• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |OT| The MCU is now Kung-Fu Fighting

trikster40

Member
Well in the comics, the 10 rings were actual rings that the Mandarin found from a space ship. They had an alien origin.

These are ten rings that are too big for a human finger, but they have a beacon that's transmitting into space.
Any ideas floating out there in rumor world? Or is this marvel setting up the next big bad?
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I liked it quite a bit. It didn't feel like a MCU film until the requisite end scene of cartoon battle.

Awkwafina was at her least insufferable, I could ALMOST imagine someone fucking her in this which is a big leap from her usual role. I really hope they drop her in future films but I can already see a Kat Dennings team up of massive cringe.

I don't know why marvel keeps killing their villains instead of fridging them for a future redemptive arc. Loki shows it can work. All the well realized villains like killmonger, Tony leung, hela, and maybe vulture deserve a repeat performance. But I can barely recall the fate of most of their bad guys, they are so disposable.
 

sol_bad

Member
Any ideas floating out there in rumor world? Or is this marvel setting up the next big bad?

I think Loki, Shang Chi and Eternals have all set up potential big bads. It's really hard to know where the MCU is going to pivot at this stage.
 
Last edited:

Javthusiast

Banned
Watched it. Enjoyed it. Beautiful scenes, great fight choreography. Wish it was Jackie Chan 😜.

He would have been the lead if he was young now. Simu Liu did a good job imitating him, during the bus scene especially. But Jackie is one of a kind and oozes even more charisma.

Jackie Chan Thumbs Up GIF
 

j0hnnix

Member
He would have been the lead if he was young now. Simu Liu did a good job imitating him, during the bus scene especially. But Jackie is one of a kind and oozes even more charisma.

Jackie Chan Thumbs Up GIF
I agree, Simu did great. I'd take Jackie as the dad or the mom. Just get Jackie in there. Lol.
 

MastaKiiLA

Member
He would have been the lead if he was young now. Simu Liu did a good job imitating him, during the bus scene especially. But Jackie is one of a kind and oozes even more charisma.

Jackie Chan Thumbs Up GIF
Agreed. I think only Jackie, Jet, Yen and Jaa are the only guys who've made a living off those frenetic fight scenes. Simu more than held his own. It shows the difference between having an actor who can pull off the scripted choreography, and those who need the editors to make their fights look good. I don't think we've seen extended cus in MCU battles ever. Winter Soldier and Black Widow might have had the best fight scenes prior to this, and those were still heavily-edits. Shang-Chi had the usual Marvel CG polish to it, but Simu was on his shit for this film.

Also, hats off to Michelle Yeoh, still doing it at the ripe age of 150, or whatever the fuck she is. I swear, she's been in kung fu flicks since I was a kid, and she's still bossing it. This and Master Z show that old girl can still make a fight look good.
 
Watched it last night for the first time, and I liked it overall. Very colorful and imaginative when it called for it, the sister, dad, and aunt were all good. And it had Drago's son from Creed 2--with the best line too! My only complaint was that I would have liked to see more acting from the lead. Use your facial muscles more, dude. We don't need another ScarJo shitting everything up.
 

Stitch

Gold Member
Also, hats off to Michelle Yeoh, still doing it at the ripe age of 150, or whatever the fuck she is. I swear, she's been in kung fu flicks since I was a kid, and she's still bossing it. This and Master Z show that old girl can still make a fight look good.
I was surprised that she actually had some action scenes because usually in Hollywood movies she just shows up for a few minutes and does pretty much nothing.

And yeah this was the first MCU movie were someone knew how to shoot and edit a fight scene properly. Don't get too close, don't put too many cuts during the fights and for fucks sake stop shaking the god damn camera.
The IMAX aspect ratio also helped a lot.

I also didn't expect to hear so much mandarin chinese. The Mouse must be pretty pissed that the CCP didn't allow the movie in China.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I gotta say, Simu, awkwafina, and the sister looked to be MAYBE ten years younger than michelle yeoh and tony. Either those kids look old as shit or those elders aged really well :p
 

ManaByte

Member
I gotta say, Simu, awkwafina, and the sister looked to be MAYBE ten years younger than michelle yeoh and tony. Either those kids look old as shit or those elders aged really well :p

Nah they aged very well. They barely had to do much CG de-aging on Tony to make him look like he did in Hard Boiled in the flashbacks.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
This movie fucking sucks. What a soulless, boring slog with a mindblowingly terrible third act. That last 30 minutes are just... what the fuck.

