Monday 19 August 2024

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (5 Stars)


There are people who don't watch super-hero films on principle. I can understand them. There have been good super-hero films in the past, but in recent years Marvel's films have become progressively worse. As a dedicated Marvel fan I go to see every film in the cinema and buy it on Blu-ray a year later, but I'm not blind to Marvel's faults.

However, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (I prefer to shorten the title to "Shang-Chi") is a masterpiece. And do you know what makes it so good? It doesn't look like a super-hero film. It's a martial arts classic, complete with fantasy creatures. If someone sat down to watch it after the opening credits, he wouldn't even recognise that it's a Marvel film.

It's a tragic film. Shang-Chi's father is a ruthless warlord, and he doesn't want to follow in his footsteps. His father tries to change and become a good man, but after his wife's death he reverts to his old ways. He has an organisation called The Ten Rings that supports or topples governments. But his greatest wish is to get his wife back from the dead. He hears her calling to him, telling him she's trapped in a cave in her home village of Ta Lo. What he doesn't know is that it's really a monster imitating her voice, a monster that wants to devour the world. Shang-Chi has to fight against his father to stop him. Father versus son is a tragic conflict in any culture. Tony Leung is an incredible actor, and the look on his face is heart-breaking when he finally realises he was wrong.

A second Shang-Chi has been promised. Can it be as good as the first? I hope so.

Success Rate:  + 0.9

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