With heart, humor and a cornucopia of kick-ass kung fu, Marvel Comics’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” fulfills its promise to bring diversity to its universe of superheroes, delivering it with stylish panache.
Promoted as Marvel’s first film with a predominantly Asian cast, director Destin Daniel Cretton does more than just put Asian faces on film. “Shang-Chi” has a distinctly Asian flavor to it, with generous use of Mandarin Chinese in the script, themes of generational conflict and fight scenes reminiscent of the old-school martial arts flicks that Asians around the world grew up loving. There are epic, magical scenes drawn from nature, such as a forest of hungry trees, and water that flows in slow motion, perhaps a reference to Cretton’s roots in Hawaii.
There’s little need to say much about the plot except that much of it is told through flashbacks. We learn of the evil immortal Xu Wenwu (Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung) and his magical 10 rings (wristbands, actually), who forgoes the life of a mobster but returns to it, all for love. His son, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), whom he trained as an assassin, has abandoned the life of crime and seeks anonymity as Shaun, a San Francisco slacker who parks cars for a living and endures the endless “what are you going to do with your life” jabs from elders and some of his friends.
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The two come back together through a series of events — namely, lots of kung fu fighting — and things get rather convoluted from there, as the messy details of this dysfunctional family are played out, with, of course, the fate of the world at stake. It all fits together cohesively though, and it’s only the final, CGI-loaded battle scene, which leaps from cliffhanger to cliffhanger, that makes the film seem rather long at 2 hours and 12 minutes (if you stay through the credits — a necessity).
Best known for playing a young man estranged from his father in the TV sitcom “Kim’s Convenience,” Liu came to this film as an athlete but not a recognized martial artist. His challenge was in trying to create a persona within the genre, like the frantic antics of Jackie Chan or the brooding intensity of Bruce Lee.
Fortunately, Liu displays an effective-looking fighting style with a dance-like grace, shot mostly full-body so that the viewer can appreciate the continuous flow of action. And his somewhat restrained demeanor seemed fitting for a character in a reactive position, trying to square his turbulent past with the confusing and uncertain present, where neither hot-blooded anger nor stalwart calm would have seemed entirely appropriate.
The rest of the cast comes through in flying colors, if not flying daggers. Awkwafina, appearing as Shaun’s hilarious gal pal Katy, is amazed as she witnesses her fellow car valet transform into a superhero, but never stops with the wisecracks until she herself undergoes a transformation of sorts. Film newcomer Meng’er Zhang is intriguing as Shang-Chi’s estranged sister Xialing, who is bitter over his desertion of her as a child. The venerable Michelle Yeoh gets her well-deserved kicks in, and Leung is a standout as the multifaceted villain Xu Wenwu, obsessed by power, greed and loss.
Of the few non-Asian roles, it’s fun to see Ben Kingsley reprise the Trevor Slattery character from “Iron Man 3,” especially when Slattery refers to an earlier career that actually reflects Kingsley’s real-life legacy as one of the finest actors of his generation.
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WATCH IT
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
****
PG-13, 2:12
Opening Friday in theaters.
