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

[The Buffinator]

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?

I read most of the first viewing reactions and the closest one to saying that was the guy who said it had the best martial arts action since The Raid & The Raid 2. He didn't say its action was better than theirs or even on par, just the best since them.

 

[The Buffinator]

BTW, did I miss the discussion about

Spoiler

Ben Kingsley appearing in this movie? Because apparently he shows up at some point. Maybe it starts off with Tony Leung killing him for daring to use his name.

Sir Ben Kingsley Confirms His Return to the MCU in Shang-Chi - IGN

 

[EvilPrincess]

Done!

 

[The Buffinator]

Oops! Good point. I just put my post in spoilers. Maybe edit yours to remove it there as well?

 

[ironwez20]

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.

No. WB is a huge company and they made space jam starring a non white actor. Again marvel isn’t doing anything new.

 

[EvilPrincess]

No. WB is a huge company and they made space jam starring a non white actor. Again marvel isn’t doing anything new.

Marvel unquestionably made a huge impact on cinema, one other studios are studying and trying to emulate. When Marvel releases a movie, it will automatically attract a lot of interest. When they make a superhero movie starring asian american actors, it will draw more attention than if it were just some random studio.

 

[Wor-Gar]

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

Jackie Chan did it better.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

He needs long hair. The short, clean cut hair is too generic and boring. Same with Ikaris and Bucky. Give them longer hair. It's more dynamic in action sequences...plus it just looks cooler.

 

[ironwez20]

Marvel unquestionably made a huge impact on cinema, one other studios are studying and trying to emulate. When Marvel releases a movie, it will automatically attract a lot of interest. When they make a superhero movie starring asian american actors, it will draw more attention than if it were just some random studio.

Yea but again they aren’t breaking the mold. Disney is huge and did this aswell .

 

[chrisstbh]

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.

He has a timetable to stick to.

 

[matticus]

BTW, did I miss the discussion about

Spoiler

Ben Kingsley appearing in this movie? Because apparently he shows up at some point. Maybe it starts off with Tony Leung killing him for daring to use his name.

Sir Ben Kingsley Confirms His Return to the MCU in Shang-Chi - IGN

He was at the premiere!

 

[The Buffinator]

He was at the premiere!

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to read that.

 

[EvilPrincess]

Yea but again they aren’t breaking the mold. Disney is huge and did this aswell .

Except they have repeatedly broken the mold: by breaking and setting records. It's not just my phrasing when I say "first Asian American superhero film," it is how it is being described and discussed in media.

That is the context where others have placed it.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

The thing is, Marvel Comics dabbled in various genres in the 60’s and 70’s. There were westerns, romances, spy thrillers and horror. Not everyone under the Marvel banner was a super hero.

Even Shang-Chi’s nickname was MASTER OF KUNG FU. He had no powers besides kicking butt. That makes him no more a “superhero” than any action character played by Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Michelle Yeoh in the past 25 years, who starred in major Hollywood blockbusters.

 

[EvilPrincess]

I mean if we're going by having powers alone, that gets into the debate about how Tony Stark or Batman aren't really superheroes. For most, though, both of those characters are considered superheroes, and their films as being superhero or comic book movies. This is what I mean when I say superhero or superhero/comic movie.

I absolutely enjoy Martial arts action stars (Stephen Chow, anyone?) and don't consider this film coming out as detracting from them at all. It's just giving the AA community another hero, in a genre they haven't been well represented on the big screen in.

 

[ZE_501]

It's a question of reach and scale. I think the soundbites and dumbed down gushing are shallow and stupid, but as a mainstream entertainment juggernaut, the MCU has a significant gravitational mass that can't be ignored.

An interesting sidebar to this discussion is how the Asian community feels about martial arts being tied to their big ticket characters. On the one hand the various martial arts are one of the most spectacular things to come out of the various Asian cultures that developed them and something to be proud of, but is it a little bit one-note? Not having seen the film and not being of Chinese ethnicity, I can only speculate.

 

[EvilPrincess]

It is a bit stereotypical, but to me at least (Edit, I'm not Chinese. I'm Japanese-American) I'll take simply having an asian guy starring. Nitpicking can come later. I think if other films come out that ONLY are about martial arts, then there's going to be an issue.

 

[Dr.Mirakle32]

I mean if we're going by having powers alone, that gets into the debate about how Tony Stark or Batman aren't really superheroes. For most, though, both of those characters are considered superheroes, and their films as being superhero or comic book movies. This is what I mean when I say superhero or superhero/comic movie.

I absolutely enjoy Martial arts action stars (Stephen Chow, anyone?) and don't consider this film coming out as detracting from them at all. It's just giving the AA community another hero, in a genre they haven't been well represented on the big screen in.

I think the biggest difference is Iron Man and Batman are costumed heroes so they fit the mold. I’m a huge Shang-Chi comic fan, but he’s more along the lines of James Bond.

 

[EvilPrincess]

I think the biggest difference is Iron Man and Batman are costumed heroes so they fit the mold. I’m a huge Shang-Chi comic fan, but he’s more along the lines of James Bond.

That honestly makes me more excited to see the film, lol.

The debate seems to be in the semantics. Shang-Chi being released as a Marvel title is like Mulan as a Disney Princess. She's not technically a princess but that studio is primarily known for their princess movies and so she tends to fall under that umbrella.

 

[ironwez20]

Except they have repeatedly broken the mold: by breaking and setting records. It's not just my phrasing when I say "first Asian American superhero film," it is how it is being described and discussed in media.

That is the context where others have placed it.

No they haven’t broken anything but create a cinematic universe. You can argue Shang chi is new but everything else they have done has been done before . Except a cinematic universe on screen