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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |OT| The MCU is now Kung-Fu Fighting

jason10mm

Gold Member
Because Shang-Chi is the "streaming premiere".

Jungle Cruise has been streaming since July for $30. That's why they're saying it's available to everyone, because it won't be $30 anymore.


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NOVEMBER?!? Damn, that's well past the 45 day window they initially cited. Guess it is doing well enough at the theater to let it run, or they finally wised up to the game HBO has been playing in not dropping 2 major films within a single months subscription window if possible.

I'm terrified to ask what "Home Sweet Home Alone" is. And if that is all D+ is getting for the month that is really really sad. Maybe whatever "Disneyplusday" is is just a marketing push to get folks subscribed before the holidays.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Yeah, pretty much. I skimmed the video and it's nitpicking by inserting weird ideas into it. I mean, they don't even understand the villain's plan and motivations early into the film.
The set up of this stream was describing the movie in chronologic order of events to someone who hadn't seen the movie. With how the world building is done at the start with the 100s of years of conquering, toppling governments and then moving into the shadows line, of course that sounds confusing to the guy who hadn't seen it. The others were well aware of the big bad's motivations and how he's going about to achieve his goals which is part of their knock against the movie.
I had to laugh a little bit at them not knowing the word mandarin isn't actually Chinese in origin (think Japan in English but Nihon to the people there). That's part of why I got a chuckle about the orange (mandarin) chicken reference Wenwu made in the film. They knocked the film for not doing research when they didn't do it either, heh.
That is interesting if both these critics and the movie are wrong on the Mandarin thing nit-pick but then you entirely skip over the next bit with this headless thing that happens to have information on where to go next, that the big bad desperately is looking for all this time, happens to be there in prison with them and how easily they escape which aren't nit-picks but more signs of lazy story telling. Similar to TLJ where they happen to meet a prisoner with all the right knowledge to move the plot along.
 
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FireFly

Member
That is interesting if both these critics and the movie are wrong on the Mandarin thing nit-pick but then you entirely skip over the next bit with this headless thing that happens to have information on where to go next, that the big bad desperately is looking for all this time, happens to be there in prison with them and how easily they escape which aren't nit-picks but more signs of lazy story telling. Similar to TLJ where they happen to meet a prisoner with all the right knowledge to move the plot along.
Yeah, crazy that they would put a being from another dimension in a prison and not let it wander around...
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Yeah, crazy that they would put a being from another dimension in a prison and not let it wander around...
Nah, the crazy part is it knowing about the fairy land the bad guy's trying to go to for so long but somehow never knew he had a prison with that information all this time.
 
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FireFly

Member
Nah, the crazy part is it knowing about the fairy land the bad guy's trying to go to for so long but somehow never knew he had a prison with that information all this time.
The information isn't "in" the prison. Morris the DiJiang knew how to return back to his home, Ta Lo. And maybe he didn't want to share that info with a guy who was ready to burn his home to the ground?

That links in with the wider themes of the movie of Wenwu being more concerned with power than understanding. He doesn't even question how his wife could still be alive when presumably he took away her dead body. It's his desperation for redemption that makes him blind to the truth.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
The information isn't "in" the prison. Morris the DiJiang knew how to return back to his home, Ta Lo. And maybe he didn't want to share that info with a guy who was ready to burn his home to the ground?

That links in with the wider themes of the movie of Wenwu being more concerned with power than understanding. He doesn't even question how his wife could still be alive when presumably he took away her dead body. It's his desperation for redemption that makes him blind to the truth.
Is it established in the movie
that Morris was aware of Wenwu's intentions? Wenwu knows it's from a dimension he's trying to get to but doesn't bother to learn more of it? Finding out that Mandarin can communicate with it would seem important to me if I were Wenwu.
I have no issues inferring that Wenwu might be too much under the influences of the voices to do seemingly counter productive stuff up to a point.
 

FireFly

Member
Is it established in the movie
that Morris was aware of Wenwu's intentions? Wenwu knows it's from a dimension he's trying to get to but doesn't bother to learn more of it? Finding out that Mandarin can communicate with it would seem important to me if I were Wenwu.
I have no issues inferring that Wenwu might be too much under the influences of the voices to do seemingly counter productive stuff up to a point.
It's not clear what Morris knows, but you would think Slattery would have explained Wenwu's intention's to it. Also, if you're being imprisoned by someone maybe you're going to be reluctant to trust them ("Hey Slattery, why are we being imprisoned here!").

