Today, Cinema Sunday ventures forth away the vintage movies of Turner Classic Movies as Andrea and I ventured forth from the Fortress Of Ineptitude to go to an actual cinema... on a Sunday, even.
Today, Cinema Sunday turns it's attention to...
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings!
Since this is a new movie, I will cover broad strokes of the story while avoiding specific spoilers.
Wenwu has been around for thousands of years thanks to the ten rings (which are more like bangles) which grant immortality and god like powers.
Well, the rich only want to get richer and the already powerful Wenwu wants more power. So he goes in search Ta Lo, a mythical village where he expects to find more power.
Wenwu meets Ying Li, a beautiful and graceful woman who serves as guardian of the village. Wenwu thinks that no mere winsome woman is going to stop him, master of the Ten Bangles of Power.
Rings. I meant Ten Rings of Power.
Anyway, that's what he thinks. Ying Li thinks something else.
And...
Everybody was kung-fu fighting, yo!
This is a super hero movie. Fighting leads to sex so...
Wenwu and Ying Li work their sex whammy on each other, they fall in love and she pops out a couple of kids. Then she dies.
Because we need to move this plot along.
Jump a head a few decades and one of her kids, Shang-Chi, is parking cars for a living as a valet at a swanky San Francisco hotel.
Shang-Chi has a mystic pendant around his neck that his mother once gave him and a bushel full of secrets he isn't sharing with his best friend Katy. For example, she thinks his name is Shaun.
No, his name is not Shaun.
While on the bus home from work, Shang-Chi is attacked by a gang of thugs led by a dude with a RAZOR for a FIST. (This one is called "Razorfist".) Katy is gob smacked to see her friend "Shaun" bust out some serious martial mojo.
You know what this means?
Everybody was kung-fu fighting, boyee!
Shang-Chi kicks serious ass but damn! Razorfist steals the pendant.
Of course he does. We gotta move the plot along.
Shang-Chi brings Katy up to speed. His name is not "Shaun" and he's the son of a thousand plus year old warlord with super powers.
And Shang-Chi is worried his sister, Xialing, might be in danger as she too has a mystic pendant given to her by their mother.
Keep that plot a-movin'!
Shang-Chi and Katy are on a mission, y'all!
They find Xialing who is not happy at all to see Shang-Chi.
Then the bad guys attack and you know what that means?
Everybody was kung-fu fighting, beeyotch!
Shang-Chi and Xialing are kicking butt before Wenwu shows up and that's all she wrote on account of he has the Ten Bangles of Power.
Rings. I meant Ten Rings of Power.
Wenwu is determined that Ying Li is alive and being held behind the gates of Ta Lo. He needs the pendant to find Ta Lo again where he will rescue Ying Li and burn Ta Lo to the ground.
Or. I mean, he will rescue Ying Li OR burn Ta Lo to the ground.
Or. And. Well, it really depends on his mood.
A character from Iron Man 3 shows up (it's a pretty funny guest star turn) to help Shang-Chi, Xialing and Katy get to Ta Lo before Wenwu does. There they find Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek Discovery.
Hello, Michelle Yeoh!
What's behind the gates of Ta Lo is not the living spirit of Ying Li but a big ol' honkin' super dragon of pure EVIL!
The big ol' honkin' super dragon of pure EVIL has gone and cast a spell on Wenwu to make him think it's Ying Li back there and not a big ol' honkin' super dragon of pure EVIL!
Wenwu shows up with this thugs and his Ten Bangles of Power.
Fuck it! They're bangles.
And the warriors of Ta Lo are ready to throw down and you know what this means, right?
Right?
C'mon! Say it with me!
Everybody was kung-fu fighting, y'all!
OK, am I making fun of this movie? Do I not respect Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings?
Well, actually I do. It is another fun and exciting outing for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, introducing something new and fascinating to the MCU mix.
But it often seems to be too convoluted and too weighed down by it's super powered mysticism. Which results in too much of the movie's time taken up with some dodgy hard to follow CGI to take up the heavy lifting with some of the more complex action scenes, particularly anything involving a certain big ol' honkin' super dragon of pure EVIL!
The film has humor and heart and Awkwafina as Katy is crucial in that regard. Fast with a quip and snarky observation, she's also quick to step up in the face of a threat. Even if that means singing "Hotel California" really loudly at an attacker.
Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi has a tough row to hoe. He's got mad skills as a fighter but a hell of a lot of baggage packed with doubt, guilt and fear. The backbone of this film is Shang's journey from hiding himself in a dead end job in San Francisco to actually being a hero.
The unexpected guest star from Iron Man III adds some welcome comic relief to the proceedings. OK, I will tell you it's not Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings can be a bit messy but it has an epic scope leavened with humor and heart and adds something new to the MCU.
OK, having referenced the damn song a gazillion times during this post, I gotta wrap up this post with this...
Next week, Cinema Sunday goes back to black and white and to a movie that came out in freaking 1937!
Until next time, remember to be good to one another.
And be careful out there. You never know when...
Everybody might be kung-fu fighting, you know?
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