With Marvel's "Endgame" making the future of the Avengers grim for many avid watchers, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" offers a new, promising path to the franchise. The movie features Simu Liu who plays Shang-Chi—a man forced to confront a life he left behind, full of jaw-dropping brawls and astonishing graphics that make it one of the best Marvel films ever released. The audience is taken along on his unusual journey as he's reunited with his grudge-holding sister and formerly abusive father, solving their disagreements with violence when Wu, his father, claims their deceased mother is calling for them. From the choreography, heartbreaking storyline, skilled acting and comedic circumstances, Shang-Chi is certainly a movie you don't want to miss.
There were many reasons for Shang-Chi's skyrocketing success. Unlike most Disney movies, the relationships were built genuinely without the typical forced romance between main characters Shang and Katie, who is played by Awkwafina. The smooth delivery of jokes flowed without pause, the choreography was fluent, the remarkable graphics were eye-catching, but even with all that, the film holds further importance because of the predominantly Asian cast.
Marvel superheroes have consisted solely of white men for decades, but new characters like Shang are bringing that to a halt. The movie provides Asian representation that dives into cultural aspects that unknowing people from differing backgrounds might never have considered. For many, this film was never pictured to be made with the history of Marvel comics. Disney changed the original story to get rid of its previous racist themes. The original story made the villain's only goal to conquer the west, and was strongly based around Kung Fu due to the spiked interest in martial arts when the comics were popular. With the new revamped story, the characters were able to feel more human than their precursor.
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is not only fantastic, but iconic. The acting, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the action scenes—it's all extraordinary. As the movie progressed, the whole theater was practically on the edge of their seats, hands buried beneath salty popcorn kernels while they watched in wide-eyed anticipation of what was to happen next. Gasps were heard and many tears were shed as the screen eventually faded to a deep shade of black, marking the end of Shang-Chi's first adventure as a superhero. Welcome to the cinematic universe, Shang-Chi.