For all we know, Wenwu thinks Mandarin is crazy and that Morris doesn't have much more intelligence than the average dog. Again, I don't think it's his personality type to try to understand "lesser" creatures.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
It's not clear what Morris knows, but you would think Slattery would have explained Wenwu's intention's to it. Also, if you're being imprisoned by someone maybe you're going to be reluctant to trust them ("Hey Slattery, why are we being imprisoned here!").

For all we know, Wenwu thinks Mandarin is crazy and that Morris doesn't have much more intelligence than the average dog. Again, I don't think it's his personality type to try to understand "lesser" creatures.
Still can't deny that Morris is a very convenient plot device which also seems to contradict the once a year accessibility of the village through the forest said earlier in the movie.
You admit we know little of Morris' thought process and why would it spill the beans for strangers it's just met. Surely such an important plot point could've been handled more believable than what we got.
 

FireFly

Member
Still can't deny that Morris is a very convenient plot device which also seems to contradict the once a year accessibility of the village through the forest said earlier in the movie.
You admit we know little of Morris' thought process and why would it spill the beans for strangers it's just met. Surely such an important plot point could've been handled more believable than what we got.
I need to watch the movie again to see what was said about the path, but my understanding is that the maze is constantly moving but "safe" path opens once a year. Morris knows how the maze will move, so no safe path is needed.

It's stated that Morris wants to go home in the movie. We don't know if Morris knew Wenwu's wife and is aware of Shang Chi. But clearly, if Morris knew or could sense that Shang Chi was half-Ta Lo, like the dragon could, he would have reason to trust him.

This is obviously speculation, but we're talking about a scene that was designed as a short bit of comic relief after a huge info dump. And the appeal of Morris' character is that he/she is mysterious. DiJiang is literally a god in the original mythology! If we're really going to have to explain how every mythical creature from another dimension functions then I think it defeats the purpose of doing the movie.
 
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ManaByte

Gold Member
I need to watch the movie again to see what was said about the path, but my understanding is that the maze is constantly moving but "safe" path opens once a year. Morris knows how the maze will move, so no safe path is needed.

It's stated that Morris wants to go home in the movie. We don't know if Morris knew Wenwu's wife and is aware of Shang Chi. But clearly, if Morris knew or could sense that Shang Chi was half-Ta Lo, like the dragon could, he would have reason to trust him.

This is obviously speculation, but we're talking about a scene that was designed as a short bit of comic relief after a huge info dump. And the appeal of Morris' character is that he/she is mysterious. DiJiang is literally a god in the original mythology! If we're really going to have to explain how every mythical creature from another dimension functions then I think it defeats the purpose of doing the movie.

No you're correct. Morris knew how the maze would move, which would allow them to reach Ta Lo before the Mandarin did, because the Mandarin had to wait for the one time a year the path was safely open.
 

Shouta

Member
The set up of this stream was describing the movie in chronologic order of events to someone who hadn't seen the movie. With how the world building is done at the start with the 100s of years of conquering, toppling governments and then moving into the shadows line, of course that sounds confusing to the guy who hadn't seen it. The others were well aware of the big bad's motivations and how he's going about to achieve his goals which is part of their knock against the movie.

That is interesting if both these critics and the movie are wrong on the Mandarin thing nit-pick but then you entirely skip over the next bit with this headless thing that happens to have information on where to go next, that the big bad desperately is looking for all this time, happens to be there in prison with them and how easily they escape which aren't nit-picks but more signs of lazy story telling. Similar to TLJ where they happen to meet a prisoner with all the right knowledge to move the plot along.

The part they were confused with is why Wenwu was doing something like send goons after his son even despite knowing that they couldn't kill him. He has a reason to do it and the flow of events isn't an issue. Exact reasons you can infer too.

