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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IF (4 Stars)

"IF" stands for "Imaginary Friends". 12-year-old Bea is living with her grandmother in New York City while her father is in hospital waiting for heart surgery. She finds that strange creatures live in an apartment in the building. They live with a man called Cal who collects imaginary friends that were abandoned when children grew up into adulthood. Cal is looking for someone to help him reunite  the imaginary friends with their former owners. Bea accepts the job, but she's not too successful.

I shan't go into the plot in any more detail to avoid spoilers. After seeing the trailers I was surprised that it's very much a children's film. I expected something that would bridge the gap between children's films and adult films, but there's hardly anything adult in the film.

I never had an imaginary friend as a child. As far as I know. One of the main themes of the film is that adults have forgotten their imaginary friends. As a child I was a loner. Until I was eight I lived on the grounds of Little Aston Hall. There were only three families, and neither of the other families had children, so I didn't have anyone to play with. If anyone ever needed an imaginary friend, it was me.

Kung Fu Panda 4 (5 Stars)

If I'm gauging his reaction correctly, this is the best film that Oliver's seen so far. He didn't laugh much, even though the film is a comedy, but he was shaking with excitement. It's a fast paced martial arts film that's perfect for young children.

There's so much going on that I felt like I needed a scorecard to keep up. What I mean is that there are so many characters running around and fighting. The basic plot is simple. Po the panda has reached the level of Dragon Warrior, but Master Shifu tells him that it's time for him to advance. He has to give up fighting and become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. He has to choose a successor, but the candidates are all so good that he can't decide. Before he makes a choice a village is destroyed by a new enemy, known only as the Chameleon. She's a shape shifter who's able to absorb the kung fu skills of anyone she fights. So Po has to fight as the dragon warrior for one last time.

I remember watching the first Kung Fu Panda film with my friend Pete in Birmingham. I don't remember exactly when it was, but it's not mentioned in my blog, so it must have been before I started writing in September 2010. Pete owned the film on video, and he was totally excited about it. Pete often invited me to his home for a meal, but we rarely watched films together, so it was a special occasion. (As far as I can remember, the only other films that we watched together were "Kill Bill Vol 2" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong").

I never watched the two sequels, so I need to catch up. For Oliver and for me. It seems like "Kung Fu Panda 4" is the final film in the series, so I'll wait for a four-film box set to be released.

Migration (4 Stars)

This is one of the rare cases where I prefer the German film title to the original title. The Germans call the film "Get out of the pond", which is appropriate. It's about the young ducks Dax and Gwen who live in a small pond somewhere in the north east of America. They spend all their lives swimming in circles in a pond that can't be bigger than 20 square meters. It's not much, but it's all they know, so they're happy with it.

One day a flock of Canadian ducks makes a brief stop in the pond. They say they're on their way to Jamaica. They migrate every year. Dax and Gwen want to travel with them, but their father forbids it. Their Uncle Dan accuses their father of being a coward, so he changes his mind. But the migrating flock has already left, so the family has to find their own way to Jamaica.

Effectively, the film is a road movie. Dax's family has no idea of the distance involved. When they stop in New York City, they think they're almost there. But they have enemies. A master cook has an exclusive restaurant where he prepares roast duck for wealthy guests. He catches the ducks, but when they escape he takes it personally and pursues them on their flight to Jamaica.

This is a delightful comedy. Unfortunately it was spoilt by technical problems. When I arrived in the cinema I was told that the film would be delayed by 15 minutes. That was okay, but after 25 minutes we were still waiting. The cinema kindly showed a short film to keep the children happy. "Migration" finally started 50 minutes late.

From what I've been told, cinema is in a slump at the moment. Things went bad after Corona, and it wasn't until "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" (collectively called "Barbenheimer") that there were big cinema audiences. The momentum continued for a few months, but "The Marvels" started a slump in which even good films are performing badly at the box office. "Migration" is a film that deserves to be a success. Cinema audiences are fickle. Let's see what happens.

The Little Mermaid (4 Stars)

I'm glad I could persuade my grandson Oliver to see "The Little Mermaid". I thought it might be too girly for him, but he greatly enjoyed it. After the film he kept singing the song "Under the sea". When we went to McDonald's afterwards I played it a few times on YouTube, until he said he'd heard it enough. It didn't stop him singing it again later.

