“The legend of the ten rings has been told for a thousand years.” But, somehow, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still took 20 years to finally debut the live action version of one of its most iconic comic book heroes. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as the titular character, renowned in the comics for his martial arts abilities. Starring alongside him are Awkwafina as Shang Chi’s best friend Katy and Chinese actress Meng’er Zhang as his younger sister Xialing. The film is a lesson on reconciliation and accountability. The story highlights that forgiveness and reconnection are possible following a rift, but this unity is only possible once we own up to the harm we have caused.

In Shang-Chi, we see this dynamic exemplified through Shang-Chi and his estranged family. The film starts with a flashback of Shang-Chi’s parents, warlord Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) and spirit guardian Ying Li (Fala Chen) falling in love after a heated, Crouching Tiger-style superhuman kung fu battle. We soon learn that Li eventually gives up her powers and departs her homeland of Ta lo to build a family with Wenwu only to later be killed by his enemies.

In present-day we meet an adult Shang-Chi who lives in California and goes by the secret identity “Shawn”. When he and Katy are attacked by members of the Ten Rings (his father’s henchmen) while riding a bus, they travel to Macau to speak with Xialing. The trio are attacked once again, this time captured when up against Wenwu himself. 

At the Ten Rings’ compound, Wenwu reveals his plan to invade Ta Lo in a misguided attempt to resurrect their now-deceased mother, and his children resist. In order to prevent their interference, he imprisons them. To their surprise, they end up sharing a cell with Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) who impersonated the stereotypical description of their father in Iron Man 3, to which their father took offense and called for Trevor’s execution. 

The group escapes together and heads to Ta Lo to warn the mysterious villagers about Wenwu’s invasion. There, they meet Li’s sister and the siblings’ aunt, Ying Nan (Michelle Yeoh). Nan tells them about the Dweller-in-Darkness— a malevolent entity who is deceiving Wenwu in order to free itself from its ancient prison, in which it was sealed away through the power of Ta Lo’s Great Protector (a powerful sea dragon). 

Shang-Chi, Katy, and Xialing train, in anticipation of Wenwu’s invasion. The battle seems equal until Wenwu successfully frees the Dweller-in-Darkness and its minions, who begin slaughtering warriors on both sides of the ensuing conflict. After a fierce duel against Shang-Chi, Wenwu sacrifices himself to save his son from the newly-released monster. With the help of the Great Protector, Shang-Chi and his crew defeat the Dweller-in-Darkness for good. At its mid-credits, the film ends with Katy and Shang-Chi returning, only to be recruited by Avengers members Wong (Benedict Wong), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).

Overall, I enjoyed the film because of the reality it displayed within the magic. We see one of the film’s main antagonists, Wenwu, spend decades attempting to avoid accountability for the many horrific actions he committed as general of the Ten Rings. Such avoidance of consequence is simply impossible, as evidenced by the death of his wife and his own eventual murder. Shang-Chi must also come to terms with the fact that he is equal parts his mother and his father, with both their powers and personality traits being passed down to him. My favorite lesson comes towards the end, when Xialing installs herself as the new Ten Rings leader, rather than disbanding the mob the way she’d promised to.

Not going to lie, I am a die-hard Michelle Yeoh fan— just as everyone else should be. I will ALWAYS show up at the cinema if auntie is on the screen. But, this film introduced me to an artist that I did not grow up with: Tony Leung. Leung is a world-class actor from Hong Kong known for his ability to express dynamic emotions with only his eyes, and he did not let us down in Shang-Chi. Sadly, I must admit that I enjoyed watching both Yeoh and Leung much more than I did our protagonist.

I am by no means an Awkwafina fan, nor have I ever been, but even she outshined Liu throughout the movie. I fully enjoyed him in Kim’s Convenience, and in my opinion, he works as Ken in Barbie (2023). But, I simply do not buy him as the leading man. He simply lacks the presence that could have made the live-action depiction of Shang-Chi truly memorable. In my mind, Xialing was the star of the show. This saddens me a bit, seeing as Liu certainly saw this role as a chance to make up for his loss to Henry Golding for the Crazy Rich Asians (2018) lead part. As talented as Simu is, I can definitely see why Golding was cast.

Overall, despite the main character being severely overshadowed from beginning to end, Shang-Chi serves a huge role in this new chapter of superhero adaptations. With Black Panther setting a vital precedent and Ms. Marvel seceding these films, the MCU is taking huge steps to respectfully capture the diverse spectrum of superhero stories, providing invaluable representation for those of us who spent most of our lives not seeing ourselves in Western heroes. I will certainly watch the upcoming sequel.

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