Wenwu wants to get both pendants and both of his children back so they can go save their mother/his wife. Neither will come back willing. So he sends a postcard to try and get Shang to go to Macau to see his sister. Shang doesn't take the bait, so he sends his goons to steal the pendant in San Fran. Whether the goons win or lose, it forces Shang to go to Macau to warn his sister about their dad. Goons are sent to force them to the kids to go with Wenwu. It's really simple.

It's likely the conversation with him and Death Dealer went:

Wenwu: Bring my kids in by force.
Death Dealer: We might end up killing them you know?
Wenwu: You and your men couldn't kill him if they tried

As for the follow-up bit I mentioned, it's fine.

Morris is a hundun, an actual mythological creature in chinese foklore that lives on the otherside of that gate. In fact, all of the creatures they show are from Chinese folklore. So it wandering beyond the gate into our world and being captured by Wenwu prior to meeting up with Shang-chi isn't that strange. Wenwu has been searching the area for how to get in so it would sense he'd run into a creature that got lost on this side. It being able to navigate them home isn't that strange either.

Ben Kingsley being able to understand Morris is where I would say it's a bit lazy since there's no explanation for how he does it.

The problem with the situation in TLJ isn't that there's conveniently a prisoner there that could help them, it's that the story doesn't justify him being there for that. He's unrelated to any events that were occurring nor does he have any connection with the primary people in the film. Shang-Chi actually does all of that though. It's justified why the prisoner is there and why the prisoner has the information they need. If you zoom out really far, you could say it's lazy but that's going into just general tropes. You need to look at the details to see if it's actually lazy or not. If you zoom out far enough, everything is lazy and that's not a good way to look things.

No you're correct. Morris knew how the maze would move, which would allow them to reach Ta Lo before the Mandarin did, because the Mandarin had to wait for the one time a year the path was safely open.

Yep, it's also not a guaranteed situation because they still had to out run the forest as Morris was giving instructions on the fly. It's ultimately how Shang-Chi gets to the village about 3 days prior to Wenwu assaulting the village though, a detail a lot of folks seem to miss, lol.
 
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Ulysses 31

Member
I need to watch the movie again to see what was said about the path, but my understanding is that the maze is constantly moving but "safe" path opens once a year. Morris knows how the maze will move, so no safe path is needed.

It's stated that Morris wants to go home in the movie. We don't know if Morris knew Wenwu's wife and is aware of Shang Chi. But clearly, if Morris knew or could sense that Shang Chi was half-Ta Lo, like the dragon could, he would have reason to trust him.

This is obviously speculation, but we're talking about a scene that was designed as a short bit of comic relief after a huge info dump. And the appeal of Morris' character is that he/she is mysterious. DiJiang is literally a god in the original mythology! If we're really going to have to explain how every mythical creature from another dimension functions then I think it defeats the purpose of doing the movie.
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If the rest of the movie can't happen because of this creature then it should handled better. Such big conveniences and assumptions aren't good ways to drive the plot forward IMO. And there's still the issue that Wenwu lets them roam around so freely in the basement prison without heavy security measures when he knows how well trained they are.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
The part they were confused with is why Wenwu was doing something like send goons after his son even despite knowing that they couldn't kill him. He has a reason to do it and the flow of events isn't an issue. Exact reasons you can infer too.

Wenwu wants to get both pendants and both of his children back so they can go save their mother/his wife. Neither will come back willing. So he sends a postcard to try and get Shang to go to Macau to see his sister. Shang doesn't take the bait, so he sends his goons to steal the pendant in San Fran. Whether the goons win or lose, it forces Shang to go to Macau to warn his sister about their dad. Goons are sent to force them to the kids to go with Wenwu. It's really simple.

It's likely the conversation with him and Death Dealer went:

Wenwu: Bring my kids in by force.
Death Dealer: We might end up killing them you know?
Wenwu: You and your men couldn't kill him if they tried
Ignoring that goons don't use firearms in this movie
the goons should know Shang-Chi has been personally trained by Death Dealer so it's strange they take chances by asked Shang-Chi things first instead of immediately using lethal force. It's a strange resource wasting kind of way to send your men out to die like that of Wenwu when he could've shown up himself and ask for the pendants first, and if they refuse then he and his goons could've taken it from them with a better success rate.

Another point is that they know the sister's address, is going there in person really the best/fastest way to warn her?
As for the follow-up bit I mentioned, it's fine.

