Ah, the joys of public transit.
Born from Marvel Comics' merry willingness to attempt glomming onto whatever trend is currently popular, no matter how ill-advised (witness US-1), Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu was the imprint's answer to the martial arts movie boom of the mid-1970's.
The inauspicious first appearance of Shang-Chi. (art by Jim Starlin, who was also busy creating Thanos right around that time)
Taking many cues from ENTER THE DRAGON (1973), artist Paul Gulacy's - not the first artist on the series, but absolutely the who visually defined it and far and away the most beloved and well-remembered - take on SHANG CHI: MASTER OF KUNG-FU gave us "Bruce Lee as James Bond," which was quite a departure from Marvel fare at the time (though it did take place within the Marvel Universe). Shang-Chi, raised from birth to be a living weapon for his father, pulp era mastermind super-criminal Fu Manchu (for whom Marvel had obtained the rights for use), was at first a wanderer but was swiftly conscripted by MI6 as an agent. Shang-Chi. along with an assortment of secret agent supporting characters, traveled the world on an odyssey of world-class ass-kicking directed against Fu Manchu.
Shang-Chi as a character was intriguing because he was a mortal with martial arts skills of such a high caliber, he could go up against fighters whose abilities bordered on and often straight-up crossed into superhuman territory and beat the living shit out of them six ways to Sunday. The bottom line was simple: Do NOT fuck with Shang-Chi, no matter how quiet, serene, and philosophical he was when not handing someone their ass.
This was the kind of stuff that you just did not get anywhere else in Marvel Comics of the 1970's. (art by Paul Gulacy)
Though mildly popular as a cult series, SHANG-CHI: MASTER OF KUNG-FU ended in the early 1980's, as the chopsocky boom faded from the zeitgeist somewhere around 1978, but Shang-Chi still occasionally popped up in guest spots in titles across the Marvel Universe. Which brings us to the present.
Now that the heavy hitters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first three phases have mostly moved on, the studio now hopes to successfully mine Marvel's vast IP for other characters to make movies with, and Shang-Chi is the first of that roster to get a shot.
What's important to know here is that if you are going to this film with knowledge and love of the Shang-Chi of the classic '70's comics, you will likely hate this film, as it has pretty much nothing to do with the version of the comics. Shang-Chi, even in his heyday, was a rather problematic character and series, replete as it was with damned near every Asian stereotype you can name, including the presence of Fu Manchu himself in full-on "yellow peril" mode, plus to say nothing of the fact that all of the series' Asian characters' skin tones were colored varying shades of yellow or orange. Much like the classic Iron Man villain the Mandarin, adjustments and reimaginings had to be made in order for Shang-Chi to fly in the 2000's.
In short, forget everything you know about the original Shang-Chi and just strap yourself in for a total reboot.
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) is a parking valet at a hotel, and he spends most of his time having fun with his platonic best friend and co-worker, Katy (Awkwafina).
That is until his past catches up with him in the form of a group of skilled thugs, sent by his father, who want a pendant that he possesses. They approach him on a bus and attack with lethal ferocity, but this is when Shang-Chi lets his nice guy persona slip as he reveals himself to be possessed of shocking hand-to-hand combat skills. Despite Shang-Chi putting up one hell of a fight — seriously, it's spectacular, especially for an American-made film of this nature — the baddies manage to snatch the pendant, so from there Shang-Chi, with Katy along for the ride, journeys to find out why the pendant is so important. Along the way we meet Shang-chi's estranged sister, and we also meet their father, Wenwu (Tony Leung), an apparently immortal master of a criminal empire who seeks to free his once thought to be dead wife from an extra-dimensional barrier by using the Ten Rings, weapons of great power. But in doing so, Wenwu could release a threat that will spell doom for all involved and beyond...
Shang-Chi in superhero mode.
I had fun with the film, but I did feel it was a a tad overlong for the story it chose to tell, and it did not dazzle me the way it did most westerners who have seen it. I have been enjoying this sort of material for the past four decades, so I've seen many, many movies of this ilk, featuring all of the same elements and story beats, including the story's fantasy aspects, so to me it was a very light Marvel-branded confection. A true popcorn flick.
The film is structured in two halves, the first being set in San Francisco and introducing our hero and his sidekick, and the second set in an other-dimensional fantasy world straight out of your garden variety wuxia movie. (For example, Tsui Hark's 1983 GREEN SNAKE.) The abrupt tonal shift between the two settings is jarring, and in my opinion things slow down considerably once in the realm of fantasy. In fact, it got so slow and dreamlike, I fought not to doze off, but I eventually succumbed to a slumber that lasted less than a minute. (I was awakened by my own snoring.)
Pluses in this film include the always-welcome presence of my girl Michelle Yeoh (who kicks tons of ass, as per usual), Tong Leung's Wenwu, one of the MCU's best villains, and the sorcerer Wong (Benedict Wong) from DOCTOR STRANGE, which at first seems like a weird inclusion, but him being there does figure into the overall shebang, and a truckload of well-choreographed martial arts ass-whuppin'. I could have done without the magical creatures, most of which appear to have been included solely in hope that they will work as marketable merchandise. I'm also not a fan of introducing superpowers and magic/mysticism into the Shang-Chi mix, but this film was made for the Joe Sixpacks and not this aging comics fan.
It's a serviceable movie and it's good to see a lot of Asian faces in a Marvel film — or even in any major Hollywood film, for that matter — but be advised that the individual viewer's mileage may vary. Oh, and as always with Marvel films, stay all the way through to the end of the credits. We get two intriguing stingers...
Poster for the theatrical release.