In Germany the film is called "Arielle die Meerjungfrau", i.e. "Arielle the Mermaid". I'm happy that Germans know how to spell Arielle. Everyone should know that Ariel is a man's name, like all Hebrew names that end with -el, such as Michael, Nathanael and Raphael. In the original fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837 the mermaid wasn't named. When Walt Disney filmed the fairy tale in 1989 he blundered by calling her Ariel, which has led to it being given as a girl's name in America. It's been claimed that the screenwriters didn't make a mistake, they called her Arielle, but the subtitle writers misspelt her name. I don't know what's true. All I can say is that I'm glad Germany has put it right.

I vaguely remember seeing the 1989 animated version years ago, but I can't remember it well enough to know if the new live action film follows the same story.

Arielle is the youngest daughter of King Triton. She's fascinated by humans, even though her father has ordered her to stay away from them. She rescues Eric, the prince of a small island in the Caribbean, when his ship sinks. He sees her as he regains consciousness and falls in love with her, but she has to flee when the palace guards arrive. Arielle makes a deal with her Aunt Ursula. She can become a human for three days, in return for losing her ability to speak. If she kisses the prince within three days she will remain human forever. If she doesn't kiss him, she will become a mermaid again and has to become Ursula's slave forever. Easy enough, but Ursula tricks her. Arielle forgets that she has to kiss the prince.

I enjoyed the story and the comedic interludes. At first I thought the story was trite, but I liked it more as it continued. Unlike "Asterix", which was sold out three days ago, the cinema was almost empty today. It shows where people's interests lie.

Renfield (5 Stars)

When I first heard that Nicolas Cage was going to play Dracula, I had my doubts. Even the first trailers for "Renfield" didn't reassure me. He seemed to be playing the role as a comedy figure. Then I saw the film today, and I was knocked off my feet. We can't rely on trailers. They often include footage that's not in the film, and that's the case with the "Renfield" trailer. In the film itself, Nicolas Cage is stunning. I don't know why I ever doubted him. Dracula, in all of his major screen incarnations since 1931, is a pompous, overbearing character. That's the sort of character that Cage plays best. Especially his monologues as Dracula are convincing. He's a madman who wants to conquer the world, and he has the power to do it.

Nicolas Cage bases his performance on Bela Lugosi. As is often said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. After seeing "Renfield" today, I'm hoping that he'll make another dozen Dracula films.

But the film's main character is Renfield. It's good to see him projected into the limelight, and who better to play him than Nicholas Hoult? He's been a background character ever since Bram Stoker's original novel. Some of the film adaptations have omitted him altogether. When he's shown he's a madman who's desperate for Dracula's attention.

The Renfield that we see in the new film isn't mad. He's Dracula's trusted servant. He goes out in the daytime to find fresh food for Dracula. If Dracula says he wants a busload of cheerleaders, he goes out and gets them.

Robert Montague Renfield, to give him his full name, is immortal. This was never stated in Bram Stoker's novel, but we can read it between the lines. He's been serving Dracula faithfully for 90 years, even though Dracula is a cruel boss who frequently beats him. Renfield gains strength from eating insects, and he's healed by Dracula's blood.

Renfield's strength makes him a skilled fighter, able to take out dozens of armed opponents with his bare hands.

Apart from Dracula and Renfield, the main character is the New Orleans traffic cop Rebecca Quincy. She sees the good in Renfield and helps him rebel against Dracula. Awkwafina plays the same sort of character that she did in Marvel's "Shang-Chi". I like this character. She's jovial and lovable, the sort of person I'd like to sing karaoke with. In the film she's a counterpart to the serious characters around her.

A terrific film. I can't wait to see it again.

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

Despite having nothing to do with the Shang-Chi character from the comics, this is an excellent film in its own right. It captures the essence of Chinese fantasy films, so it's wrong to call it a superhero film. It's the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but it's the furthest from being a superhero film so far. Maybe there should be a Millie the Model film to step even further away from the Marvel superhero cliché.