Morris is a hundun, an actual mythological creature in chinese foklore that lives on the otherside of that gate. In fact, all of the creatures they show are from Chinese folklore. So it wandering beyond the gate into our world and being captured by Wenwu prior to meeting up with Shang-chi isn't that strange. Wenwu has been searching the area for how to get in so it would sense he'd run into a creature that got lost on this side. It being able to navigate them home isn't that strange either.

Ben Kingsley being able to understand Morris is where I would say it's a bit lazy since there's no explanation for how he does it.
The former is a reasonable inference but it hinges on the fake Mandarin part to drive the plot forward which kinda drags it back into very convenient territory as you hinted at.
The problem with the situation in TLJ isn't that there's conveniently a prisoner there that could help them, it's that the story doesn't justify him being there for that. He's unrelated to any events that were occurring nor does he have any connection with the primary people in the film. Shang-Chi actually does all of that though. It's justified why the prisoner is there and why the prisoner has the information they need. If you zoom out really far, you could say it's lazy but that's going into just general tropes. You need to look at the details to see if it's actually lazy or not. If you zoom out far enough, everything is lazy and that's not a good way to look things.
With that the beginning set up with all the world conquering and toppling governments from the shadows and stuff, it's still pretty convenient he's in this specific prison when one can assume Wenwu has a lot of resources at his disposal thanks to the rings.
I've not seen Iron Man 3 but if parts of it took place near this prison area/country then maybe it can be stretched that he'd be imprisoned there as well.
 
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FireFly

Member
If the rest of the movie can't happen because of this creature then it should handled better. Such big conveniences and assumptions aren't good ways to drive the plot forward IMO. And there's still the issue that Wenwu lets them roam around so freely in the basement prison without heavy security measures when he knows how well trained they are.
Personally, I think that if mythical character X helps the heroes proceed, the exact motivations of that character don't need to be spelled out, as long as they are congruent with the rest of the movie. It's like Red Skull in Infinity War. At that moment they could have given you a big exposition dump about why he was there, and what the "motivations" were of the force that put him there, and what the nature of the curse was, and what the history was of the stone he was guarding. But it's not needed in that moment, which is about Thanos coming face to face with a force stronger than himself.

And Shang Chi is all about a "natural" force that is beyond our comprehension but that we can interact with through the "power" of tradition. The DiJiang is part of that mysterious force, so we don't need an exact explanation of its motivations, just like we don't need to know what the job interview process is like for becoming the guardian of a soul stone. Thematically, Shang Chi discovers his true power once he embraces his heritage and tradition, and Wenwu fails because he sees nature as purely "instrumental" to him achieving his goals.

I do agree about the security aspect, but I think it's a trope in the majority of action movies. They even make fun of it in Ragnarok at the beginning. It's like, let's just shoot James Bond, and we can end the movie at the 60 mins mark.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Personally, I think that if mythical character X helps the heroes proceed, the exact motivations of that character don't need to be spelled out, as long as they are congruent with the rest of the movie. It's like Red Skull in Infinity War. At that moment they could have given you a big exposition dump about why he was there, and what the "motivations" were of the force that put him there, and what the nature of the curse was, and what the history was of the stone he was guarding. But it's not needed in that moment, which is about Thanos coming face to face with a force stronger than himself.

And Shang Chi is all about a "natural" force that is beyond our comprehension but that we can interact with through the "power" of tradition. The DiJiang is part of that mysterious force, so we don't need an exact explanation of its motivations, just like we don't need to know what the job interview process is like for becoming the guardian of a soul stone. Thematically, Shang Chi discovers his true power once he embraces his heritage and tradition, and Wenwu fails because he sees nature as purely "instrumental" to him achieving his goals.
Mythical beings or "nature" helping out can work but from what I've heard of the movie so far I think it needed a bit more set up for it to work if the plot hinges on it.

Red Skull at least was established in the MCU before so it's not odd he can communicate with others where as this Morris creature comes completely out of the blue at that moment and immediately has vital information to share. That's why the Morris situation sounds harder to buy into for me.

Would be cool if we ever got to see Red Skull's journey to the soul keeper though.
 

gatti-man

Member
What the fucking fuck are on on about mate?




