Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Year: 2021
Rating: PG-13
Length: 132 minutes / 2.20 hours
With the end of the Infinity Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is a lot of room for new franchises to fill in the gaps left by the likes of Iron Man and Captain America. However, this means lesser-known properties like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) get their chance to shine. And while lesser-known franchises like Guardians of the Galaxy are now household names, I think it remains to be seen if Shang-Chi can truly develop its own integrated identity within the MCU.
Having somewhat botched the introduction of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3 (2013), Shang-Chi attempts to ret-con this by insisting that the Ten Rings organization is a genuine threat to world peace. However, Marvel wants to have its cake and eat it too by including the “Mandarin” in this film. There are a few other loose connections to the larger MCU in this film, but they are more cameo call-outs than anything significant. Overall, Shang-Chi is its own story.
The fact that a good portion of this film’s climax takes place in a mythical hidden kingdom made it feel disconnected from the MCU as a whole. Sure, other franchises within the MCU have their origin stories. Still, I felt they made it clear how they contributed to the “whole” of the larger arc by either introducing characters or concepts in prior MCU movies. Shang-Chi excels in its action and choreography but feels generic in the grand scheme of things as a standalone film. I’d almost wager that its sequel will be much more interesting and that those not already committed to the MCU can probably give this one a pass.
A standalone ret-con of previous MCU mistakes, I give Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 3.0 stars out of 5.
