Funny how the pandemic cannot keep a decent superhero film down. Shang-Chi is an entertaining popcorn film that moves along the Marvel assembly line with more and returning characters than you could hope to keep track of. It might help if the supporting characters had more personality, more screen time or, heaven forbid, more substance than to drive along the story. After all, a karaoke machine added more nuance to the main character than a sibling rivalry for a start.
Shaun is happy as a hotel valet with a good friend until ninjas ambush their life. The ninjas all work for Shaun's Dad, Xu, who is convinced his wife is alive and calling out to him.
What pushes much of the boredom of the film out of the way is the style and colour of the cinematography. Colours are bright and lush, particularly in the second half of the film, however that is a hard push itself when the sheer length of Shang-Chi is daunting. There are two to three action scenes and about four supporting characters too many; they don't truly serve any purpose only to show up later in the MCU. Indeed, skipping through to just Tony Leung's scenes might save yourself a couple yawns. But all in all Shang-Chi does hold its end of the bargain in entertainment, with solid and expected performances from everyone.
Shaun is happy as a hotel valet with a good friend until ninjas ambush their life. The ninjas all work for Shaun's Dad, Xu, who is convinced his wife is alive and calling out to him.
What pushes much of the boredom of the film out of the way is the style and colour of the cinematography. Colours are bright and lush, particularly in the second half of the film, however that is a hard push itself when the sheer length of Shang-Chi is daunting. There are two to three action scenes and about four supporting characters too many; they don't truly serve any purpose only to show up later in the MCU. Indeed, skipping through to just Tony Leung's scenes might save yourself a couple yawns. But all in all Shang-Chi does hold its end of the bargain in entertainment, with solid and expected performances from everyone.