons of his past after he is forced to reenter the dark underbelly of the Ten Rings organization. Shang-Chi is joined in his adventures by his longtime friend, Katy (Awkwafina), who manages to play her character quite well off of, and without being overshadowed by, the considerable martial arts skills of the lead actor.

Simply put, there is a lot going on in this film and it is quite difficult to absorb it all in one viewing. But, somehow, director Destin Daniel Cretton – along with fellow co-writers, David Callaham and Andrew Lanham – manages to weave a coherent and accessible tale of Chinese mysticism coupled with the heroic tropes commonly associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Cretton and his team take the best parts of Doctor Strange (2016) and Black Panther (2018), then roll in some of the high-flying fighting action from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) to create what should be looked upon as the super-hero film to beat by future contenders.

Simu Liu in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” © 2021 – Marvel/Disney

Work done by Bill Pope on the film’s cinematography underscores the beauty and repeatedly highlights the excellent work done by Michael E. Goldman as the film’s art director as well as Rebecca Cohen’s work on set decoration. There is a true epic quality about Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that resonates throughout the film and continually makes it feel like something remarkable.

But, the real jewel of the production is the star-making turn that Liu delivers as Shang-Chi. His work here could easily be compared to the late Chadwick Boseman’s turn as T’Challa in the aforementioned Black Panther. If Liu, along with the equally entertaining Awkwafina, are indeed the future of the MCU, then things are looking bright indeed.

As the MCU enters Phase Four, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings signals, along with Black Widow, the property appears poised to showcase and celebrate new, diverse heroes as opposed to those beloved from earlier phases of the universe and will probably be all the more intriguing and rewarding for it.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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