Review: SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS is the most engrossing Marvel movie in years

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proves that Marvel can still surprise us. After the release of 20+ features and a slew of TV shows over the past 13 years, a Marvel cinematic house style has established itself with these releases. The films all follow familiar beats, and while they’ve all mostly been enjoyable, it’s been years since an MCU project has really stood out on its own. Shang-Chi changes all that.

The film marks the first appearance of the character of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu of Canada’s own Kim’s Convenience). Going by the name of Shaun, he lives a quiet life in San Francisco, working as a valet alongside his best friend Katy (Awkwafina). But there is much more to “Shaun” than parking cars; he is actually in hiding from his father, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), the powerful leader of the Ten Rings organization. Possessed of ten mysterious rings that grant him eternal life and immense power, Xu Wenwu has become unstable since the death of his wife Li (Fala Chen). Believing he has found a way to bring Li back to life, Xu Wenwu sends out a team of mercenaries to capture heirlooms from Shaun and his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), who form an uneasy alliance to set their estranged father straight before he unleashes a devastating force out into the world.

The true feat of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in the way it seamlessly ties in a number of disparate elements into a cohesive and thrilling film that slots into the MCU without feeling like simply another stepping point on the way to a larger storyline. You could go into Shang-Chi completely blind to the overarching MCU narrative and still completely follow the film’s internal logic, something you can’t say for many of the more recent Marvel films.

Part of that is due to the great screenplay by director Destin Daniel Cretton, Dave Callaham, and Andrew Lanham. The trio builds an engrossing world centered on the pain of Xu Wenwu’s tragic loss resulting in a believable “villain” that you can’t help but partly root for. The script also allows for the action to slow down enough to focus on the emotional impact of Xu Wenwu’s actions on Shang-Chi and Xialing, a powerful family dynamic that hits as hard as Shang-Chi’s fists.

That’s saying a lot, considering how visceral and thrilling the action scenes in the film are. The stunts and camera work are unlike anything we’ve seen from an MCU film so far, merging the inventive stuntwork in Asian action cinema with the big-budget MCU aesthetic to create some incredibly exciting moments. There’s a fight early on in the film on a piece of scaffolding attached to a skyscraper that is by far the most breathtaking action sequence in any MCU movie. It’s the sort of edge-of-your-seat sequence that makes you wish for a remote so you can immediately run it back and experience it again; it’s that good. It’s not just the creative fight movements and choreography that are so refreshing, but also how Cretton moves the camera, creating dizzying shots that beg to be seen on the largest screen possible.

There are numerous sequences like that throughout Shang-Chi, including an incredible bus brawl through the streets of San Francisco that gives Speed a run for its money, and numerous hand-to-hand sequences that showcase the film’s excellent choreography.

Alongside the adrenaline-pumping action scenes, Shang-Chi is also one of the funniest MCU movies in some time. Awkwafina serves as the perfect comedic foil to Simu Liu’s (initially) restrained performance as the reluctant hero, and their odd couple charisma only gets better as more characters are thrown into their orbit. The jokes in these MCU films can often feel forced, but the humour here seems more pointed and natural, while still offering the breezy banter that fans have come to love in these films.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton has crafted something remarkable with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The first MCU film to feature an Asian star in the leading role, the film is also stacked with an incredible roster of Asian actors in the supporting roles, including an all-too-brief section with the hilarious Ronny Chieng. Apart from the welcome note of representation, Cretton manages to fuse together elements from classic Wuxia films with the break-neck action of Hong Kong action films, all within the blockbuster world of the MCU. It’s an invigorating mix made all the more rewarding paired with the story’s central conceit of a family dealing with a tragic loss, and one man’s search for self.

If that all sounds heady, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is also one of the most exciting and action-packed MCU films in years, the type of crowd-pleasing blockbuster that also offers something emotional and resonant to mull over between all the brawling and the mythological elements. It goes a bit off-the-rails in the final act, but overall, Shang-Chi proves that Marvel can break out of its self-imposed box if it makes the effort, an encouraging sign as we head into the most stacked year of MCU releases we’ve ever had.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theatres now.