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

[Mysteryman]

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.

I see the movie on Saturday.
I am VERY excited that I will soon be seeing Trevor again.

 

[Spider-Fan]

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

I dont really count Black Panther as an origin story, lol. He is already Black Panther once the movie starts, and it is more about him shaping Wakanda in his own way. But for me, it feels sort of like a sequel as opposed to an origin movie. So when we do these origin debates, I tend to discount it.

For the origin MCU movies, I felt like this was one of the best. Captain America: The First Avenger is my favorite of the origin movies, and I would rank it right up there with it. I don't want to proclaim it is THE best right after seeing it. I am living in I just saw it hype, but my first impression is stronger for this than it was for Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, or Thor. So in the end, I see this falling in line with TFA and IM1.

 

[samsnee]

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.

I was so bored by Captain Marvel

 

[flickchick85]

I was so bored by Captain Marvel

That was me with Doctor Strange. (And TIH, AM&TW and TDW, but those aren't origins). I think we all have that (at least) one MCU flick that bored us to tears, lol. But I guess in a way it's to their credit that it's totally different ones for different people, and one person's "it's boring" pick is another's fave.

 

[Web-Head]

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.

This is where I'm at now too. I wouldn't say I necessarily hated Trevor but that's when the movie just went a little downhill for me. I was loving the first two acts but then he shows up, it starts to drag and then the climax was just a little too much

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.

Agree with pretty much all of your pros and cons

 

[samsnee]

That was me with Doctor Strange. (And TIH, AM&TW and TDW, but those aren't origins). I think we all have that (at least) one MCU flick that bored us to tears, lol. But I guess in a way it's to their credit that it's totally different ones for different people, and one person's "it's boring" pick is another's fave.

I hear you on Strange. The only things that saved it for me was Madsen, even it was a minimal role, and the time loop finale, which I thought was creative.

 

[BlackFox]

Loved it from beginning to end, easily my favourite MCU film, everyone knocked it out the park and the action was next level, my biggest concern going in. This is easily the most beautiful and colorful MCU film to date and honestly didnt even feel anything like an MCU film at times, which is the highest praise I can give it, perhaps that may turn a few off I'm not sure.

There are a couple gripes here and there, I could have done with a little less of one character but they were minimal, overall blown away with it all, such a good villain as well (Tony Leung stole it), the family connections in this all felt "real".

Anyway will be seeing this bad boy again hopefully, deserves to be seen on the biggest screen, loved the world it built and the new characters it brought. Simu Liu take a bow. 9.5/10

 

[Flint Marko]

Really enjoyed this. Solid 7/8 out of 10, will have to watch again to know for sure.

 

[Green Goblin]

Guess I'm in the minority here. I thought this was decent, nothing special. First third was promising but from there and especially the third act it begins to falter. I'd give it a 6.5 but I rounded up for this poll.

Again, not a bad film or even a mediocre one. It's just ridiculous to me that this is in the 90% range when this should be in the 60-70% range.

 

[Web-Head]

Guess I'm in the minority here. I thought this was decent, nothing special. First third was promising but from there and especially the third act it begins to falter. I'd give it a 6.5 but I rounded up for this poll.

Again, not a bad film or even a mediocre one. It's just ridiculous to me that this is in the 90% range when this should be in the 60-70% range.

People really need to start using metacritic instead of Rotten Tomatoes. The metascore is currently sitting at at 71 with the user score at 75

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

 

[Iceman]

People really need to start using metacritic instead of Rotten Tomatoes. The metascore is currently sitting at at 71 with the user score at 75

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

For ref TDK is 84 on there. It’s more similar to the RT average rating (a much better stat IMO) where it’s much harder to max out than a Tomatometer. Being fine is enough for 100% on a Tomatometer where excess quality beyond getting a tick in the box isn’t needed. Quite different from averaging a 10/10, 5/5, A+ etc across the board.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The strength of the cast is tight and each member gives a great performance, Tony Leung and Simu Lu stood out in there relationship as Father and Son. Tony isn’t your typical villain, he actually has depth and complexity similar to Thanos, The Vulture, and Loki. He even tried to change. His arc was very well crafted. Simu has charm and charisma which works in his favor as a leading man.

the fight choreography for the Kung Fu was on point.

