One of the best solo MCU movies in a while. I went into this not knowing the story at all. I was highly entertained and not lost at all. Definitely worth the $12 at the theater!

I don't get nearly as excited about the MCU as I used to (mostly because they're churning out movies and TV shows at a rate that I just can't keep up with), but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Definitely worth watching. Some loose thoughts/things I enjoyed below (spoilers are marked): - the story is good, the 2nd act is kind of slow, but it picks up towards the end - the fight scenes are super cool and creative (especially [spoiler]the one on the bus and the one on the scaffolding[/spoiler]) - I liked the way they utilized the rings in fights, it felt really fresh and like something we haven't seen before - [spoiler]the final battle is actually awesome (monkey brain loves big monsters and explosions)[/spoiler] - the cast is excellent (I'm particularly thrilled to see Awkwafina getting more recognition) - the soundtrack is beautiful and I love the way they used traditional Chinese melodies - badass women all around (Michelle Yeoh my beloved) - impeccable CGI - some gorgeous scenery - MORRIS - [spoiler]loved the callback to the Mandarin mess from Iron Man 3[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Brie Larson cameo (I know the fandom has collectively decided to hate her, but I don't care, that was a treat for me and me only)[/spoiler] - [spoiler]Xialing effectively utilizing girl power by taking over her father's crime empire (I feel like there was definitely some comic book reference flying over my head there but who cares). My friend and I joked that she'll be getting a Disney+ series shortly[/spoiler] Overall, it was a treat. Strongly recommend.

Shang Chi is not diversity for sake of diversity. It is diversity for sake of authenticity!

Pros: - Whoever worked on the second unit of this film, give them a medal. Lots of beautiful choreography, wide shots and sweeping camera movement. Great stuff, it has the best action choreography of any Marvel film. Massive props to the editing team as well. - The casting is great. Simu Liu ticks all the boxes for a Marvel hero, Tony Leung is an amazing actor and he shows it here, Awkwafina does the best with what she’s given, Michelle Yeoh is great. - The characters are of course very well drawn, as expected from Marvel. That includes the villain, even if his motivation is a little generic. I’ll say that they could’ve given some more development to Xialing, though. In between: - The music. I liked the score quite a bit, it felt very authentic to something you’d hear in a traditional Chinese kung fu film. But then they also got some of the worst contemporary artists to add actual music numbers, like Rick Ross and Swae Lee. Was Kendrick too busy this time around? It’s kind of a nitpick, but it ruined some of the credit that I was willing to give the score in this. I’ll give them props for putting the very underrated Anderson .Paak over the credits, though. Cons: - For such a basic story, it is really overstuffed with exposition. The worldbuilding is done though a lot of talking, and no showing. - One of their ugliest films in terms of colour grading. It’ll pop occasionally, but it’s overall really drab and grey. It does no justice to Bill Pope’s cinematography. - The comedy. Not everything misses, but these films used to have a lot more clever and subversive comedy in them. That’s slowly starting to phase out in favour of basic comedy writing. It’s also placed in awkward moments where it messes with the tone. Ben Kingsley is very annoying in this in particular. - For as good as the choreography is, some of the action is still very overblown and fake looking. There’s a scene in the trailers that involves a bus, which you’ve probably seen and thought: that looks wonky and fake. Well, the final set in this piece is even worse, and I can almost guarantee that it’ll give you flashbacks to Black Panther’s final act. It kinda throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks. - In terms of pacing, it makes the exact same mistake as Captain Marvel and Black Widow. The first act is fast paced and filled with 2-3 set pieces. Then, during the second act, it hits a lull. We get to one location, and the film is filled with nothing but dialogue. This problem could easily be fixed if the action was just more spread out. Yeah, another disappointment if you’d ask me, in a string of disappointments coming from Marvel Studios. It’s a shame, this could’ve been great. Keep the actors, characters, central conflict and the grounded action scenes, but remove all of Marvel’s shitty production choices in regards to music, colour grading, overblown action, incel comedy, pacing and meaningless references, and this would’ve easily been an 8. There’s more than enough good and fun stuff in here, but it gets bogged down by the machine. 5/10

An enjoyable blend of wuxia, fantasy, and superhero movies. It’s pretty much the same structure as all other Marvel flicks with a slightly different taste. Shang-Chi lacks charisma but is well supported by the other cast members. As usual with these films, the writing is outrageously bad. For example, the Ten Rings organization is supposed to be a lethal army that influenced the history of mankind for centuries, but when they come out, it’s literally a dozen people in a ninja suit. Their leader is introduced as a cruel man who lived for thousands of years, who owns infinite wisdom and godly powers, yet he is just an idiot who gets fooled by a phone fraud. Also, the film keeps pointing out that men and women should be equal, yet Shang-chi’s sister stays two ladders below the comic relief characters. I would pay a fortune to attend the screenwriter meetings for these films and see how they review the script.