Shang Chi and the Legend of 10 Rings 2021 is an American Superhero-type movie based on Marvel Comics and introducing a new superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Shang Chi is a part of Marvel’s fourth phase. It was the 25th movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Marvel Studios. It was released on 3rd September 2021 in the USA. It’s running time is about 132 min. Starring Simu Lio as Shang Chi, Awkwafina as Katy, and Tony Leung as Xu Wenwu.
The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures. The screenplay is written by Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham, and Dave Callaham.
Starring Cast
- Simu Liu as Shaun/ Shung Chi
- Awkwafina as Katy
- Tony Chiu-Wai Leung as Xu Wenwu
- Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
- Meng’er Zhang as Xialing
- Fala Chen as Li
- Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan
- Andy Le as Death Dealer
Supporting Cast
- Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist
- Jayden Zhang as Young Shang-Chi
- Elodie Fong as Young Xialing
- Jodi Long as Mrs. Chen
- Kunal Dudheker as John
- Arnold Sun as Teen Shang-Chi
- Tsai Chin as Waipo
- Elodie Fong as Young Xialing
Story-plot (Spoiler alert)
Beggining
The movie starts with a very old time, about thousands of years ago, a man (Xu Wenwu) found 10 legendary rings and used them to conquer the whole world. He almost conquers everything in front of him. Later, he searches for Ta lu, a village with mythological beasts and as wants to expand his power, he goes there via a magical forest.
He discovers a woman named Yung Li (Villager of Ta Lu) in the forest and fights with him. She is such a skilled and fine martial artist, Wenwu has 10 rings and still, she can fight with equal strength. Later, they married and had two children (Shung Chi and Xialling) but the villagers rejected them, so Yung Li left the village. Yung Li told everything to Shung Chi. Even she gave one pendant to him and one pendant to his sister (Xiang).
Because of the dreadful act of Wenwu in the past, enemies of Wenwu ( Iron gang) attacked her house but Wenwu was not there and those people killed Yung Li. Wenwu killed everyone except their leader. Shang Chi was trained since childhood to kill his mother’s killer by his father. He successfully did his mission but then left his father’s company and lived in San Francisco as Shaun.
Now, Shang works as Valet with his friend, kety. The Ten rings attack them and steal his (Shang) pendant. He knows that it was his Dad, so he went to her sisters (underground fight club), where the ten rings again attacked him but this time his dad came and took Shang, Sailing, and kety to ten rings compound.
Climax and Ending
He explained that his wife Yung Li is calling him and he wants to open the sealed gate in Ta Lo as he believes that his wife is captive behind the sealed gate. Shang refuses his father and says that his mother is dead, but his father is locked along with his sister and friend.
They manage to escape and drive to Ta Lo where Yung’s sister warns about the sealed gate. They share the story of soul-consuming dwellers in darkness and the great protector. Yung’s sister trained them and give them a dragon scale outfit, even though she was especially forced on those techniques that her mother used to overtake his father in battle.
His Father opened the sealed gate with those two pendants. When Shang tried to stop his father, he used to power on ten rings and easily defeated Shang and throw him in the water. As the gate opens, there is a huge mythological creature coming out.
In water, he reminds the technique of his mother and discovers the great protector the dragon. Along with a great protector, he fights with his dad and even overtakes the power of ten rings. As the big creature consumes the soul of his dad, his dad gives him those ten rings. Along with ten rings and his sister’s focused aim he was able to stop the creatures and seal the gate again.
Mid & Post-Credit Scene
In the mid-credit scene, the tio (Shang, kety, and Xailing) speak with Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner.
In the post-credit scene, Xailing becomes the new leader of Ten Rings and screening shows that “The legend of ten rings will return”.
Shang Chi Movie Review (4/5)
The movie features one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Comics Mandarin with his ten legendary rings. The concept of the ring is quite distinct in movies but gives birth to an impactful concept of rings.
Shang Chi beautifully portrays Eastern culture and Classic Martial arts. The action sequences, cinematics, music, and visual effects are all excellent. You can feel the Asian culture. This magic is only possible because of the director’s Asian background and his perspective about his background culture.
The production and visual quality along with martial arts style are amazing. The storyline is bound with different concepts from Marvel comics. Actually, In Marvel comics, these are finger rings and each ring is associated with power but in movies, the rings are for hands.
If you are not a fan of Marvel cinematics still after watching the movie you will definitely appreciate the presentation of Asian culture and Martial arts. The movie is really epic and entertaining, yet it’s different from other superhero movies but unique in its own type.
Production
The film is produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz. The quality of sound effects, visual effects, VFX, and presentation is next-level awesome. Each and every action scene is epic with all visuals.
Music
Joel P. West gave the music in the movie Shang Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings. The movie is itself very unique in comparison with other Marvel Universe movies because Shang Chi is a normal man with master-level martial arts skills, the sound effects, and music match the action sequence and give a dynamic tone in the movie.
The sound effects enhance the impact of each and every move in fighting. The amazing and stunning art of overlapping sound effects on mind-blowing visual effects. The movie overall is epic with decent background music.