The expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universeis in full swing. We started phase four, albeit a year late, and the film Black Widow was released. The next film in the new phase, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,has been previewed. The first reviews came from critics who watched the film. Looks like the Marvel formula that Shang-Chi and I know has changed a little bit. There are those who welcome this innovation and those who don’t.
Alexis Nedd (Mashable): Shang Chi is a Marvel movie that doesn’t feel like a Marvel movie. With its fresh tone, it has a lot in common with 2015’s Ant-Man. The film also feels like it’s moved away from the brand’s form.
Angie Han (The Hollywood Reporter): Shang-Chi, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, is trying to shake up the Marvel formula. In doing so, he benefits profusely from melee arts and Fairy tale Chinese and Asian American culture. It’s also fair to say that not all these elements boil together. As a super movie, it was fresh and fun enough to watch.
Francesca Rivera (IGN): Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have a strange balance. As the first generation struggles to bring the dreams of asian Americans’ families to life, it brings together dynamic action scenes we know from the MCU. Director Destin Daniel Cretton has skillfully tried to meet both of these goals. The Marvel Universe has managed to tell a story, both emotionally and excitingly, as it enters.
Matt Goldberg (Collider): When you start putting the film pieces together, you realize that nothing like this has ever happened in the MCU before. Of course, fans of melee cinema have seen this old trick many times. But Cretton and his stunt team managed to put it fluently into the rug. By combining classic Kung-Fu movies with visual effects, Marvel has created something new and exciting.
Hoai-Tran Bui (SlashFilm): Cretton was never known for his visual taste. The director, who came here with his character drama, somehow managed to keep the film visually alive. In some cases, we watched a lot of beautiful scenes, even though it turned into a CGI rain. At the end of the day, however, the film succumbed to Marvel’s third-episode CGI chaos. Shang-Chi is one of the most easily forgivable films, and the biggest reason is that it’s based entirely on fantasy.
Leah Greenblatt (Entertainment Weekly): The arrival of a film like Shang-Chi from a huge company like Marvel is a very important step for Asian representation in cinema. The movie is also a total Techicolor hurricane. With its explosive fighting choreography and robust mythological elements, the story has become surprisingly sweet and entertaining.
Jake Cole (Slant): As we’re used to for the MCU, the final part of the film turns into a noisy and chaotic visual absurdity. The events between Shang-Chi and Wenwu, as as in the great scale of the magical creatures, distract us from the human drama the film is trying to process.
Looking at the general reviews of the film, it seems that there are plenty of green screened scenes waiting for us in terms of visual effects. However, almost everyone liked the melee scenes, and one of the most basic elements in Shang-Chi and the Asia-based film is these melee choreography. Let’s see if Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will be released on September 3rd, will be able to successfully launch mcu’s Asia Campaign.
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