Friday, September 3, 2021

A Little TLC(w): Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021, PG-13)

The movie theater gods were with me last night: eight Shang-Chi showings at my local theater, and while seven were crowded, one just so happened to have only five or six people in it – I snagged a ticket for a strategically-placed seat and proceeded to live the dream. It’s Marvelous Wednesday on a Friday and it’s A Little TLC(w), because Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is both a good time at a Marvel movie and features an impeccable performance from Tony Leung Chiu-wai.

Xu Shang-Chi has spent half of his life running from his past. His dad, an ancient war lord gifted with immortality thanks to the power of the Ten Rings he wields, raised him to be an assassin, but Shang-Chi wants no part of that. He’s been spending his young adulthood in arrested development in San Francisco, living below his potential with his best friend. But when some of his dad’s men pop onto the scene to blow up his life, Shang-Chi is forced to face his dad again, reckoning with the trauma of his youth and rising up to find the hero inside himself.

It’s not a perfect MCU movie, I’ll admit that off the bat. It has Marvel’s usual third-act issues of going too big in a CGI extravaganza that loses sight of its heroes in the muddle (the film would’ve benefited greatly from centering the climax around a more intimate, personal fight, a la The Winter Soldier or Civil War.) While a lot of the humor is fun and feels organic, certain comedic elements feel forced/shoved in. Not enough Michelle Yeoh, which is a grave offense (and she only has, like, one scene with Tony Leung Chiu-wai! This is the first time they’ve worked together since way back in Butterfly Sword, and I was disappointed.) Much of the writing is beautifully-detailed and grounds itself wonderfully in the human relationships, but some of the larger plot mechanics are clunky and leave the story feeling a bit jumbled.

On the whole, though, I really liked it. Splendid action, especially the scenes highlighted in the trailer (the flashback fight between Wenwu and Li, the bus sequence, everything that happens in Macau) – a lot of the fights have their own personality and flavor, also getting injected with character moments, which I love. I like the “Hakuna Matata-era Simba” vibe of Shang-Chi being a grown-up slacker in San Francisco running from his destiny (seriously, this movie is just a tiny bit Lion King, but if Mufasa and Scar were somehow the same person.) Eye-popping visuals, beautiful costumes, excellent fractured-family dynamics. I loved Destin Daniel Cretton’s direction in Just Mercy, and he does a great job here making this larger-than-life saga feel personal.

Some fine acting involved. Simu Liu (lately Jung of Kim’s Convenience) is very warm and relatable as Shang-Chi – he does well at showing how Shang-Chi wrestles with his past, and he really shines when he displays his caring side. He and Awkwafina’s Katy make for a delightful best-friend duo. Part of me is a little salty that Marvel’s first Asian American superhero is also one of the very few without any hint of a love interest (along with Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel,) but I wouldn’t want to lose what these two have together. Katy is reliably funny but also fantastically ride-or-die, and I don’t know how Shang-Chi would’ve survived this experience, emotionally or otherwise, without her. Meng’er Zhang tears it up as Shang-Chi’s sister Xialing, burning up the screen with her ferocity borne by years of searing resentment and feelings of abandonment. She’s a stone-cold badass who definitely knows it. Fala Chen is beautifully warm as Shang-Chi’s mom Li, and although, again, Michelle Yeoh doesn’t have enough to do, she turns in a nice performance as his aunt Nan.

And now it’s time to talk about Wenwu. Tony Leung Chiu-wai is just so incredibly good as Shang-Chi’s dad. A once-ordinary man turned immortal who carries incredible power. A war lord whose lust for conquering drove him for centuries. A selfish, power-hungry man laid bare by a woman who challenged him without fear, a husband and father who caught a glimpse of the purity and joy of a “normal” life. A vengeful would-be god, a man desperate and bereft, a broken man so consumed by his own issues that he doesn’t necessarily recognize what his obsessions are doing to his children. When he’s fighting with the Ten Rings, he’s the absolute coolest mofo around, but even when he isn’t, you can feel the power and authority radiating of him in quietly self-assured waves.

A masterful performance. This obviously isn’t the best Leung has ever been, because movies like Happy Together, 2046, Hard Boiled, In the Mood for Love, and Infernal Affairs exist. But even if the film itself isn’t the work of art that Leung’s finest are, his acting in it is way up there. And maybe that’s what’s resonating with me so hard. The MCU has no shortage of incredible actors, and I’ve spent all kinds of time gushing over the varied talents of Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, and more. But Leung is operating on a level that I don’t think the MCU has seen before, bringing layer upon layer to this complicated character.

You’d never know this was his first time performing in English. (It’s also only the second time he’s performed in Mandarin without his dialogue being dubbed – part of me is going, “The totally-fluent-in-English Tony Leung Chiu-wai didn’t finally come all the way to Hollywood to speak Mandarin!”, but I guess you can’t really have a character who’s known as “the Mandarin” speak Cantonese.) He can flip from intimidating to tender in an instant, and he has numerous moments where he’s somehow both at the same time and it absolutely works. But, as with a great many Leung performances, most of his best moments come when he doesn’t say anything at all. Throughout, his expressions are at once remarkably subtle and nakedly telling – there’s one scene in particular where his face is just an entire symphony, and I can’t believe that I’m watching Tony Leung Chiu-wai bringing it so hard in an MCU movie.

Lots more thoughts – about Leung/Wenwu, as well as the rest of the film – but I’ll hold off for now. But between this, all the Disney+ shows, and everything coming down the pipeline, it’s high time that Marvelous Wednesdays goes back to being a weekly feature instead of just a periodic one. More to come!

Recommend?

In General – I would. It’s a solid MCU film featuring a bunch of charismatic performances and cool action, grounded by a lot of emotional family drama.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Definitely! Apart from the milestone of Hollywood finally being ready to give him a role that’s worth his time, Leung is just doing all the things here, utterly fantastic. If it’s safe for you to do so, try and catch him on the big screen.

Warnings

Comic-book/martial arts violence, strong thematic elements, drinking, and language.

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