@strange headache When you think you've reached the low bar of stanning and ignorance, someone digs a trench to put the bar in.
If you think those people are stars then there is no talking to you. I doubt one one in 100,000 Americans would know their names.


Lowered expectations indeed. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did $213M on a $17M budget way back. This movie, like Black Widow bombed. The fact is that both movies performed worse than F9 and Godzilla v KK (even when subtracting the China gross) when more theatres are opened and vaccination rates are higher.

Whew cherry pick harder. Now any movie needs to be filmed overseas with a tiny budget and be a cultural phenomenon to be considered a success😂 you moved those goal posts so far I can’t even see them
 
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nush

Member
If you think those people are stars then there is no talking to you.

Apparently, it's not just me who knows who Tony Leung is.

It's OK, the usual Marvel stuff but at least its clichés come from Asian cinema (all kinds of Asian cinema - it's almost funny how it snatches and cobbles together bits from wuxia fantasy, HK gangster movies, Jackie Chan kung-fu, etc.) rather than the MCU formula. Simu Liu is OK, just likeable enough to carry the film (his character is a complete non-entity, however) but Tony Leung is fantastic and really gives weight to his character's torment and motivations, as familiar as they are. Michelle Yeoh barely registers, and how much you like Awkwafina's part will basically depend on how much you can tolerate Awkwafina, as she's doing the same bit she does in everything. Aside from the Asian influences making it a bit more interesting than the usual MCU factory line fare, all the studio flaws are present and correct: CGI visual mess ending, characters quipping non-stop (Leung even tells them to give the jokes a rest at one point, which I appreciated even if the characters ignored it) and the huge number of cameos feel like studio uncertainty as to whether fans would accept the movie/character having a place in the MCU. Long story short, if you like MCU movies, there's no reason you won't love this. If you're indifferent, it's a slight improvement on the usual. If you don't like them, you won't like this. I wrote a short review on my blog (along with reviews of some other summer movies) if anyone's interested, though 95% of it is what I wrote above.

I

I never understood the love for that film i was entertained but there was nothing special about it. I enjoyed Ragnarok more. Can't wait to see this film since I'm a big fan of tony leung and liked simu from Kim's convenience.

For what it's worth, Chinese that live in other parts of Asia have been responding pretty well to it from what I've been reading. It'll be interesting how the mainland responds. Apparently "我吃的鹽比你吃的飯要多" or "I've had more salt than you've had rice/meals" got a huge pop from the native speaking crowds. The English subtitle for it was really dry though.



Yeah, it has a lot of Asian culture from how family dynamics worked to the language being used, like above, to even the mythical creatures featured like the nine-tailed fox, hundun, qilin, etc. it could be argued that the film doesn't have a distinctly Chinese perspective in the storytelling but it definitely has the cultural aspects down. If someone has grown up in that culture or a similar one and seen this film, it's pretty undeniable. It's also trying to blend the modern with folklore into a world where both exist simultaneously so it can feel a bit weird. Both are aspects of culture though.



It can be a bit much but considering how that creature is such a mainstay in folklore, I was pretty happy with it. It also managed to be a big battle without devolving into eye-glazing sequences that the other Marvel movies have problems with.



You're in for a treat if you're a fan of Tony Leung then. He kills it in this and he's pretty much up there for Marvel villains.

The comic was made by white guys.

This movie stars a Chinese born lead, features Tony Leung who is one of china's most popular veteran actors and the main characters sister is played by a Chinese actress who speaks fluent Chinese.

It features entire swaths of dialogye spoken in Chinese which many Chinese speaking audien e members have confirmed is accurate.

So..... yeah

Agreed, on all those.
I wouldn’t mind a standalone Mandarin movie going through his past, love Tony Leung.

I also noticed this film felt like a mixture of set pieces from a bunch of classic Chinese martial arts and wuxia films (plus a scene from triad fight from Infernal Affairs) with a Marvel climactic final hoard battle thrown in at the end.

PS: They should’ve asked me to play Shang Chi instead of this child. Lol

Perfect casting all around I went in spoiler free and so I had no idea Tony Fucking Leung was In it and he did a badass job as usual. I need to rewatch Infernal Affairs.