Tony Leung plays Xu Wenwu, one of the most fascinating villains in the MCU so far. Is it even right to call him a villain? He's a Chinese warlord who's over a thousand years old. He gained power when he discovered ten mystical rings in a crater. They granted him eternal life and great power. He went on a series of conquests across China. He never made himself emperor, although he had enough power to do it. He was satisfied being a smaller leader. In the modern day he became more low key. He created an organisation called the Ten Rings which acted for him, while he stayed in his room and studied. He became aware of a mythical land called Ta Lo, probably based on K'Un-Lun in the 1970's comics. He read that the residents of Ta Lo had a superior form of martial arts, as well as possessing other knowledge. He became determined to conquer Ta Lo.

Things didn't turn out as he expected. Ta Lo was defended by the single warrior Ying Li, and he was unable to overcome her. But strange things happen. He fell in love with Ying Li, so the two of them left Ta Lo and lived a simple life. He even gave up using the ten rings, putting them in a box and forgetting about them. Together they had two children, Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing. When Shang-Chi was seven his mother was murdered by Wenwu's former enemies, which he could easily have prevented if he hadn't taken off his rings. He put on the rings again and killed the gang members, apart from the one who'd killed his wife. He trained Shang-Chi as an assassin and sent him to kill his mother's murderer when he's 14. Shang-Chi accomplished his mission, but he was so traumatised that he didn't return to his father.

So Wenwu was a villain, then he retired, and then he became a villain again for a short time before retiring again. But that wasn't the end of his development. He heard his wife's voice telling him that she wasn't dead, she was trapped in a cave Ta Lo. He calls his children back and asks for their help in freeing her. They don't want to help him, because they don't believe she's still alive. And they're right. The cave contains an ancient creature called the Dweller In Darkness. It's been imitating Ying Li's voice to tempt Wenwu to free it.

Shang-Chi and Xialing travel to Ta Lo, where they meet Ying Li's sister, their aunt Ying Nan. Together they fight against Wenwu when he attacks Ta Lo. There's poignancy itself in children having to fight against their father, but Wenwu isn't really evil. He's just been misled by an evil creature. He's not a villain at all, whatever he might have been in his past.

That's an over-simplified plot summary, but it should be enough to show the depths of this film. It's one of the best films in the MCU. My top 100 films list doesn't contain any MCU films, but maybe "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" deserves a place. I'll think it over. Some of my friends don't watch Marvel films on principle. I admit that there have been a few turkeys lately, but each film should be judged on its own merits. This is a film that deserves to be watched.

Success Rate:  + 0.9

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

Disney Wednesday #6

I'm going to watch films on streaming services for the next three days. After that, I'll see what I want to do. I have about 70 films on my to-watch list, 20 true stories and 50 others. I really need to catch up. It's difficult, because every few days I think "I really must watch <fill-in-the-blank> again soon", and I add yet another film to my list.

I'll shorten the film's title to "Shang-Chi". When I watched "Shang-Chi" in the cinema in September I was shocked that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Marvel comics character. Today I watched the film with no prejudices, only thinking of it as a Chinese fantasy film, and I was overwhelmed. It's one of the best MCU films so far, maybe even the best, so it deserves a good place in the next version of my top 100 film lists.

Does it qualify as a wuxia film? I'm not sure about the terminology. Wuxia films usually take place in the past, but "Shang-Chi" is in the present, though in a world that looks like the past. There are fantasy creatures, including monsters and dragons. If wuxia is the wrong name for the genre, please let me know.

The film starts with Wu Wenwu (Tony Leung) discovering ten rings that give him immortality and other godlike powers. He founds an organisation called the Ten Rings. Apart from having his own private kingdom, he influences world history from afar. But eternal life and limitless wealth gets boring after a while. He meets a beautiful woman, Ying Li, and settles down to a happy family life. He even stops using the ten rings, so he isn't distracted from his happiness. He has two children, Shang-Chi and Xialing.

When Shang-Chi is seven, his mother is murdered by a gang seeking revenge on Wu Wenwu. He puts on the rings once more and massacres the entire gang, except for the leader. He lets Shang-Chi assassinate the leader when he's 14. Killing someone traumatises Shang-Chi, so he runs away to Los Angeles to hide from his father. His father observes him from afar for years (godlike powers, etc), but there's no contact between the two.

