Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Marvel Studios
Walt Disney Studios


Release date: 09/03/2021

Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD and Digital on 11/30/2021 (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment)

My IMDB Rating - 8/10

#whatonwhatsgood Fan Club Rating: 77%

Express Review

Shaun (Simu Liu) and his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) have a pretty easy-going life parking cars in San Francisco.  One day, Shaun is attacked on a bus by a gang and they steal a pendant that his mother had given him.  He defends himself to perfection against these thugs making Katy wonder who Shaun really is.  He decides to tell Katy about his past and his family.   

She learns about his unstable...mystical...1000-year-old warlord...leader of the Ten Rings organization...father Wenwu (Tony Leung) and his deceased mother Ying Li (Fala Chen). Before her death, she gave birth to a son and daughter.  His dad decided to train him to be a killer and ignored his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang).  After some time, he decides to run away from his father and his sister, change his name and live in San Francisco.  He admits his real name is Shang-Chi. 

Unhappy with the death of his wife Li, Wenwu believes he can bring her back to life. All he has to do is capture heirlooms from Shang-Chi/Shaun and his sister Xialing.  He decides to send a team of mercenaries to go after them. 

Can Shang-Chi and Katy team up with his sister Xialing to take on their difficult father and the powerful Ten Rings organization before their dad unleashes a devastating force out into the world? 

Overall...if you like action, you definitely don't want to miss this one.  My favourite scene was the fight sequence on the bus. 

Social Media

#ShangChi

Directed by

Destin Daniel Cretton

Screenplay by

Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham

Story by

Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton

Based on

Marvel Comics

Produced by

Kevin Feige

Jonathan Schwartz

Executive Producers

Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Charles Newirth

Starring

Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi / Shaun

Awkwafina as Katy

Meng'er Zhang as Xu Xialing

Fala Chen as Ying Li

Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist

Benedict Wong as Wong

Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan

Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery

Tony Leung as Xu Wenwu

Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon

Yuen Wah as Guang Bo

Jodi Long as Mrs. Chen

Dallas Liu as Ruihua

Paul He as Chancellor Hui

Tsai Chin as Katy's grandmother

Andy Le as Death Dealer

Stephanie Hsu and Kunal Dudheker as Soo and John

Zach Cherry as Klev

Dee Baker as the voice of Morris

Cinematography

William Pope

Edited by

Nat Sanders, Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir, Harry Yoon

Music by

Joel P. West

Simu Liu discusses his initial audition for Shang-Chi 

“I didn’t know that I would get to play him, but I was so encouraged by the fact that somebody would get to take up the mantle and would get to represent us in that way.  “After meeting Destin in the callback, I came to understand something not only about Shang-Chi but about all Marvel heroes. There is an element of normalness to them. Deep down, they aren’t all six-foot-five Greek gods. They’re flawed. They’re ordinary people put into extraordinary circumstances who make heroic decisions.” 

Tony Leung (Xu Wenwu) discusses working on the film

“I think the script does a very good job on my character Xu Wenwu, very detailed, so I just needed to follow the pages. I would prefer to surprise or convince our director with my performance on stage rather than discuss too much beforehand. So, we didn’t discuss a lot before shooting.”

Awkwafina discusses her character Katy (Shang-Chi’s closest friend)

“Katy is Shang-Chi’s reckless Asian American friend who he meets when he relocates to the States in San Francisco. Katy and her family kind of take him in, and he has a very close relationship with her and her family. I would say that it’s almost like she is his home in America.”

“There is a point where Katy tells a story of how she first met Shang-Chi. She almost feels like she needs to protect Shang-Chi, which is ironic because he is more than necessarily equipped to take care of himself. But Katy meets him in school by taking down a bully who is picking on him. Since then, their relationship has kind of evolved, and they bicker a lot. But I think that it’s very obvious that they have a lot of love for each other.”

“I connect to Katy a lot. She definitely makes some poor decisions, like we all do now and then. She is brave and impulsive and brash. But she is loyal, and she’s really there for Shang-Chi when he needs her. Katy speaks a little bit of Chinese, but she didn’t really grow up with it. And it’s a part of her identity that I think she struggles with.”

“I think Katy, throughout the movie, is really questioning her own mission in life, her goals and her sense of identity.  She doesn’t necessarily know where it’s going. She kind of rides the wind, and I think that’s something that we all ask ourselves at some point, and we all kind of struggle with. So, she is a very real character to me, and I relate to her a lot.”

Fala Chen (Li) discusses the different forms of martial arts presented in Shang-Chi

“It really means a lot to me that this film not only presented different forms of martial arts but also gave us an opportunity to see the essence behind the physical movements.  It’s the spirit of Kung Fu. It’s the practice of the yin and yang and the Tai Chi and finding inner peace. It not only represents the martial arts, but it’s also a great representation of Chinese culture. It’s just such an honor to be able to be part of this representation.”

Meng’er Zhang describes her character Xialing

“Xialing is someone you don’t want to mess with, even Shang-Chi knows not to cross her. She is a very tough and independent woman, cold on the outside, but has a warm and fragile part deep down inside. She had a traumatic childhood, but she didn’t sink, she got stronger. She’s like a flower that survives the coldest winter.”

Florian Munteanu (Razor Fist) comments about Shang-Chi

“This film was amazing to work on and an amazing story, and because this is the first Asian American Super Hero movie from Marvel, I know that the impact this movie will have on the whole world will be immense.”

Michelle Yeoh (Ying Nan) discusses wanting to be part of the film 

“It was time we had an Asian superhero. I grew up looking at Marvel comics, and I’ve never seen a superhero that looks like me. I’m really pleased because it truly is the right time for little boys and girls to see it and say, ‘Look, we’re superheroes too,’ and I’m really happy to be part of it.”

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