This blog piece was written by one of our students, Tishitha. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.
I had been looking forward to seeing Shang Chi for weeks. Ever since I found out about it, I was determined to see it in theaters on its release day. A movie with a primarily Asian cast that features Asian culture? I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’m also generally overinvested in Simu Liu’s roles, especially after finishing Kim’s Convenience. So, I went into the movie with very high expectations.
All of those expectations were met and exceeded. I cannot recommend this movie enough, it absolutely blew me away. To provide some context, here’s the plot (spoiler warning!):
The plot centers around the Ten Rings, of course, but not the one depicted as the Mandarin in Iron 3. The film first introduces the true origins of the Ten Rings, how Xu Wenwu discovered them in an unknown way and made use of their immortality and power. Wenwu gathered a great army, called the Ten Rings, and conquered many kingdoms, toppled many governments, and changed the course of history. In the late ‘90s, Wenwu began searching for Ta Lo, a mythical village said to exist in another dimension with magical beings. He travels through an enchanted forest maze, but is stopped from entering the village by its guardian, Ying Li. While Wenwu doesn’t get access to the village, he does fall in love. The village, however, still rejects Wenwu, so Li leaves with him. They end up having two kids: Shang-Chi and Xialing. Li convinces Wenwu to leave the rings, but this all changes when Li is murdered by some of Wenwu’s past enemies; Wenwu takes up the rings again to kill the Iron Gang, who were responsible for killing Li. He begins Shang on a brutal training regiment while all but ignoring Xialing. When Shang is fourteen, Wenwu sends him on a mission to assassinate the leader of the Iron Gang. Shang fulfills his mission, then flees to San Francisco, where he takes up the name “Shaun”. The movie starts here, post-blip in San Francisco, where “Shaun” works as a valet with his best friend Katy. The two are attacked on a bus by the Ten Rings, who steal a pendant that Li gave to Shang and Xialing when they were young. Shang and Katy then find Xialing at her underground fighting club in Macau to warn her about their father wanting the pendants. However, they are soon ambushed by the Ten Rings. The fight ends as Wenwi unexpectedly arrives to capture Shang, Katy, and Xialing. When they return to the ten ring’s compound, Wenwu uses both pendants to create a map of how to return to Ta Lo. Wenwu reveals that he has heard Li calling to him, saying the village has held her captive behind a sealed gate. He imprisons Shang, Katy, and Xialing when they object. While in their cell, they meet Trevor Slattery, the actor formerly imprisoned for impersonating the head of the Mandarin. They also meet what might have been my favorite character in the movie, Morris, a DiJiang who guides them through the enchanted maze into Ta Lo. The group makes it to Ta Lo and warns the village of the Ten Rings. While there, they train and meet Ying Nan, Shang and Xialing’s aunt. She tells them the history of Ta Lo and reveals that the voice their father has been hearing is from the Dweller, a soul consuming monster locked behind a gate thousands of years ago with the help of a dragon called the Great Protector. Eventually the Ten Rings arrive, and a battle ensues. Wenwu breaks the seal with the rings, slowly releasing the dweller’s minions. The Ten Rings eventually join forces with the village to fight the minions. Shang is revived from his earlier fight with his father by the Great Protector. The two leave the lake and join the battle. The Dweller escapes the weakened seal, and begins attacking the village. It’s first target is Wenwu, who passes Shang-chi the rings before being killed by the Dweller. Shang. Cialing, the Great Protector, and Katy battle the Dweller with the village, before Shang ultimately kills it. Shang and Katy return to San Francisco, and are summoned by Wong to the Sanctum Sanctorum. The first post-credits scene shows them conversing with Bruce Banner and Captain Marvel about the rings and the second post credits scene shows Xialing becoming the new leader of the Ten Rings.
To begin, Shang Chi has become one of, if not my favorite Marvel movie. It has joined Thor Ragnorak, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Black Panther as my top favorite Marvel movies. This movie was entertaining, enthralling, and contributed a great amount of lore to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actors gave a wonderful performance, and the cinematography was beautiful.
One of my favorite things about this film was its fight choreography. Every action scene looked like a dance, as the characters fought using mainly Kung Fu. It was wonderful to once again see such beautiful choreography in a Marvel movie. Furthermore, the prevalent color schemes in this movie made it abundantly clear who the villains were and who the heroes were. In the battle between the Ten Rings and the people of Ta Lo, the Ten Rings wore blue and fought with blue weapons, while the residents of Ta Lo wore red and fought with red weapons. The fight scenes were also very well lit and colorful. This made the fight very easy to follow along to, unlike the final fight in Avengers Endgame. Endgame was a phenomenal effort and a great movie, of course, but the final battle consisted of a bunch of muddy, gray characters in a dark setting. It was somewhat difficult to follow all the action, whereas here everything was clearly visibly and wondrous to watch.
The other thing I absolutely loved about Shang Chi was the casual placement of Chinese culture. The characters spent a significant chunk of the movie speaking only in Mandarin, with subtitles for English speakers. I found this to be such a unique choice for a Marvel movie, especially since Marvel has not been known for its diversity in the past. Furthermore, there are frequent mentions of Chinese mythology throughout the movie, especially when the characters make it to Ta Lo. The depictions of the Huli jing (nine-tailed foxes), shishi (guardian lions), and the Great Protector were incredible.
Overall, I cannot recommend Shang Chi enough. It is a massive push forward for Asian representation. The film is comedic, heart warming, and mesmerizing at the same time. Shang Chi is a remarkable movie, and I am so glad I watched it as soon as I could.