In the present day, Wu Wenwu hears his wife's voice calling to him. She says she's trapped in a cave in the hidden village of Ta Lo. What he doesn't know is that the voice comes from a creature called the Soul-Eater, a creature capable of devouring the world, which has been trapped by the people of Ta Lo and guarded for centuries. Shang-Chi and Xialing unite to stop their father making a big mistake.

This is Shang-Chi, played by the Canadian stuntman Simu Liu.

The film's characters are so rich and multi-faceted. I don't know the director, Destin Cretton, but if all his films are as good as "Shang-Chi" he has a long, successful future ahead of him.

Wu Wenwu is played by Tony Leung, who needs no introduction.

Shang-Chi's mother, Ying Li, is played by the Chinese actress Fala Chen.

Xialing is played by Meng'er Zhang, a Chinese actress appearing in her first film.

Ying Nan, Shang-Chi's aunt, is played by the wonderful Michelle Yeoh.

In case you thought all the actors are Chinese, Razorfist is played by the German actor Florian Munteanu.

Shang-Chi's best friend Katy, who accompanies him on his quest, is a fascinating character in herself. She's a Chinese American who's lost connection with her roots. She has a Chinese name, Chen Ruiwen, but she doesn't use it. She doesn't speak Chinese. She has no obvious skills, but she insists on fighting alongside the warriors of Ta Lo, because it's the right thing to do. The actress Awkwafina says she can relate to her.

Ben Kingsley plays Trevor Slattery, who doesn't join in the battle. He lies on the ground pretending to be dead. If you don't know who Trevor Slattery is, go back and watch the last 24 MCU films.

Success Rate:  + 0.9

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Paradise Hills (4½ Stars)

If someone has to tell you that you're in Paradise, you can be sure that you aren't.

Beautiful young girls. Flowers. Sunshine. Men who kneel.

The island is a perfect place to relax.

A beautiful building, even if the architecture is eccentric.

But look over your shoulders.

Death is waiting at night.

The film is set in the near future. Rebellious young women are sent to a re-education centre called Paradise Hills to learn good manners. You've guessed it already; they have to undergo brainwashing. But that's not the worst thing about Paradise Hills. There are dark secrets which even the families of the young women don't know. As long as they get their daughters back with an improved attitude, they don't ask questions.

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (4½ Stars)

We're used to the way that Marvel characters are adapted for films. The character is moved from the 1960's to the present. His costume is changed to look more realistic. In many cases the skin colour is changed to blackwash the character and make the film more appealing to people of colour. If the person has super-powers, his powers are toned down to stop him looking omnipotent.

That's not what we have with Shang-Chi. The character in the film has nothing to do with the comic book character. Nothing except for the name. He's just a Chinese fighter. Even his ethnicity is changed. In the comics his father is Chinese and his mother is a white American, but in the film both parents are Chinese.

Usually I list the differences between the comics and the film, but in this case I can't do it because everything is different. I'll just say a few things about his family. In the comics his father is the master criminal Fu Manchu. He doesn't have a sister, although he has several half-brothers and half-sisters. Marvel Studios wanted to make a Chinese fantasy film, and they've succeeded in making a good film. There was no need to call the character Shang-Chi. It's not Shang-Chi. They could have called him Johnny Wong, Charlie Chan or anything at all.

By the way, why are they called the ten rings? Shouldn't they be called the ten bracelets? In the comics the Mandarin's rings really are rings, objects of alien origin that were once used to power a starship.

That's the way they should look, as drawn by George Tuska.

Please let me know your thoughts on the film.That's what my comments box is for.

Paradise Hills (4½ Stars)

A young woman called Uma wakes up on a beautiful island. She's told that she's been sent to the island by her parents to learn good manners and how to behave like a fine lady. If that were all that's needed she might have accepted her holiday away from home. Unfortunately, part of the "behaving like a fine lady" means marrying the rich man that her parents have picked for her. When she makes it clear that she loves someone else, she has to undergo daily brainwashing sessions to persuade her to change her mind.

