I don't get nearly as excited about the MCU as I used to (mostly because they're churning out movies and TV shows at a rate that I just can't keep up with), but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Definitely worth watching.

Some loose thoughts/things I enjoyed below (spoilers are marked):
- the story is good, the 2nd act is kind of slow, but it picks up towards the end
- the fight scenes are super cool and creative (especially [spoiler]the one on the bus and the one on the scaffolding[/spoiler])
- I liked the way they utilized the rings in fights, it felt really fresh and like something we haven't seen before
- [spoiler]the final battle is actually awesome (monkey brain loves big monsters and explosions)[/spoiler]
- the cast is excellent (I'm particularly thrilled to see Awkwafina getting more recognition)
- the soundtrack is beautiful and I love the way they used traditional Chinese melodies
- badass women all around (Michelle Yeoh my beloved)
- impeccable CGI
- some gorgeous scenery
- MORRIS
- [spoiler]loved the callback to the Mandarin mess from Iron Man 3[/spoiler]
- [spoiler]Brie Larson cameo (I know the fandom has collectively decided to hate her, but I don't care, that was a treat for me and me only)[/spoiler]
- [spoiler]Xialing effectively utilizing girl power by taking over her father's crime empire (I feel like there was definitely some comic book reference flying over my head there but who cares). My friend and I joked that she'll be getting a Disney+ series shortly[/spoiler]

Overall, it was a treat. Strongly recommend.

Pros:
- Whoever worked on the second unit of this film, give them a medal. Lots of beautiful choreography, wide shots and sweeping camera movement. Great stuff, it has the best action choreography of any Marvel film. Massive props to the editing team as well.
- The casting is great. Simu Liu ticks all the boxes for a Marvel hero, Tony Leung is an amazing actor and he shows it here, Awkwafina does the best with what she’s given, Michelle Yeoh is great.
- The characters are of course very well drawn, as expected from Marvel. That includes the villain, even if his motivation is a little generic. I’ll say that they could’ve given some more development to Xialing, though.

In between:
- The music. I liked the score quite a bit, it felt very authentic to something you’d hear in a traditional Chinese kung fu film. But then they also got some of the worst contemporary artists to add actual music numbers, like Rick Ross and Swae Lee. Was Kendrick too busy this time around? It’s kind of a nitpick, but it ruined some of the credit that I was willing to give the score in this. I’ll give them props for putting the very underrated Anderson .Paak over the credits, though.

Cons:
- For such a basic story, it is really overstuffed with exposition. The worldbuilding is done though a lot of talking, and no showing.
- One of their ugliest films in terms of colour grading. It’ll pop occasionally, but it’s overall really drab and grey. It does no justice to Bill Pope’s cinematography.
- The comedy. Not everything misses, but these films used to have a lot more clever and subversive comedy in them. That’s slowly starting to phase out in favour of basic comedy writing. It’s also placed in awkward moments where it messes with the tone. Ben Kingsley is very annoying in this in particular.
- For as good as the choreography is, some of the action is still very overblown and fake looking. There’s a scene in the trailers that involves a bus, which you’ve probably seen and thought: that looks wonky and fake. Well, the final set in this piece is even worse, and I can almost guarantee that it’ll give you flashbacks to Black Panther’s final act. It kinda throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks.
- In terms of pacing, it makes the exact same mistake as Captain Marvel and Black Widow. The first act is fast paced and filled with 2-3 set pieces. Then, during the second act, it hits a lull. We get to one location, and the film is filled with nothing but dialogue. This problem could easily be fixed if the action was just more spread out.

Yeah, another disappointment if you’d ask me, in a string of disappointments coming from Marvel Studios.
It’s a shame, this could’ve been great. Keep the actors, characters, central conflict and the grounded action scenes, but remove all of Marvel’s shitty production choices in regards to music, colour grading, overblown action, incel comedy, pacing and meaningless references, and this would’ve easily been an 8.
There’s more than enough good and fun stuff in here, but it gets bogged down by the machine.

5/10

Solid, fun movie. I just had a few gripes that held it back. Felt very slow in the middle and it kind of lost me. Dialogue writing was just okay in my opinion. There were several inorganic monologues that turned me off. I felt I was just being told things in a lazy way instead of weaving them in or showing me. The comedy was VERY hit or miss for me. I didn't feel a big emotional connection to Shiang Chi. It felt like he was on rails through the story rather than him forging his way through the events. Maybe he's just a chill character, but I expected to see more emotional highs and lows when finds his sister after so long, reconnects with his father, watches his father die, finds his moms sister and homeland, and is able to use the rings. It just all felt inconsequential when it came to him. I'm not an Awkwafina fan, but I enjoyer her performance for the most part. I think she suffered from some writing feeling out of place in some more serious moments and just not funny. Wasn't a big fan of her suddenly becoming a great archer.

Overall, solid origin film with some very undaring choices that sets up a new superhero with so much potential in Shiang Chi, as well as a new part of the world with equal potential in Tao Lo. Very excited to see what future directors and writers do with this foundation.

Honestly, on all levels this movie excels! The casting is perfect. The world building is creative, beautiful and faithful to its Asian roots. The CGI and location shoots are breathtaking. The fighting is the best I’ve ever seen and even the training ground sequences have an exquisite grace. The action was balanced by heart. I was concerned Awkwafina would take the humour to campy lows but she truly showed she has some serious dramatic chops. She was not the comic relief! They gave that honour to the Shakespearean stage giant, Ben Kingsley, Our own, homegrown :flag_ca: Simu Liu was perfect for the part and his performance was world class. I could go on raving but I’ll conclude my feedback by saying that this is in every way as powerful a MCU solo representation of Asian culture as BLACK PANTHER was for African culture. I gathered some feedback as I left the theatre, and got ratings of 7.5 (felt it needed more MCU content), 8 (saw many of the things I have just commented on). I’ve read the criticism that the storytelling was choppy, but I didn’t find it so. For me it was more like chapters in a book, completely working together to create a world of content and design. Upon leaving the cinema, I was going to give the movie a 9 (superb) out of 10, but after reflecting on it, I don’t know what they could have done to make it better, so, I give this film a 10 (perfect) out of 10. [Superhero Action Adventure]

**Shang-chi** is the 25th film in the marvel cinematic universe, it is deep without canyons of emotion but also comedic (with occasional comedic failures).

This film embarks the MCU into a different world where tradition intertwines with modern societal problem,the film tackles this elegantly with a few stutters at the seams. As is usual with marvel property this film is a minefield of links to past and future marvel ventures, but is done in such a way that it truly can be an entry point into the extensive universe without having seen the others.

The story develops slowly unwrapping the setting but it also serves to highlight the beautiful cinematic choices Destin Daniel Cretton has made, cinematic shots build to a grand climax with a sufficiently marvel-esque battle between relatable family struggles in unrelatable places and circumstances

The end to the fight is satisfyingly predictable and leaves a numbness upon the audience because of the climax's grandeur and its fizzle into the marvel trope of comedic endings.

There are 2 Pre and post credit scenes who for the marvel enthusiasts add a great deal of pleasure adn completion to the story and set up the shang-chi subfranchise.

This film through all of its achievements feels disjointed and only becomes a cinematic feat at its climax leaving the audience feeeling as if they could have missed the first 50 minutes and still understood the majority of storyline.

This is an great feat of film through its inevitable cinematic, it is extremely enjoyable nevertheless.