Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
The martial arts entry, and the freshest thing Marvel had put out in years. Simu Liu arrives as Shang-Chi, a valet in San Francisco hiding a century of family history, and the movie spends its best hour on character comedy: karaoke with his best friend Katy, a job parking cars, the sinking realization that his past is a bus ride away. The bus fight, fists and poles sliding down a runaway route through San Francisco, is the first great action sequence of Phase Four.
Tony Leung is the reason this movie matters. As Wenwu, the thousand year warlord who built a criminal empire to resurrect his dead wife, he gives the franchise its most tragic antagonist since Killmonger: a father who genuinely loves his children and will burn the world to get their mother back. The ten rings themselves, orbiting bracelets with a physics all their own, stage beautifully in every fight.
The third act bloats into a CG creature brawl, a dragon versus a soul eater army in a mythical village, and the film loses its grounded grip for about twenty minutes. Awkwafina plays the sidekick without becoming comic relief furniture, and Michelle Yeoh classes up everything she touches.
Our score: 7/10. The best of the 2021 batch.
Seasons
Season guides coming soon.