 

[TheVileOne]

Overall good movie. The action and fighting were very well shot. I think it does make a few missteps in the final act though.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Overall good movie. The action and fighting were very well shot. I think it does make a few missteps in the final act though.

Yep. So much better than Mortal Kombat. I have not seen Snake Eyes yet but I will when it comes to Paramount Plus but I think Shang Chi will be better.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

People really need to start using metacritic instead of Rotten Tomatoes. The metascore is currently sitting at at 71 with the user score at 75

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Metacritic instead has the flaw of having a much smaller sample size, which is a key issue for aggregate scores. I think RT does it better as I don't think aggregates have much worth to subjective things like art other than to just show how many people happened to like a given thing. Not that I think that is particularly important either though.

If one wants to know something deeper about a film than that I'll always suggest reading reviews from critics you like.

 

[TheVileOne]

None of them are perfect and they all have their pros and cons.

Also, you can just see the movie and decide for yourself. Everyone has their own opinion.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

I give it a 9/10 because of how fun it was, the visuals, and the fight choreography. I took some off because of the overuse of flashbacks in certain areas and some of their story choices. Probably one of my favorite MCU origin films, right up there with IM1, TFA, GOTG, and BP.

 

[djsunyc]

i loved this movie. outside of maybe 20 mins in the middle where it really slows down, it was a high quality movie. i'm gonna say top 10 mcu movie. and it's an origin movie so there needs to be some exposition that sequels wont need.

the action/fight choreography may be the best ever in the MCU. winter soldier would be the only one better.

the bus action sequence was one of the best action sequences i've seen in movies period. it was absolutely awesome and i was grinning cheek to cheek (under my mask). the scoffolding scene was quality too.

the ending was something never seen in marvel and while it was cgi heavy, it was fantastic and introduced new stuff. i loved being introduced in mystical and mythology like that.

the cinematogrphy was stunning.

simu liu was legit charismatic and really look forward to seeing him moving forward.

there are 2 end credit scenes.

overall...8.5/10

 

[m2k]

9/10. Fantastic film. Strong characters. Strong villain(non-cliché, very stern performance by Leung). Simu was very natural and likeable. Just a beautiful film with Chinese fantasy injected into the MCU. This is the film that in a sense, comes at the right time in the MCU.

 

[Binary10]

9/10. Fantastic film. Strong characters. Strong villain(non-cliché, very stern performance by Leung). Simu was very natural and likeable. Just a beautiful film with Chinese fantasy injected into the MCU. This is the film that in a sense, comes at the right time in the MCU.

100% agree and I to also give this movie a 9/10.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

I really liked Shang-Chi!

This film felt more like a fantasy/martial arts flick more than your typical MCU superhero movie. My only real complaint was that there was no true villain, I wouldn’t really call Shang-Chi’s father a bad guy per say and that giant demon/dragon at the end didn’t really feel like a true threat because there was no buildup. Then again, the MCU has been very hit or miss with their villains. Also, I think they could have done a better job with the CGI with some of the creatures in the Ta Lo village

But that didn’t take away from a good story and an all around enjoyable movie. This film definitely has one of the better choreographed fighting scenes. The martial arts was done very well.

Overall, I give it a solid 7.5-8/10

 

[Batmannerism]

Thanks everyone for your reviews.

I would trust the comments - both positive and negative- on this thread about a million times more than any so-called critics, who seem willing to gush over any big studio films at the moment and overlook its flaws.

Similarly, I have zero faith in RT scores - I mean on their scale this movie is nearly as good as OG Star Wars.

The comments here are from a mix of people with different views ( someone here loved Captain Marvel, fair enough I hated it, equally I loved Dr Strange), some loved Shang Chi, some thought it good but not top tier. The consensus is that it's good, and that's a good baseline for me to set my expectations.

