Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Notable Cast: Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Meng’er
Zhang, Fala Chen, Michelle Yeoh, Yuen Wah, Florian Munteanu, Andy Le
As a fan of martial arts cinema since I was, oh I don’t
know, born, the recent obsession with the genre has been a roller coaster ride
for me. A large part of me never expected that Hollywood or the American TV
market would embrace the genre as it has in the last half of a decade. Whether
it is shows like Warrior and the reimagined Kung Fu or Hollywood blockbusters
like Snake Eyes and Raya and the Last Dragon, this latest boom is
a welcome change of pace and to see mainstream audiences cheer for and consume
one of my favorite and oft-maligned styles of filmmaking couldn’t make me
happier.
It’s not that cinematic martial arts on the screen doesn’t
go in waves, it does. Anyone old enough to remember will note that it usually
pops up every 20 years or so, with the last pop coming in the late 90s and
early 00s with the arrival of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and The Matrix (fight
choreographer Yuen Woo Ping) in Hollywood. What makes this latest boom so
fascinating is the arrival of the latest Marvel film, their 25th of the MCU if
I’m counting properly, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Not only is Shang-Chi a film that attempts to bring
the newest kung fu craze to the world’s biggest franchise, but it’s one that
sincerely wants to adapt - and sell, this is Disney after all - Chinese martial
arts, culture, and their cinematic history to a wider western audience. It’s a
film that often tries to rectify so many of the mistakes made by the original Shang-Chi
comic, a cringe-worthy series at best, and thrust its audience into a mystical
world of Chinese lore (made up or adapting popular elements) while retaining
that now formulaic Marvel brand. The combination is thrilling, fun, dynamic,
and most importantly heartfelt. I might be biased thanks to my love of kung fu
cinema, but this is easily the best Marvel film to date.