In case you didn't know, this is the latest Marvel movie in the long running cinematic universe. Did I like it? Is the sky blue? Yes, yes I did. Not because I'm a Marvel zombie, but because I legitimately thought it was a good film.
When I was finished, what struck me the most is how different it felt from other Marvel movies. There are small ties to the larger MCU with some cameos here and there, but otherwise it is detached from all that continuity. That makes it refreshing. We also get some straight up Martial arts which puts it in the league of Captain America: Winter Soldier as the best hand to hand action we've seen in these films. Easily.
Also, in the name of representation, I am glad to see another part of the Marvel Universe represented here and that the cast is predominantly Asian. Hopefully it proves to be a big hit with Asians, as Black Panther was to black people. It shows the powers that be that, "Guess what? People want to see stories about other characters of other ethnicities."
So back to what I was saying before. This movie just feels different. It still has the Marvel kind of humor, but it feels unshackled by the weight of all the movies that came before as far as the style of movie. I have been watching a TON of Martial Arts movies on my Paternity leave and some of the imagery and the way the fight scenes are filmed feel like those kind of movies.
I am happy for Simu Liu and he was great in the role of Shang-Chi. He's a great addition to the Marvel Universe. For you martial arts fans, I didn't research it, but at least to my eyes, he did most of his own fighting here. That is also equally impressive. Once again, those fight scenes were GOOD too. That subway car scene is one example.
This next part sounds weird to say, but Awkwafina was less Awkwafina in this. She starts off that way, but mellows out and she grows within the story. I also loved her relationship with Shang-Chi in this. A couple of buddies going on a while adventure. She gets in a couple of good jokes throughout the movie, which I won't spoil. One that stands out is how she gives Shang-Chi crap about how he changed his name when he escaped to America.
I won't go through the rest of the cast, but we get the wonderful Michelle Yeoh, a surprise from Ben Kingsley and the introduction of Tony Leung to the Western World.
In addition to the martial arts, this movie is definitely centered around some daddy issues that Shang-Chi has and how he navigates that while trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be. I think we can all relate to that. This certainly touched me.
One last thing I want to mention before I get to something I didn't like. The music. I love orchestrated scores and prefer those to big moments of action over some cutesy song that is over the action (re: Captain Marvel, The Suicide Squad). The music here is very good and also reminiscent of these kind of Martial Arts movies.
If I have one nitpick with this movie, is I don't love some of the final fight scene. I don't want to go into details, but let's say that it gave me Animality vibes from the Mortal Kombat: Annihilation movie and that is not a good thing. Nor do I love fight scenes that have people shooting laser blasts at each other, which sorta, kinda happens here at the end.
I know people are burnt out on Marvel movies and I get that. HOWEVER, I think you should definitely check this out. You don't have to have seen any of the other movies to appreciate this one. It stands alone, but best believe he will get integrated into the other Marvel movies.
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