![]() I am being very ‘I think you’ll find.’ here, I know that, but I feel it’s still worth saying. ![]() I’m also not 100% sure about the hero’s decision making, with one particular third-act conclusion coming out of the leftfield somewhat. There’s also an action drought in the middle, a real lull where the film may lose those who aren’t already entirely on board with who everyone is and why everything matters. Some of the script is a touch shonky, relying a bit too much on flashbacks. And might I add, apropos of nothing, how enjoyable it is to see a Marvel movie set within a non-Western culture that uses the right language (most of the time), and isn’t afraid of subtitles? More of that, please. In short, the fights are excellent - even the special effects zoom-a-palooza at the end really works - so tip your cap to the late, great supervising stunt coordinator Brad Allan as well as director Destin Daniel Cretton. Plenty of darker, greyer battles do crop up in this film, but when the sun shines, it’s such a rewarding thing to see, watching outstanding fight choreography play out in a way where you can properly see everything that’s going on. There’s plenty of Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton to be seen in a scaffolding set-piece, wushu wire work galore when Tony Leung meets Shang-Chi’s mother (Fala Chen), with big bright colours beaming off the screen. If you thought Bob Odenkirk’s bus brawl in Nobody was the best public transport-set punch-up you’d see this year, think again. The super soap opera continues, serving up a fresh order of crowd-pleasing CGI-fuelled punch-the-air fun, but what really pleases me personally is the in-camera action sequences and obvious love affair with martial arts and general did-they-really-do-that stuntery. Father ‘n’ son squabbling is one of Marvel’s favourite drums to beat (Thor, Guardians 2, Iron Man) but here it feels fresh, delivering that odd miracle: a no-previous-appearances origin story which is also a poignant family drama with genuine emotion in its heart.Īfter Black Widow’s ‘inbetweenquel’, a film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's past, here’s our first proper post-Endgame ‘Phase 4’ outing that’s new and set in the now. Leung’s eyes alone, they’re works of art, truly. Here’s a widower, a father, a broken man with an inability to control his emotions, someone who just so happens to be a string-pulling superpowered terrorist tyrant as well as a vulnerable human being we almost want to pull through. Tony Leung’s Mandarin not only directly confronts Marvel’s very unfortunate habit of dodging Asian representation on screen - Sir Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was a comic cop-out, Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One was a gender-swap swerve, leaving Benedict Wong’s Wong to do all the heavy lifting in that department - but also gives us a truly despicable bad guy who is also entirely understandable. Putting Thanos, Loki, Killmonger and Agatha to one side, Marvel has an unmemorable villain problem - who could forget Malekith, for example? You? Well, there you go - serving traditionally as someone who rallies an army of punchable goons and/or representing the dark side of the superhero’s power (see Ant-Man, Doctor Strange et al). And where would I be without shouting out the legendary Michelle Yeoh, or… an actor I can’t bring up for spoilerific reasons. Meng'er Zhang’s Xu Xialing is definitely sidelined but considering what’s in store for that character, it does fit. And Awkwafina, always a welcome presence, gives the film most of its comic moments without overcooking it - often a Marvel problem comedy-wise, everyone’s a wisecracker - as she supports our hero and still somehow stands on her own two feet, even without masterful martial arts training or a mystical magical ring-based artefact to keep her in the fight (until the very end, but more on that later). The appearance of Tony Leung alone - the godlike Hong Kong cinema veteran of Hero, Hard Boiled, Infernal Affairs, In The Mood For Love and much more - would be enough to get me shouting about this film (his first Western movie, playing his first villain as well), but relative newcomer Simu Liu also does a fantastic job here in the lead, pulling off the ‘casually handsome buttock-kicking hunk who is also relatable and vulnerable’ manoeuvre like he was born to do it. Marvel absolutely aced it with the casting here.
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