Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

On first viewing, this was one of the better MCU movies. Somewhere around 7th or 8th best out of the 25 so far. With the creative TV shows they are putting out, and the inventive, interesting, and entertaining entry here, it makes me think that the MCU isn’t done after Endgame after all.

Part of the attraction, as with Black Panther, is that this film brings us a freshness due to the different cultural and artistic background. But that is only a small part of what works in Shang Chi. Here we (once again, as in Black Panther and other entries) get a sympathetic, compelling villain. Wenwu is not a mustache-twirling evil villain. He is a man making the sorts of decisions the viewer can understand. And, throughout the course of the story, we see him change, grow, and improve as a character. It isn’t at all bad to see that the catalyst for his changes tends to be love either!

As with all the best films in the franchise, the comedy, action, and human drama is spot on. In fact, this film seems to balance some of the best of these aspects. In particular, the action scenes have some of the best, most varied fighting choreography we have seen from Marvel thus far.