Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3rd, 2021)

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

It's a deeply conservative business for a bunch o' degenerates and deviants.

The Eternals be like

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Grace has zero credibility with me, but I'll give you that the lead actor doesn't scream 'Star Power' to me the way someone like Chadwick Boseman did, but I'm hoping to be won over by his performance.

She has terrible taste...in general.

Having said that, she said that he does well enough with the action and special effects.

 

[a-dev]

The only time Michael Biehn was good or even remotely memorable was when he played Johnny Ringo in Tombstone.

If James Cameron has a flaw as a filmmaker, it's choosing lead actors with little to no charisma in some of his biggest films. Michael Biehn is the perfect example. Sam Worthington is another, and both get overshadowed by their costars. Cameron does pick good actresses and supporting charcters tho.

Speaking of boring lead actors. According to Grace, while this Shang Chi movie is good, the lead actor is bland and gets overshadowed by everyone else. I knew it as soon as I saw the trailer. I believed I called him boring on the first page of this thread. If only Jackie Chan was in his 20's or 30's now, he would have been a much better choice. The film even pays homage to Jackie Chan in several scenes.

I dunno, maybe you had to be a certain age, I've always loved Biehn in any of his roles. Reese, Hicks, Coffey in The Abyss...even that short role in The Rock.

 

[Khev]

It does. My mum started watching the show Grace and Frankie with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlen. I didn't say it to her but I enjoyed seeing her enjoy that show, centering as it does around more senior women and their relationships. Not a show aimed at me at all, my mother loved it and I'm glad she had that.


Until recently I wondered the same but when I think how much I'm missing Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in the MCU already - and that the films I'm looking forward to the most are Spiderman 3, Thor 4 and Dr Strange 2 - maybe this representation thing is more important to me than I had consciously believed only a few years ago.

ZE will remember I mentioned how great Ripley was in Aliens the other day. But that film also had Corporal Hicks who I've always gravitated towards. Sarah Connor is great in the Terminator franchise but lets face it I'm watching it for Arnie.

So yes it appears I do specifically want to see white male heroes on screen - well, 'male' being the more important factor there. If someone like Denzel Washington is leading the film then sign me up by default - great charismatic actor, he's a man, I identify with men. There's nothing wrong with this. There's nothing wrong with a white man wanting his representation - it's only a problem if I'm simultaneously begrudging other people when they're getting theirs. Have I ever done so? I hope not. I don't think I have but I've definitely criticized media/journalistic virtue signalling and SJW pandering kind of talk coming from studios, actors and film-makers. I do still cringe at much of what gets 'said' - in particular as Jye has highlighted these past few pages where there seems to be a lack of awareness and acknowledgment of past movies/characters/actors who were blazing the trails of diversity and representation long before those things became twitter buzzwords. And often it seems like movies/shows are trying too hard to tick every single box - where one might be tempted to call it unrealistic, 'forced' or tokenistic - but for the possibility I might be wrong I generally try to keep my mouth shut these days and just live in peace.

Definitely agree on gender being far more important than race when it comes to identifying with characters on screen.

As for race, yes I would also pretty much agree with all of the above. I think it's only natural that if you see multiple races and genders on screen to identify the most with whomever most matches you if all things are otherwise equal. If all things are not equal then there's a pecking order and race won't necessarily be at the top.

You mention ALIENS, that's a good example. Of all the characters in the film the one that is probably the closest match to me is Frost due to his demeanor and deadpan sense of humor. I identify with him much moreso than Hudson, Burke, Gorman, dorky Spunkmeyer and so on and let's face it if I were actually there I'd probably last about as long as Frost did too, lol.

Now if Frost had survived would he have been my favorite over Hicks? Doubtful, even if he did otherwise match my personality better. Hicks was just cooler, lol.

 

[ZE_501]

I love Godzilla and i’m not kaiju

... or are you? Below is actual footage of @jye4ever making breakfast with his wife:

 

[loki2371]

I don't really care much for Simu Liu. I love Kim's Convenience, and he is the least likeable character on the show for me. Curious to see how he actually does in this as the star.

But overall Shang Chi is a character that doesn't really bring much to the MCU, other than diversity. Not like he's a future Avenger or anything. I don't see the character crossing over into other MCU movies, but just staying in his own little pocket. Unless this movie is huge, which it won't be, I don't think we will be seeing much of ole Shang in other movies. But who knows. The MCU is moving ahead into odd places and stories I have no interest in.

 

[ZE_501]

I dunno, maybe you had to be a certain age, I've always loved Biehn in any of his roles. Reese, Hicks, Coffey in The Abyss...even that short role in The Rock.

For me it's not that he was 'bad' so much as just kinda there.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I dunno, maybe you had to be a certain age, I've always loved Biehn in any of his roles. Reese, Hicks, Coffey in The Abyss...even that short role in The Rock.

We're the same age.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

... or are you? Below is actual footage of @jye4ever making breakfast with his wife:

Godzilla was jacked.

 

[Khev]

... or are you? Below is actual footage of @jye4ever making breakfast with his wife:

Lol at her being 100% focused on the excitement of the pancakes while paying absolutely no mind that Godzilla is preparing them.

 

[jye4ever]

Lol at her being 100% focused on the excitement of the pancakes while paying absolutely no mind that Godzilla is preparing them.

She’s all like great technique they look yummy lol

 

[a-dev]

We're the same age.

Well ********* Clown. You're the reason Hot Toys never made a proper Kyle Reese or a 2.0 Corporal Hicks!

 

[matticus]

This might be the best clip I have seen for this movie:

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Well ********* Clown. You're the reason Hot Toys never made a proper Kyle Reese or a 2.0 Corporal Hicks!

Those figures were so close....

 

[ZE_501]

This might be the best clip I have seen for this movie:

Okay, now I want to see this flick. Just one nitpick: bus driver didn't pull over or react? Still slick though. Dude live-streaming was 100% real.

 

[loki2371]

That's not a very impressive clip at all for some reviewers to state it's one of the best martial arts action movies ever... Seriously?

 

[Otomofan]

Didn't I just see this exact same clip in "Nobody" but without the snarky humor?

 

[Neal136]

That's not a very impressive clip at all for some reviewers to state it's one of the best martial arts action movies ever... Seriously?

First of all, most reviewers are a bit hyperbolic in nature ... both positively and negatively.
Second ... a bunch of them are young now. Maybe for them it is the best martial arts action they've seen, or at least, seen lately.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

This might be the best clip I have seen for this movie:

Meh...

You know, I kind of wish Marvel had given him and all the Chinese characters "Chi" powers, since the Asian culture is known for magical stuff anyway.

Basically, I wish they had ripped off Dragon Ball, and given us a proper live action Goku style character, with the same powers too and even a similar personality. That would have been awesome.

The whole 10 rings gimmick is ok for merchandise sales probably, but I'm not a fan superheroes needed weapons when magic or supernatural powers are an option.

 

[EvilPrincess]

I don't expect Shang-Chi to have quite the same cultural impact, but I'm sure there are plenty of moviegoers out there who think that after 20+ films it's about damn time the MCU made a movie like this one.

Thank you. This is exactly what i'm saying. I'm not denying that other characters or actors from other genres aren't fantastic. But when a huge company like Marvel makes a movie starring a non-white actor, it makes an impact.