Shang-Chi
It may come as a surprise to many people, but this review writer on a comic book seller’s website is a fan of kung-fu movies and different styles of martial arts. I grew up loving the cultures that surround these things. I couldn’t understand how there were people who didn’t like or even find it interesting.
Shang-Chi spoke to that little kid in me.
The whole movie was like a modern day kung-fu movie with the Marvel superhero twist. Each fight scene was beautifully done and felt like it was important to the story and the characters. Which is something else; there was not one character in this movie that I didn’t like.
Each one felt real and with proper backstory that tied into the rest of the story. It wasn’t just everyone fighting Shang-Chi for the sake of fighting him. They had their reasons, which was nice.
Now let’s talk villains, because Shang-Chi presented us with one of the most polarizing and sympathetic villains we’ve had so far. What we have in this movie is the true Mandarin; Wenwu and he is glorious. Don’t get me wrong; his means were completely fucked up. He did some horrible things to good people. I would never say he was right in anything he did. However, it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. And not in the Thanos was right kind of way. He’s not trying to argue his point from a logical perspective. He probably couldn’t argue logically if he tried. He’s emotionally charged. Like Loki.
But, you know, not a petulant child. (No disrespect to Loki here, but…. c’mon.)
He’s just a man who’s been through some terrible things in his long life. So, he turns to the only thing he knows. Which then leads to uncontrollable circumstances he is now too blind to see for himself. Despite all the things he did, all the lives he ruined, he was still very very human.
He actually got me a little misty-eyed, to be honest.
It’s also worth noting what a big moment this is. It did for the Asian community what Black Panther did for the Black community. It’s a huge historical moment and we should all take time to appreciate that, even if you’re not a fan of Marvel.
Over all, the movie was awesome. It’s now my favorite superhero origin film and pretty high on the list of favorite MCU films. I’m looking forward to seeing how he’s going to be incorporated into the entirety of the movies.
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