Bro. My friend said Tony is her favorite Asian actor ... Made it even better! She didn't know he was in it either

Wear your ignorance as a badge of honor, you deserve it.

Bonus: Academy award winning Ben Kingsley.

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5f1dc7bd94fecc83294886e081a4f926.jpg
 
How about you give Shang Chi at least 2 more weekends first and let the film finish it's theatrical release first. Australia and New Zealand might open up again in October and that could add another 10-15 million to the box office. You are wrong about Godzilla vs Kong though, it made $279 million without the Chinese box office.

Technically, every film released during COVID has been a box office failure except for Black Widow, shang Chi and Fast 9, along with Free Guy, Conjuring 3 and A Quiet Place 2 because they had low production costs. The celebration is that box office numbers are slowing increasing again and the industry is on it's way to recovery.

The only people trying to scream at the top of their lungs that these films are a failure are the Disney/Marvel haters (who stay quiet about every other film including Suicide Squad) and the weirdos who want to stay at home and watch films without going into the real world.
Suicide Squad bombed as well. It’s true that it bombed harder than Black Widow and Shang Chi. What’s your criteria for saying that BW did not flop?
Also, nothing wrong with watching movies at home compared to watching it in a room full of people chomping on their snacks and clapping (btw, do you do that?). I mean seriously there are no advantage to watching a movie at the cinema.
 

sol_bad

Member
Suicide Squad bombed as well. It’s true that it bombed harder than Black Widow and Shang Chi. What’s your criteria for saying that BW did not flop?
Also, nothing wrong with watching movies at home compared to watching it in a room full of people chomping on their snacks and clapping (btw, do you do that?). I mean seriously there are no advantage to watching a movie at the cinema.

One advantage to watching at the cinemas is to support the movies and/or genres you like.
Black Widow didn't flop because it was backed up by the 120 million or so that it made on Disney+. Shang Chi we don't know the final numbers yet. You can say the Black Widow and Shang Chi films are a flop if you want but they are doing better than 98% of the other films released in the last 18 months.
 
If you think those people are stars then there is no talking to you. I doubt one one in 100,000 Americans would know their names.




Whew cherry pick harder. Now any movie needs to be filmed overseas with a tiny budget and be a cultural phenomenon to be considered a success😂 you moved those goal posts so far I can’t even see them
One advantage to watching at the cinemas is to support the movies and/or genres you like.
Black Widow didn't flop because it was backed up by the 120 million or so that it made on Disney+. Shang Chi we don't know the final numbers yet. You can say the Black Widow and Shang Chi films are a flop if you want but they are doing better than 98% of the other films released in the last 18 months.
Where did you get the $120M from? Also, you’re saying Black Widow didn’t flop at the cinema because it did well on VOD?
And in the last 18 months there has not been a lot of movies released so doing better than 98% of movies released isn’t a big deal. And how $150M+ movies were released during that time?
 

sol_bad

Member
Where did you get the $120M from? Also, you’re saying Black Widow didn’t flop at the cinema because it did well on VOD?
And in the last 18 months there has not been a lot of movies released so doing better than 98% of movies released isn’t a big deal. And how $150M+ movies were released during that time?

Black Widow was a dual release, you're right, it didn't do as well at the box office as it should have because of the Disney+ premiere access release. But the combined totals of the box office and premiere access make it a success. It made it's budget back.

 

ManaByte

Gold Member
Shang-Chi has passed Black Widow and is now officially the highest grossing movie during the pandemic.
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
Shang-Chi has passed Black Widow and is now officially the highest grossing movie during the pandemic.
Well deserved. It is a fantastic movie. Black Widow tho…
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
Just saw this last week. I thought this was leagues beyond Black Widow. This movie was a lot of fun.
 

VN1X

Banned
As someone who's fallen off the Marvel/Hero bandwagon is this still worth watching or is it another soulless-by-committee affair?
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I find Awkwafina's looks strangely erotic (kinda like Janeane Garofalo) but that voice..... ugh, someone dub her over with Zhang yiyi please!
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I'm not a Marvel superhero watcher, although I've seen some of them. I've seen a handful of Avengers movies and Dark Phoenix and Black Panther. Thats it. No Black Widow, no Ant Man, or separate Captain America or Spidey movies etc... Call me nuts but I thought Dark Phoenix was the best. It had a gritty no nonsense plot and dialogue. Surprisingly not a lot of jokes.

