Rating 12a
Length 2h12
Release 3.09.2021
Director Destin Daniel Cretton
About Martial-arts master Shang-Chi confronts the past he thought he left behind when he’s drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Moon: None seen… but I was too invested and may have missed it.
Where to Watch: Cinemas nationwide and Disney +
Trailer:
The Good
- I cannot fault the casting. From the knowns, to the unknowns (to me), they fit the roles perfectly. As always Awkwafina is a joy, Ben Kingsley brings his ham and Michelle Yeoh is the badass I always depend on her being.
- I adore the change of the Ten Rings from the comic to the movie. Having the rings appeal more to Asian culture also has added bonus of differentiating them from the hand garment of the previous phases.
- The story is really awesome. It acknowledges the Manderine (Ben Kinsley) of Phases 1 and 2, while giving us someone who is a complex and flawed antagonist.
The family relationship and dynamic reminded me of the short-lived Helstrom and it was good to see that in play here. - Ben Kingsley’s Trever was that brilliant touch of off the wall comedy you need in something like this. Also, his Scouse accent is spot on for someone who would be theatrically trained. There’s varients in the dialect and that man got it right. So it’s not the hacking and eck-ing that people who are familiar with John Bishop are used to, but it’s a softer and rounder accent.
Sod it, I’m just happy we got some Scouser representation in there. - The martial arts itself is STUNNING. Beautiful. I also love that we got original language and subtitles. One of the reasons why I’ve stayed away from the martial arts genre is because access only ever seems to be dubbed movies. As someone who relies on lip reading for understanding, dubbing has the habit of giving me a headache.
The Bad
- Some of the CGI is ropey. Like Episode 1, really isn’t going to age very well, sort of ropey. It’s a shame, because from what I can tell of the preproduction everyone was prepared for the martial arts, but there were bits that went to the next level to make it a Marvel movie. If it had been kept within the hidden world, it might have been okay, but as it stands I found certain scenes, the bus fight in particular, detracting visually.
The Ugly
- There’s a scene in which the fight sequence takes place on scaffolding. Bollocks, it scared me. My body had the physical reaction of watching a horror movie, I had to look away and I even considered fast forwarding at one point.
While this wasn’t a fun experience for me, I do like the fact that it was able to gain such a reaction from me.
Final Thoughts
Iron Man really did run Phase 3 and 4 introductions could fly. I only hope the fatigue doesn’t last for people, because these are the films we need.
The Queens of Geekdom 