Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings [Marvel]

johnny_ultimate

Most MCU films do end with banal, repetitive and blandly-shot city / world / city & world in peril action sequences, but I think Shang-Chi's action is notably disappointing as it's purportedly inspired by some of the best action films of all time. Hell, a few of its stars have even shown up in some of those films.

The best wuxia films do have characters performing superhuman feats of strength and agility. That's usually pulled off by a mix of incredible stunt work, impeccable filmmaking and plenty of clever editing. In the best Hong Kong action films, you're often left gasping or wondering how exactly they pulled it off. When everything is a blur of clearly CG-ed excess, it can't help but feel hollow and underwhelming in contrast.

I mean, just like at the Once Upon a Time in China film climaxes. They're clearly preposterous and gravity-defying, but the sheer ingenuity and clarity of the film-making still impresses three decades on. It's not always about saving the world or flashy blue neon energy blasts - sometimes it just needs to be two super-people having a damn good fight in a warehouse while defying the normal laws of gravity.

https://youtu.be/fQTiADgBkS4

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118177462#Comment_118177462

Did I call you directly lazy or did you just see your posting style in those that I described as lazy?

Happy to use a different term that doesn't hurt feelings but I couldn't come up with one that was more accurate than 'lazy' to describe such little effort from a certain group of serial posters who come into every MCU thread grumbling that something is bad simply because it existed... like a '3rd act big battle'. I'd also call it as lazy if we had posters in these threads claiming it is great that a movie had a '3rd act big battle' without providing any reasons aside from 'all the movies have them'.

It is perfectly fine to have dissenting opinions, I have quite a few about MCU movies, but posters should try to add some substance to them, especially when they pick and choose when they ignore the exact same situation for other movies, like the example of big 3rd act, world in peril battle in Into the Spiderverse. For example, I disagree with johnny_ultimate's post as though I think it would have been a good alternative it ignores the scale of the movie and what they're likely building to but johnny laid out a detailed perspective as to why an alternative finale would be preferable rather than the type of post I am talking about - '3rd act battle = bad' or 'CGI battle = bad'.

Mr.Nice Guy

Thought this was a poor movie. Shang's father was the most fleshed out and interesting character of the lot. I came away from the film without a clear sense of who the main character really was. His friend starts off as a loudmouth comic relief and is almost totally different near the end. His sister's character is similarly all over the shop. The Romanian baddie may as well have had a stake for an arm as he was so wooden and one-dimensional. The fight scenes felt shallow to me as a result of all of the special effects. I'd take a Jackie Chan offering with clever choreography over this enhanced stuff. As for the final act, the CGI content was far too much even by Marvel standards. I did like the Ben Kingsley cameo which was a fun addition, but his furry friend was pretty silly. Not a film I'd care to watch again if it was on telly. I'd give it no more than a 6/10.

Foxtrol

https://twitter.com/SimuLiu/status/1467957219387797504?s=20

Will be interesting whether he appears again in crossovers before a sequel. There is a big backlog of movies to get through before SC2 would come around.

The Phantom Pain

I love Marvel movies and caught this on Disney Plus... I don't know what the critics watched but I thought it sucked.

I'm really quite shocked because I loved the trailers but I'm embarrassed for everyone in this film. Embarrassed! When I wasn't bored I was cringing or yelling at the screen. The lead actor has no charisma or charm. He is by far and away the weakest aspect and constantly upstaged by Tony Leung and the rest of the supporting cast, including his sister who has a more magnetic screen presence - Kevin Feige will regret that third act decision. Speaking of the third act, what a clusterfuck. The CGI on that lion looking animal was horrendous.

I've figured out now why the trailers were so good - it's because many of the action sequences in the film are edited like trailers. They have no beats or cadence and as a result felt amateurish in comparison to the martial arts of old. Even some of the talking scenes had weird editing choices where you could see different takes had been used. Also, people were raving about the bus sequence but I thought it was cheesy AF. I think it was supposed to be like a tribute to Jackie Chan but it felt goofy whereas IMO Jackie Chan is pretty cool. So much of this film felt cheesy and dated.

I chuckled twice : the Hotel California gag and the Ben Kingsley parts. The rest of the jokes fell flat for the most part.

Ugh, and the girl power nonsense in the post credits scene really irked me. Not only was it a waste that could have been spent on another Marvel cameo (first one was fun despite being spoiled for me) but I can't stand it when male creators pat themselves on the back for "girl boss" moments especially one as forced as this. The Dora Milaje in Black Panther were cool because they were part of Wakanda's tradition. Here, the wide pan of the female mercenaries just felt like it was trying to prove a point especially because Shang Chi's sister was not allowed to train in childhood.

Definitely the weakest Marvel movie I've seen in a while. I'm really disappointed.

The Phantom Pain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117516225#Comment_117516225

Yep.

Slydice

Gave this a watch! Enjoyed it and took it mostly as an intro to a new part of the MCU as it did feel very new to me.

Well I definitely liked

Spoiler Warning

Michelle Yeoh turning up! It took a bit before I got past the whole "Michelle Yeoh!!Michelle Yeoh!!Michelle Yeoh!!Michelle Yeoh!!" 🙂

Think I remember people talking about the bus fight from the trailer and yeah that was decent. I think it reminded me a bit of the Netflix Marvel shows Corridor scenes.

Then later when so many of the Ta Lo folks were wearing Yellow and Green I was getting big reminders of Iron Fist!

One thing I had some thinking on was the whole

Spoiler Warning

Realm business. So this is a separate realm.. fair. Then like, the times I remember hearing about Realms is with Thor and his lot. They seemed to keep their powers moving about. Maybe that was something special to them or maybe Odin had something over Earth about allowing powers in.

There again, in the Loki show, the Infinity Stones of other Universes didn't work and there's been alot of cross-universe happening.. so maybe something on that.

Or maybe something new altogether.. I mean Wong did seem stumped... will see I guess.

Future: Well. Given the credits and end credits scenes, I'm seeing Shang-Chi future and greater-MCU future too.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118447368#Comment_118447368

Oh yep! 🙂

Spoiler Warning

Wong at the end! 😂 This "or do we" business needs to be kept on for future films! 😁

Hotel California (2013 Remaster)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BciS5krYL80

Slydice

Oooooooooooh.. had to google this one.. but it was guessable I think..

Spoiler Warning

https://screenrant.com/shang-chi-ten-rings-tournament-characters-fighters-explained/

He was an Extremis Soldier.. I was like.. COULD THIS HAVE BEEN AN X-MEN CHARACTER!!! .. nevermind 🙂

and he was fighting a Black Widow which I didn't notice.. but it was all moving so fast.

Cookie_Monster

why didnt she just steer the bus UP one of the hill streets? and why does a random bus in San Fran have "California" as the destination?

FunLover18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557749#Comment_118557749

This is a really good thread on the bus scene. I remember a lot of Londoners I follow getting annoyed at the Underground scene in Thor TDW but they probably would bat an eyelid at this.

https://twitter.com/that_mc/status/1459613123590066180?t=6R6cIm9gjA5eg4YUw_LcXA&s=19