But I am interested to check this movie out. Even my bro said it was decent.

Cant be bothered with the millionth mainstream superhero. Shang Chi fits the bill for something different.
 
Sorry for the bump, but I just managed to watch this in IMAX after the lockdowns eased up.

But man, what a freaking surprise!

I thought for sure this would be a generic marvel dump movie, but they actually put in a lot of work into making the movie feel new and exciting.

I have immense appreciation to Marvel and the Director for approaching the fight scenes in an Asian cinematography-centric style instead of the typical editing nightmare prevalent in all of western action movies.

I take back everything I said about the main actor Simu Liu (I think thats his name) in the previews, hes a great addition and I'm glad he was chosen to represent my asian heritage in the MCU.

I'm actually really excited to see how he will fit in future Avenger movies.

Fuck man, I hate how Marvel has reignited my fondness of the franchise.

They really lost me up halfway here, and sincerely thought they were gonna drop the ball after Endgame; but their spin offs and what seems to be an interesting set up for phase...whatever they're in...that I am admittedly excited for.

Goddammit. I hate how these movies are actively ruining the film industry that I work in, but man, these people got quite the team to rouse us all up anyway.
 

sol_bad

Member
I got to see this yes t erday finally and it certainly did not disappoint. Man was it ever so good, the fight choreography was on point and the camera work during the scaffolding scene was great, breath taking.
And the mid credit scene, I WANT MOOOOAAAAAR.
 

trikster40

Member
Finally got to watch it this morning on Disney Plus. It was enjoyable, but I kind of wish they hadn’t actually had WenWu fooled by hearing his dead wife. He was a pretty bad guy, should have just made him straight up want to release the evil. One temporary love for someone who’s lived 1,000 year ain’t going to change who they are.

Also, the ending was a bit weird for me. You go from fighting the Ten Rings to flying around on a dragon fighting a soul sucking demon? The transition just happened too fast, but I get it.

overall, enjoyable, curious as to what the mid credit scene is hinting at.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
overall, enjoyable, curious as to what the mid credit scene is hinting at.

Well in the comics, the 10 rings were actual rings that the Mandarin found from a space ship. They had an alien origin.

These are ten rings that are too big for a human finger, but they have a beacon that's transmitting into space.
 

MastaKiiLA

Member
It's fun. the aesthetic is consistent. and moves the MCU forward.
This. Fight choreography was surprisingly good IMO. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Seems like Shang-Chi should be pretty important this phase, given the reach of the 10 rings organization.
 

NahaNago

Member
Finally got to watch it this morning on Disney Plus. It was enjoyable, but I kind of wish they hadn’t actually had WenWu fooled by hearing his dead wife. He was a pretty bad guy, should have just made him straight up want to release the evil. One temporary love for someone who’s lived 1,000 year ain’t going to change who they are.

Also, the ending was a bit weird for me. You go from fighting the Ten Rings to flying around on a dragon fighting a soul sucking demon? The transition just happened too fast, but I get it.

overall, enjoyable, curious as to what the mid credit scene is hinting at.
We don't really see him as a pretty bad guy though considering how old he is and his past history. He was pretty much an old school conquering lord type person. His organization was weird. I thought it would be bigger and wealthier. I really hope they like expand it in the next movie that his organization has a power struggle after his death that Shang chi has to deal with and that has him take over his father's organization.

This. Fight choreography was surprisingly good IMO. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Seems like Shang-Chi should be pretty important this phase, given the reach of the 10 rings organization.
It would have made sense for them to make the 10 rings a much more impressive organization. They seemed really small in the movie.
 

sol_bad

Member
Watching this right now, holy shit the special effects are terrible. Distractingly bad.

VqQWjnX.jpg


The fuck is this shit?

I think it's more an art style choice thing than outright "CGI". That's my take anyway. I remember the trees having a similarish look to them even up close.

It could also be bad CGI due to COVID era working from home? Who knows if studios were limited technology wise during COVID.
 
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