The island is full of young women who've been sent for reconditioning. Most of them would do anything to escape. The island's employees are all men. They act like servants and treat the women like royalty, bowing before them, but Uma suspects that the adulation is fake. The women on the island are the real slaves. She's warned by another woman not to drink the milk with the evening meal, because it drugs the women and makes them sleep all night. When she remains awake she sees that the island's men are busy all night, pushing the women on trolleys to rooms where operations are carried out.

That sounds sinister in itself, but there are even bigger secrets. I can't say too much, for fear of giving away spoilers, but I'll just say one thing. Uma begins to suspect that nobody who visits the island ever returns home.

This is a film that will probably miss its target audience. It's a very ambitious science fiction thriller, but on the surface it doesn't look like science fiction. It looks like a period film with pretty girls living a fine life. You need to be an insider to know what to expect. As soon as I saw that the screenplay was written by Nacho Vigalondo I knew it would be a mind-bending science fiction story. As the film develops, with one plot twist following another, the audience's imagination is stretched ever further. Maybe it's stretched too far. At first I wanted to give "Paradise Hills" a five star rating, but I deducted half a star because it goes too far.

I can't think of any other film I can compare it with. It's something that has to be seen to be believed.

Ocean's 8 (4 Stars)

Debbie Ocean, the younger sister of Danny Ocean from the Ocean's Trilogy, is released after spending five years in prison for art fraud. She's spent this time meticulously planning an extravagant jewel robbery in her head. All she needs to do is find a team to help her. She assembles a team of six women with different skills around herself. It's only women, because she doesn't trust men. It was a man who snitched on her and got her thrown into prison. The eighth woman is added late in the film.

The target is a diamong necklace worth $150 million that's been locked in a vault at Cartier in New York for 50 years. They manipulate the host of the yearly Met Gala event into borrowing the necklace to wear at the event. She's accompanied at all times by two armed security guards, but Debbie has everything planned.

This is a very good film about suave and manipulative women who manage to keep their cool while fighting against overwhelming odds. The film takes time to introduce all the characters, and by the middle of the film we're rooting for them and hoping they'll be successful. Sandra Bullock is excellent as the criminal mastermind who doesn't actually take part in the robbery; she just stands back and watches as her team do their jobs.

Bad Neighbours 2 (3 Stars)

"Let's do what parents do best: stop young people from having fun".

The original title of this film is simply "Neighbors", with the typical American incorrect spelling. Outside of America it's called "Bad Neighbours 2", which doesn't just correct the bad spelling, it's also more appropriate at explaining what the film's about by adding the word "Bad".

I didn't watch the first Bad Neighbours film. I don't usually watch films that star Seth Rogen. It's not that he's a bad actor, it's just that I associate him with crude humour. I'm not a prude, I'm okay with a certain amount of crudeness, but with Seth it's like he's trying too hard. He's being crude for the sake of being crude, and it isn't funny, it's just disgusting. I decided to watch "Bad Neighbours 2" because it stars Chloe Grace Moretz, one of my favourite actresses.

Before going to the cinema today the question in my mind was whether I would miss out by not having seen the first film. I needn't have worried. The film's dialogue helped me read between the lines, and I managed to figure out what the first film had been about. That's a well written sequel!

Mac and Kelly Radner have sold their house because they're expecting a second baby. Now the house is being held in escrow for 30 days. According to the explanation in the film this means that the buyers aren't yet sure they want the house. They've signed a contract, but they have 30 days in which to decide, during which they can come back and look at the house at any time. That's not how I understand the word "escrow", and after returning home I looked up the definition of the word, and it doesn't seem to mean what the film says it does, but let's leave it there.

Mac and Kelly are happy with the arrangement, until a newly founded college sorority moves into the house next door. There are wild parties every day that go on till the middle of the night. This would scare off the buyers, so Mac goes to war with the girls, in particular with the sorority leader Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz).

Despite the abundance of young college girls, the film is remarkably lacking in sexuality. I say that as a criticism. Nevertheless, if my car were surrounded by college girls in bikinis I would give up the fight and surrender. I have my limits.

The film was pretty much as I expected. Crude humour from Seth Rogen that disgusted me. First class acting from Chloe Grace Moretz. The overall effect is average.

Chloe should have given Seth a good beating, That would have improved the film.