Director: Destin Daniel Crettin
Starring: Simu Liu, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Yeoh, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, Jayden Zhang, Elodie Fong
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios
Runtime: 132 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc

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Rating notes: Fantasy themes and violence

A different part of the Marvel Universe, a world of Chinese traditions, myths and exotic lands, Shang-Chi, the master of weaponry-based Kung Fu, is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organisation.

Here is a different world of the Marvel Universe, a kind of world we have not seen before (although, come to think of it, with the appearance of Benedict Wong, there are some links with Dr Strange). But, this is a magic world, a world of myths, of warriors, of dragons, of combat… But, to our surprise, it is also the world of 21st-century San Francisco.

Those familiar with the Marvel comics will have no difficulty in entering into this world, of being introduced to the thousand year-plus reign of the unscrupulous power-hungry, no holds barred Xu Wenwu (featuring Chinese actor of the Infernal Affairs series and Wong Kar Wai dramas, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung). He is a commanding presence, leading his troops in a series of adventures throughout the centuries, but ultimately falling in love with a young woman who has powers and physical prowess equal to his. They marry and have two children, training them both in the martial arts, but the mother is taken prisoner and Xu Wenwu, grieving, makes too harsh demands on his children who escape his domination.

Which means we end up in San Francisco where the son, Shang-Chi (going by the name of Shaun) has found a career as a car valet at a hotel, working with the rather feisty Katie (Awkwafina doing her cheeky and feisty performance once again, moving comparatively easy from speed driving a runaway bus through the San Francisco streets to becoming a warrior along with Shang-Chi to confront his father). There are also some sequences in the casino bright-lit areas of Macau and a fight club.

Canadian actor, Simy Liu, seems rather unprepossessing in his San Francisco life and appearance, but, as Shang Chi, in the fight club, as well as other occasions has enormous, and frequent, opportunities to show his martial arts skills, against all kinds of comers – especially a giant Romanian bodyguard who has only one hand.

But most of the action takes place in the build-up to the confrontation with Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi finding his sister again, experiencing her resentment in his escape and promise to return which he had not. And this kind of adventure could not be without Michelle Yeoh.

The rest of the action is as expected – Shang-Chi, his sister and Katie tracing their way through a mysterious forest, discovering the land where his mother came from, bonding with the inhabitants, training, ready for the final confrontation – which will, in fact, also have confrontations between two giant dragons.

For audiences not familiar with this kind of martial arts storytelling and mythologies, suddenly there is a character who will delight them – a British actor who had been conned into thinking he was playing a terrorist when, in fact, he was being used by Xu Wenwu, had served his time in prison but had been interned, finding compassion in the faceless roly-poly creature with whom he could communicate. But the delight is that he is played by Ben Kingsley, enjoying the role immensely, partly hamming it up, partly shrewd comedy, especially in his communications with his strange friend.

The final credits are long, as always for the Marvel Universe, and there is some aftermath activity during the credits – but, for those who are patient, there is, as usual, a post-credits sequence which indicates that this is not the last we shall see of Shang-Chi.