Rate and Review Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

I've thought about it and honestly I would give it a 9/10. I really don't want to overhype this for people but I just thought the movie was so good. I had very little issues with it, more nitpicky or minor stuff really. The cast all around was great, especially Tony Leung. I had been a fan of Simu Liu since I first saw him in Kim's Convenience so when he got casted for this movie, I knew he would not disappoint. The fights scenes were top notch as well.

When I kept seeing the bus scene over and over in the trailers and commercials, I thought I was gonna be bored with it by the time I saw the movie. And I was wrong lol, there was so much more to that scene. There's a lot of stuff Marvel kept close to the vest for this movie and while it may have lead to lukewarm trailers, honestly I applaud them for it. At some point I'm gonna have to do a reranking of these movies but it's definitely for sure in my top 10 MCU movies now.

 

As of right now I'm at like an 8/8.5 for this, but I can definitely see it getting better and better after multiple rewatches and who knows maybe it will be a 9/10 for me eventually.

All I do know is that I really want to watch this again as soon as possible, because its the most fun I've had with a MCU film in a while and a great return to form, especially coming off of FFH and BW which I both found to be pretty lackluster and why I never had super high expectations for this.

I wish I could talk about it more but so many of guys haven't seen it yet which would spoil the fun, but in short the cast is great in particular Tony Leung, Simu Liu and Awkafina and the martial arts action is top notch.

I also need to watch it again to decide where I would rank it among the rest of the MCU films, but this is easily a top 10 maybe even top 5 MCU film for me right now.

 

It's a fantastic movie, if you left out a couple of references to the MCU it hardly feels like a Marvel movie. The action scenes are amazing, Tony Leung is wonderful and the main conflict of the movie feels personal and relatable, there are also some very funny scenes with a character I won't spoil. 8.5 rounded to 9 for now, want to rewatch it ASAP.

 

I give it an 8. The action is great, most of the comedy works, I was pleasantly surprised by how hard they leaned into the magic/fantasy elements, the supporting cast is A+, and the cameos were gold. But for me, Shang-Chi himself was the least-engaging character (Simu was likable enough, but there just wasn't much there, imo) and that knocks it down a couple notches for me.

 

In comparison to other solo origin movies (Iron Man, First Avenger, Thor, Ant-Man, Doc Strange, Black Panther), where does it fall?

 

I really enjoyed this one. The martial arts action was great and paid homage to various iconic things from that film genre's history (of which I'm a long time fan) while still feeling like its own thing. I think the cast also delivered very well and there was a lot of chemistry between them. Tony Leung is the biggest standout and delivers an effective villain with a lot of humanity, and Akwafina is very likable in a type of role that can easily get annoying in the wrong hands. I'm usually not giving out numerical scores to films but I might give this a 9.

 

I really loved the first half of this, the action choreo and editing was on point! But too many flashbacks, lost pacing and CGI thunderstorm final made me really disappointed in this.

 

This movie is awesome. If I have one complaint, it is a specific direction the final fight takes at the very end of the movie. I liked the martial arts and hand to hand combat so much in this movie. The mid credits scene was also kind of....weird, lol. But I have a lot of great things to say about this movie.

 

I'm going 8 out of 10 on this. I really liked it. Definitely the best solo film since Black Panther. Not entirely sure which I like better between the 2 but to clarify, neither BP or Shang Chi are better than Winter Soldier or Civil War for me.

The action in this movie is dang good. The martial arts film snob in me was preparing for the fighting to be overhyped but I'll give credit where credit is due, this movie is no slouch. They definitely still don't touch Hong Kong or stuff like The Raid but I'm not rolling my eyes at it either. The actors are convincing.

Tony Leung is 100% the best thing about this movie. While they certainly changed the Mandarin up, it felt like it was not only respecting the comics but also expanding on it. And Tony was the right man for the job. Maybe thats just the HK film fan in me so I may be biased. Everybody else is mostly good but I unfortunately thought Xialing was a bit wooden sometimes.

There are flaws however. There are some cringy things in this film. I think whenever Shang-Chi and Katy are socializing with their American friends it's VERY forced. The heart is there but the dialogue and interactions do not feel organic. And towards the end as everyone has mentioned, the CGI kicks into overgear in the final 30 minutes and in many ways the movie loses its soul during it. However I respect the world building behind it. Doesn't kill the movie but certainly doesn't enhance the film.