Very little surprise that Tony Leung is getting so much praise, a very talented actor indeed.

 

[Batmannerism]

Guess I'm in the minority here. I thought this was decent, nothing special. First third was promising but from there and especially the third act it begins to falter. I'd give it a 6.5 but I rounded up for this poll.

Again, not a bad film or even a mediocre one. It's just ridiculous to me that this is in the 90% range when this should be in the 60-70% range.

This is where I'm going to set my expectations.

A lot of people get dazzled by new shiny things and don't really think about its overall quality ( kind of like JJ Abrams Star Trek or Force Awakens, which if you believe RT is just as good as original Star Wars, and to that I say....

..... they're entertaining enough and there's lots going on, but once you stop to think for a moment they unravel pretty quickly). This kind of thinking tends to pop up when something new and pretty comes along - although in the case of Black Widow it didn't take people too long to work out that it wasn't that great after all, I mean head butting a table......come on.

So I'm expecting Shang Chi to be fun, and a decent MCU origin film but I'm very skeptical that this is a top 10 MCU film - although with a decent villain it's already better than Ant Man, Iron 2 and 3, Thor TDW, Captain Marvel.....wait, maybe it will be a top 10 MCU film.

TBH as much as I love martial arts and kung fu films, I kind of prefer them to be gritty rather than dance like ( Crouching Tiger being the only exception), and I prefer final conflict to be less cgi and more personal ( e.g Cap CW and Cap TWS ) although I have to give Endgame props for its huge finale. But hey, if SC can blend both well that will be great.

Soooooo conservatively optimistic about Shang Chi.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Thanks everyone for your reviews.

I would trust the comments - both positive and negative- on this thread about a million times more than any so-called critics, who seem willing to gush over any big studio films at the moment and overlook its flaws.

Similarly, I have zero faith in RT scores - I mean on their scale this movie is nearly as good as OG Star Wars.

The comments here are from a mix of people with different views ( someone here loved Captain Marvel, fair enough I hated it, equally I loved Dr Strange), some loved Shang Chi, some thought it good but not top tier. The consensus is that it's good, and that's a good baseline for me to set my expectations.

Very little surprise that Tony Leung is getting so much praise, a very talented actor indeed.

It does make sense that looking at opinions from other fans would be easier to translate into personal predictions, seeing how there should be some clear common ground. I don't know if I think we're any less prone to overlook flaws if the rest of a film delivers though.

Personally I'm pretty good at overlooking some issues with films that don't take themselves too seriously and that are perhaps a bit out there in their style, but when something tries to be more realistic and takes itself more seriously then issues with logic, etc, it can lose me pretty quickly. It's not a conscious thing, it's just how I react.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

These are RT scores. They seem fair to me.

Black Widow: 6.9
Far From Home: 7.4
Endgame: 8.2
Captain Marvel: 6.8
Antman and Wasp: 7.0
Infinity War: 7.6
Black Panther: 8.3
Ragnarok: 7.6
Homecoming: 7.7
Guardians vol 2: 7.2
Civil War: 7.7
Doctor Strange: 7.3
Antman: 6.9
Ultron: 6.8
Guardians: 7.8
Winter Soldier: 7.6
Dark World: 6.2
Iron Man 3: 7.0
Avengers: 8.0
First Avenger: 7.0
Thor: 6.7
Iron Man 2: 6.5
Hulk: 6.2
Iron Man: 7.7

Other superhero movies:
The Suicide Squad: 7.5
Snyder Cut: 6.7
Wonder Woman 1984: 6.0
Birds of Prey: 6.8
Joker: 7.3
Shazam: 7.3
Aquaman: 6.0
Wonder Woman: 7.7
Justice League: 5.3
Logan: 8.0
BVS: 5.0
Suicide Squad: 4.9
Man of Steel: 6.2
Dark Knight Rises: 8.0
Green Lantern: 4.70
Watchmen: 6.4
Dark Knight: 8.6
Batman Begins: 7.7