“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” covers the new cultural ground for the Marvel Cinematic Universe while maintaining the emotions Marvel movies are known for. It also expands the Marvel Universe in more ways than one. As a long-time fan of the MCU, I was a little worried about the release of this movie. It’s an entirely new era of Marvel, moving away from what fans know and love. Things are changing, is that a good or bad thing? That being said, all concerns disappeared with every minute that passed. The film is chock full of action-packed fight scenes, comedy that has you in tears and enough references to the other Marvel films to remind you that this is, in fact, still a part of the MCU. 

“Shang-Chi” follows the story of Shaun, played by Simu Liu, and how he deals with his broken family coming back into his life. His best friend Katy, played by Awkwafina, follows the ride and provides much-needed comic relief in serious situations. She also breaks the stereotype as a “damsel in distress needed to be saved by the new and upcoming superhero” and instead becomes her upcoming superhero. I mean, who’s surprised, Awkwafina plays her.

This film has so many twists and turns. One minute, you are on the edge of your seat because the main characters are fighting klan members on the side of a building. The next, you’re holding back tears because of the broken family dynamic. You feel like you’re supposed to hate the father, but after discovering that his motives are fueled by grief, it touches the empathetic side of the audience. 

The only negative thing I have to say about the film is the blatantly obvious BMW sponsorship. We get it, the car can speed through a magical forest and still come out looking perfect. However, it took away from the film itself. Another major issue with the film was the lack of personality the main character, Shang-Chi, had. He was the main character and he delivered the comedic lines and the action scenes well. However, it seemed like he lacked some emotion. Whether that’s an acting thing or a directing thing, I couldn’t tell. He just seemed relatively indifferent in scenes he should have had great emotion in.

This movie is full of plot twists that it makes you think, “Wow, that just happened” while leaving you wanting more. Entire new worlds are introduced with this film and potential future plots for movies in the future. All in all, this is probably one of the best movies I have seen in a long time and I highly recommend this movie, Marvel fan or not.