Very worthy addition to the MCU.

 

Agree with the first half being better and the movie was at its best when they focused more on the martial arts stuff and less the mystical angle.

I'd give it about an 8/10. I think it could have moved up towards my top tier MCU had they nailed a few things better. Really liked Shang-Chi as a character, it's a fun movie and it has some great action - especially early on.

 

I liked it better than Ant-Man, Thor and Doc Strange for sure. My favorite Marvel origin flicks remain Iron Man and Captain Marvel though, so I guess this falls somewhere in between that for me - about on par with TFA.

 

This was a solid movie, i enjoyed myself a lot. Good characters, beautiful cinematography, loved the western cultural settings and mythology, well shot action--especially in the first half. Overall very good.

I will say a couple of things: 1) The moment Ben Kingsley entered, the movie came to a screeching halt for me and I came dangerously close to hating the movie. I was like "omg, Trevor is going to single handedly torpedo this whole movie for me, I HOPE he is not in the rest of this." And Thank ZOD they disposed of him fairly quickly, because i couldn't STAND his schtick. I didnt like it in Ironman 3 and i damn sure didnt like it here where it was completely out of place and unnecessary.

2) Simu Liu is...fine. But he has some work to do. He is not in the upper echelon of charming or compelling MCU leads. There were moments where his acting and delivery felt...off to me and took me out of it. But he does just enough to be a serviceable lead. Awkwanfina gives him a nice assist throughout the film.

solid 8/10 for me. Way way better than Black Widow.

 

I wasn't a fan of his schtick in IM3 either and I know some people still won't find that type of humor funny, but man I actually thought they utlized Ben Kingsley really well here.

I was suprised that him and Chicken Pig got some of the biggest laughs at my screening and some people even clapped when he showed up which threw me off even more lol.

 

I love Trevor Slattery and I don’t care who knows it!

I really need Taika Waititi to get a hold of him somehow, lol.

 

Yeah I felt like the early reactions really overhyped his performance and charisma. I will say though he accomplished 2 very important things.

1) He was likeable.
2) I bought him in the action scenes.

If he fell short on either of those 2, it would've really hurt this film, so credit to Simu all things considered. I think what he brings to the table will mesh well in the future team up films.

 

9 for me I really loved this movie, so well done. Trevor was better but still was not into him when they found him, he got better later on. The training in a day for Katie was also a bit of a deduction since you can't learn a skill like that in a day or two. Overall great movie loved the characters can't wait for me 2nd viewing.

 

You know what, though? He could grow into the role, some of the other MCU leads got better as they went along. Chris Evans was also FINE in the The First Avenger. He played a boyscout well. but it wasnt until Winter Soldier and the Avengers movies where we saw layers and complexities in his performance that really made Steve Rogers one of the best characters in the MCU.

 

And the movie is about finding ones self so it fits that Shang will be a bit different in the next appearance.

 

Honestly, it was good but I can't say it lived up to the hype.

Pros

- Shang is a great leading character.

- His relationship with his sister was very well done, looking forward to where it is taken from here.

- The fight scenes were as good as I have ever seen, well done.

- It is beautifully shot and directed.

Cons

- Didn't care much for Awkwafina's character, felt kind of forced.

- The "Mandarin" wasn't as fleshed out as I would have liked, great job by the actor but his plotline wasn't all that great, powers were meh.

- Boring reason for the big final fight, predictable and run of the mill ending.

- Not a lot of humour.


I think this is the first time where I like an MCU movie less than the general fandom.

Don't get me wrong the movie is good, better than Black Widow, but it's not a top caliber MCU film.

 

It's ok, nothing spectacular. 6/10

 

Hmmh I'd say

Black Panther
Iron Man/Shang-Chi
Doctor Strange
First Avenger
Ant-Man/ Cap Marvel
Thor

 

Not much of Mandarin, shame, Tony was great, too much cgi bull**** at the end, it was boring.

 

Shang-Chi himself and the Mandarin were cool, the soundtrack was good. Didn't expect to see

Spoiler

Trevor or Dweller

but they were both welcome additions. Morris and Katy stole the show.


8.8/10