It's like 6 movies mashed into one - pacing, tone, action, it's all over the place and super unfocussed. With terrible CGI to boot.

Michelle Yeoh and Tony Leung were awesome though, as always.
 
Last edited:

Irobot82

Member
Alright. Not bad. I liked it. Kung-fu was great, too many cuts in the fight scenes. CGI was spotty in the "realistic" stuff. Overall a good normal Marvel film. Funny and entertaining.
 
Tony Leung is mesmerizing, the cinematography gorgeous, and the action scenes well done.
But then you have a dumb final act, as per usual, a wooden and frankly boring MC, tonal shifts (especially the freaking obligatory Disney jokes) that soften the impact of it all, some shoddy acting (The lead sucks), and CG work that is hit or miss...
I enjoyed it more than I had anticipated...but then again, I was expecting the worst. Mindless, soulless fun, but not a great film by any stretch.
 
Last edited:

SJRB

Gold Member
Also that Ten Rings kabuki ninja guy had the most anticlimactic death ever.

How can you have this guy run around as a badass ninja all movie only to have him get punk'd by some stupid CGI monster instead of a legit martial arts showdown with Shang Chi? Or even his sister for all I care.

This is like having Mortal Kombat and then have Scorpion trip over a cable and break his neck.
 

Saiyan-Rox

Member
Just finished watching it on D+

I enjoyed it tbh fight scenes where great nice chemistry between shang and Katey.

And then the after
credits...fucking captain marvel for no fricken reason? Seriously anyone from space would have filled that gap and why was Bruce back to normal?
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I’m trying to enjoy this movie on Disney+ but I can’t call it a win. There’s just too much stuff I’m not supposed to care about. Everything comes too easy.

That and I really can’t take another one these third act cgi extravaganzas. It’d be one thing if they at least looked/felt believable, but without even that, they’re completely exhausting.

It’s kind of harshing my buzz for Spider-Man, by highlighting how formulaic MCU can be.

That said, some of the characters appeal to me. Katy is very fun to be around and Death Dealer is just plain cool.
 
Last edited:

ManaByte

Member
Just finished watching it on D+

I enjoyed it tbh fight scenes where great nice chemistry between shang and Katey.

And then the after
credits...fucking captain marvel for no fricken reason? Seriously anyone from space would have filled that gap and why was Bruce back to normal?

She and the director of this are friends and she's in everything he's ever made. It's like Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler.

Bruce is back to normal due to She-Hulk. He's both Professor Hulk and Bruce in the show.



Presumably he returns to Bruce to give her the blood transfusion, if they're going with the same origin as the comics.
 
Last edited:

Saiyan-Rox

Member
She and the director of this are friends and she's in everything he's ever made. It's like Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler.

Bruce is back to normal due to She-Hulk. He's both Professor Hulk and Bruce in the show.



Presumably he returns to Bruce to give her the blood transfusion, if they're going with the same origin as the comics.


Well that explains her random appearance...still didn't like it.

Aaaah okay I guess that makes sense I must have been living under a rock though that's the first I'm hearing of she hulk.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
I am watching the IMAX enhanced edition on Disney+, had to pause it midway to take care of some stuff, but so far it is fantastic. The martial arts are a little Crouching Tiger, a little Jackie Chan, a heaping helping of The Raid (neutered for Disney PG13 sensibilities), topped off with some westernized tight shots. Loving the story. The fictionalized Macau was great. Awkwafina is funny as ever.
 
Last edited:

sol_bad

Member
Just finished watching it on D+

I enjoyed it tbh fight scenes where great nice chemistry between shang and Katey.

And then the after
credits...fucking captain marvel for no fricken reason? Seriously anyone from space would have filled that gap and why was Bruce back to normal?

She is a part of the team and has ben on conference calls with them before. Not weird at all.
:)


As for Bruce, that's part of the mystery.


Regarding the She-Hulk trailer, I have a feeling the scene with Bruce as Hulk takes place before Endgame, a flashback. The reason being no arm brace.
 
Last edited:

FunkMiller

Member
OMG, this film is so bloody weird.

To start with I was really invested. I thought we were getting a decent bit of human drama. The whole conflict between father and children was quite compelling, and I was looking forward to a conclusion based around that family dynamic.

….and then it’s into Chinese Lord Of The Rings, with cgi monsters, endless bullshittery, and a deeply unsatisfying climax of ones and zeros.

