'Shang-Chi' - the Lord of the 10 Rings - is a fine MCU entry

With no clue about the character whatsoever, I came into the newest Marvel movie with zero expectations (well, almost zero).

Yes, Black Widow technically kicked off Phase 4, but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings felt like the true start since the former took place earlier in the MCU timeline. Getting an origin story at this point is actually a nice change of pace, but the ending confirmed a little bit of my fears going forward with the MCU: any origin story will feel like little more than a recruitment video to get the character to join "the circus." And while it's always cool to remember how it all connects, I'm kind of worried about what's going to happen to Shang-Chi as a character.

Look, the movie was great. It had a good story, interesting lore, funny moments, incredible action. I'll get to all that. But I wasn't completely sold on Shang-Chi himself. As a kid, his father practically abused him mentally and, to some extent, physically, all for the sake of training him to be a killer. But it wasn't until late in the movie as he's sitting by the lake on the night before the big fight with his dad when Shang-Chi finally shows any significant sort of emotion. Until then, he was just sort of passively letting events (and the story mechanics) drive his actions. Whereas someone like Steve Rogers' authority and integrity oozes and he knows exactly when to pick his battles, Shang-Chi lacks that edge (except during combat, of course), which is so ironic considering his childhood! He is forced to fight in the ring because he signed a contract, even though he doesn't seem to want to (but of course, the movie required it). Later he apparently only need two days of training with his aunt to have a sudden shift in fight style and motivation (a la Luke Skywalker in Episode V, but far less cool).

When we get to the aforementioned final fight, Shang-Chi certainly has reason to take a stand against his father. He chooses to stand up for what his mother would want and for getting "revenge" on the one responsible for his mom's death. But even his exchange with his dad as they start fighting exudes more of a victim mentality instead of a true conviction. Obviously he's a good dude, and he's going to fight for what's right, but I just wish we got a little more "oomph" leading up to his big moment to make it more convincing.

As far as the bigger picture, how exactly will Shang-Chi fit in with the rest of the Avengers? He doesn't have a strong personality, he isn't all that witty, and he doesn't seem like a guy to take charge. Should I just predict a karaoke-night-gone bad type of scene with him and Scott Lang or Wong again? I truly wish we'd get a Shang-Chi 2 before seeing him in a team-up movie. I want to see how he handles increased power. Will he have any leadership qualities? I want to see if he's truly over the poor treatment from his dad, or if that's something that could come into play again; if any Marvel character was primed to go through that "drunk with power" storyline, it's Shang-Chi. I'd love to see his past hurt and abuse (I'm calling it abuse, cultural differences notwithstanding) give him a bit of a dark side going forward.

Shang-Chi's middling character development was further exposed by the rest of the characters. His dad was an incredible villain unlike any we've seen so far. I felt more grit, anger, and hurt from abandonment from his criminally underutilized sister in the few key scenes with her in it. Even his friend Katy, who served little more than a goofy sidekick with a gimmicky bow-and-arrow longshot, was more engaging whenever she was on the screen (even if Awkwafina's performance was uneven and way overboard at times). Between the number of characters and an appropriate amount of background on all of them, I do appreciate how full this movie felt without settling too much.

Everybody was Kung-Fu...dancing?

Okay, now to the fun stuff. The kung-fu fighting was pretty incredible. The two best fight scenes both featured Shang-Chi. The best fight was against his dad's top crony (who looked like a ninja version of an Uruk-hai from Lord of the Rings) out on the building under construction. The camerawork was tight, there was a personal grudge between the two, and the fighting felt heavy and dangerous. The other great fight was between him and his dad, both when they're still in the village area trash talking each other and when they fight near the portal entrance. That fight also felt heavy and dangerous, even when they each had five rings to use.

You know what did not feel heavy and dangerous? The mother's nature dancing she learned in Ta Lo. I get it, her fighting style is different and probably is supposed to look like a choreographed dance, which is fine, but man, I was not convinced her style would actually do enough damage to be relevant, but it certainly was different and made for great camera shot, so I am here for it. Honestly, I left the movie wanting a full-on Ta Lo prequel movie. I want to see more of this society/culture. I also want to see the battles between her people/village and these crazy soul-sucking creatures. Sounds like an incredible history, but I actually want to see it. I will say, the Ta Lo creatures were far less interesting. When Shang-Chi and his sister breach the portal and drive up to the village, I felt like I was on a level of New Pokemon Snap getting a look at these bizarre creatures in their natural habitat. They felt like they belonged in a kids movie.

Changing The Past DOES Change The Future

Speaking of animals, let's talk about the elephant in the room. When Iron Man 3 first came out, many core fans were upset. The Mandarin was not the uber powerful character from the comics (though if he wasn't named the Mandarin, I have no doubt those fans would've enjoyed the movie a lot more). It felt like salt in an open wound when Trevor turned out to be nothing more than an actor and not even the real terrorist.

Xu Wenwu was a far more compelling villain, and he gives a lecture to his kids and Katy at the dinner table about the importance of names. Xu says he's be known by many names, including, at one point, the Mandarin, which is a much more believable version of the character. So basically, Xu's backstory also served as a retcon for what happened in Iron Man 3. I typically don't like retcons, and this one definitely felt forced, but I suppose it was harmless. The real problem was it felt way too late to go back and address that sort of mistake. Apparently the writers of Iron Man 3 claimed soon after that movie's release that writing Killian's character to be the actual Mandarin was never the plan, so I suppose it was always in the cards that we would get additional explanation, but it certainly felt ineffective.

I was also disappointed with the handling of the Ten Rings organization in general. The only real expectations I had coming into this movie was seeing how deep this organization goes and how powerful it is. Maybe it could become the new Hydra going forward. Instead, we just get a couple of clips at the beginning of the movie hinting at the Ten Rings' reach and hidden presence. When we see the Ten Rings in the present day, the organization is all but dissolved, which is confusing. Sure, Xu had put away the rings to live the married life, but what, no one else wanted to take over? The Ten Rings all but vanish? That was a bummer for me. Hopefully Li does something with it as the apparent heir of the organization. She apparently didn't shut down the Ten Rings like Shang-Chi thought she would, so I wonder if they'll have a sibling rivalry in the future.

Notes:

-So was that Abomination or not? At first it looked like him, but we got a close-up, it looked like a creature with weird gills. If it was supposed to be Abomination, I wish they made it obvious. If not, I wish this creature wasn't so close.

-Captain Marvel leaving early in the post-credit scene has turned one of her worst qualities into a ridiculous running joke, and Marvel isn't even shy about it.

-Lord of the 10 Rings: I'm intrigued about the origins of the rings. It seems like there's quite a bit of history, as if they were left by someone a long time ago. This could turn out to be a nice connection to the Eternals movie, which is next up on the Marvel slate. Maybe some god-like being created these rings and left them on Earth for some reason. I'd like to learn more about the nature of the rings (as I said, I know nothing about these particular stories from the comics). The rings gave Xu eternal life, but it doesn't seem like they make him invincible. He certainly seemed to need to block bullets with the rings to prevent getting shot by bullets.