Fuck me, Marvel. You just can’t stop yourselves from the same old computer generated, epic scale, empty-ass wankery, can you? This could have been such a great film, if it concentrated on the human relationships, and kept the conflict on that visceral, relatable level.

But nah… giant dragon fights soul sucking tentacle monster!

fuck about 😂
 
Last edited:

ManaByte

Member
Regarding the She-Hulk trailer, I have a feeling the scene with Bruce as Hulk takes place before Endgame, a flashback. The reason being no arm brace.
Then where was She-Hulk in the final battle?

If She-Hulk is set after Hawkeye, then it'll be in 2025 (Hawkeye is Christmas 2024). That's 2 years after Hulk's arm was messed up, and enough time for it to heal especially with his gamma-powered healing.
 
Last edited:

Yoboman

Member
I really liked it and was one of the stronger debut movies.

Behind Iron Man, GOTG but ahead of Ant Man, Dr Strange, Thor, even Black Panther imo

First half was especially good while the fights had a bit more grounding

On a separate I didnt know Tony Leung spoke English, and it makes me a bit sad he didn't make a big Hollywood career
 

sol_bad

Member
Then where was She-Hulk in the final battle?

If She-Hulk is set after Hawkeye, then it'll be in 2025 (Hawkeye is Christmas 2024). That's 2 years after Hulk's arm was messed up, and enough time for it to heal especially with his gamma-powered healing.

His arm isn't healed in Shang Chi though, he still has the arm brace in the credits scene. I'm guessing it's a flashback scene in She-Hulk because of the missing arm brace and that Jennifer isn't She-Hulk yet. Or she is She-Hulk but refuses to join the Avengers.
 

ManaByte

Member
His arm isn't healed in Shang Chi though, he still has the arm brace in the credits scene. I'm guessing it's a flashback scene in She-Hulk because of the missing arm brace and that Jennifer isn't She-Hulk yet. Or she is She-Hulk but refuses to join the Avengers.
The final battle had Howard the fucking Duck fighting and you’re claiming She-Hulk just decided to not show up?
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
... . The fictionalized Macau was great. Awkwafina is funny as ever.
If by "funny as ever" you mean FINALLY a normal person with a normal voice and mannerisms then yes, this is true. She is still inexplicably casted in stuff IMHO, no idea why she is in Jumanji 2.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
If by "funny as ever" you mean FINALLY a normal person with a normal voice and mannerisms then yes, this is true. She is still inexplicably casted in stuff IMHO, no idea why she is in Jumanji 2.
In the EFAP breakdown of this movie it was said that she bet against Shang/Shaun even after seeing how one could get hurt/die in those fights and was disappointed he didn't lose. The movie plays it off as a joke but when you really think about it that would be grounds for me to end a relationship with someone like that.
 
Last edited:

jason10mm

Gold Member
You know, in a film based on Tony Leungs POV, he would have been correct and this tribe of cultists were trying to deny him his wife and subverted his own children against him by teaching them forbidden martial arts.

This is the hallmark of proper villain motivation, though I also think Michelle yeoh could have resolved all this over a cup of tea or a phone call to to the sorcerer Supreme for a quick mind meld.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
You know, in a film based on Tony Leungs POV, he would have been correct and this tribe of cultists were trying to deny him his wife and subverted his own children against him by teaching them forbidden martial arts.

This is the hallmark of proper villain motivation, though I also think Michelle yeoh could have resolved all this over a cup of tea or a phone call to to the sorcerer Supreme for a quick mind meld.

There's an actual great idea of a story hidden under 6 feet of dogshit for sure, the third act drags the movie down like 5 points on a 10 point scale.

So needlessly absurd.
 

Pejo

Member
Watched this last night. Went in with low expectations and really enjoyed it. I didn't expect the kaiju parts.

If I had 3 minor issues with the movie, it's that they're relying too much on CG for the Kung Fu scenes, we're still doing too much ironic comedy in life threatening situation Marvel quipping shit, and the uniforms looked ultra stupid for both the good and bad guys. Everything else was fun enough to watch. I give it a strong 8/10.
 

Amiga

Member
I think Loki probably already introduced the next big bad.

People keep thinking Galactus is that, but he's someone the F4 can defeat on their own without the Avengers.

Galactus originally isn't someone to be beat forcibly. He got diverted by different means away from earth to devour other planets.
 
Top Bottom