“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021) is the twenty-fifth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and begins with a meet cute battle between Shang-Chi’s mom, Ying Li (Fala Chen), and dad, Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), which results in her leaving her magical home and Wenwu renouncing immortality and power by taking off those rings. They happily raise two kids until tragedy strikes. Wenwu returns to his violent ways, ignores his daughter and abuses his son to make him follow his footsteps. Shang-chi (Simu Liu) decides to flee his father’s influence, runs away to San Francisco and renames himself Shaun where he lives a modest slacker life with his best friend and coworker, Katy (Awkwafina). When a mugging reveals Shang-chi’s fighting prowess, to stop a possible threat to his sister, Xu Xialing (Meng’er Zhang in her impressive acting debut), Shang-chi decides that he must return home to save her. Will they succumb to their dad’s plans or be able to thwart them and uphold their mother’s legacy?

Marvel is finally back! After “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), MCU movies have been adequate, but not exhilarating whereas “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” leaves you wanting more because of the humor, character development, poignant, dynamic trajectory of the story and action. Destin Daniel Cretton, one of my favorite independent film directors, is at the helm, and he applies his characteristic sensitivity in depicting trauma to his first major action and commercial studio project. Prior to this feature, his most popular film was “Just Mercy” (2019). In “Short Term 12” (2013), he meditates on how children cope with abuse as adults, and in “The Glass Castle” (2017), without minimizing the harm, he shows how parents cannot be dismissed as bad guys, but harmful cheerleaders who are blind to how damaging their unconventional parenting style is to their children. In Cretton’s depiction of the surviving Xu family, he adds texture and nuance by exploring these themes in a CGI blockbuster. 

Leung is convincing as a charismatic villain who truly loves his family, but not well. He is like an alcoholic when it comes to power and is always a trauma away from falling into bad habits. He loves his kids but is deluded into thinking that his wife would approve of the way that he raised their children. When he rebukes Shang-Chi for inaction at seven years old and decides to take a most unnatural way of rebuking him, as an audience member, you will want to risk your life and try to talk sense into him, “Bruh! You have lost your mind.” Leung manages to seem sensible and calm while completely going bonkers. It is terrifying because of how he embodies love, madness and tactical superiority. 

Cretton balances the heavy themes with a lot of humor. Awkwafina and Liu are hilarious together, and while their minimum wage job seems like a small detail, it plays a pivotal role to make Katy seem like a plausible side kick to Shang-chi as they leave San Francisco and return to his roots. Katy is an audience surrogate who reacts as any viewer would if her life was constantly put in danger. Katy’s instant camaraderie with Xialing, who instantly strikes a more intimidating figure than her brother, and any number of sensational characters in a fight club, makes her an affable palette cleanser to the increasing layers of conflict. Everyone may be angry at each other, but no one can stay mad at Katy. 

I am unfamiliar with Liu, but what a terrific introduction! My first impression before the movie was that Liu seemed so normal, but once I saw him in action, I reacted like Katy when she sees him in the main fighting ring. Dude should always keep his shirt off, but you can’t unsee it so fine, he can cover his torso. I really appreciated how before he reveals what happened to him when he was fourteen, because of his emotional expression while fighting, I correctly guessed why he left his father. Acting while executing complex fighting moves is quite an accomplishment for anyone, but Liu makes it seem easy though if you have not truly fought in ten years, would you still be so effective?

Even though “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” can be viewed as a standalone movie, if you want to do some homework, I will instruct you to watch “Iron Man” (2008), “Iron Man 3” (2013), “Doctor Strange” (2016) and “The Incredible Hulk” (2008) though the latter is only germane for a single scene. It probably would help to see “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), but to see them, you have to see every MCU movie so if you are not ready for such a big commitment, do not bother. There are two cameos of well-known heroes so stay for all the post-credits scenes. Hint: one hero is Cretton’s favorite actors. 

All of these qualities would be irrelevant if “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” did not measure up to other martial arts films even if it is a solid entry in the MCU. If the action was trash, no one would care about the story or the acting. Marvel really needs to shake the “Iron Fist” stink off, and it succeeded. While I thought “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) was a beautiful film, I grew up on martial arts films and was ultimately disappointed with my perception of Ang Lee pulling punches and prioritizing beauty over action. Even though Cretton has never directed an action or a martial arts film, he creates beauty without undercutting the action. I also liked how many of the fight scenes felt like reprises of action scenes from “Captain Marvel” (2019) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (2018), especially because the latter shares a location with this film. Having Michelle Yeoh in the film felt like a nice link to the movie’s cinematic fighting heritage. Love her!

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is more than fair representation and getting a seat at the table. It should be a majority Asian cast because Asians created the martial arts that we consume in media. The idea that Asian actors could not get leading roles in this country for the work that they created is infuriating. Even though I am not Asian, I was thrilled to see a majority Asian cast in the kind of American films that I enjoy. 

If I have any issues with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” it was that the CGI filled denouement became confusing for me. The movie deliberately held back on fully explaining the rings so the confusion may stem from that, but ever since the pandemic started, my movie consumption plummeted so I could be rusty. I do not read the comics, but why can’t Xialing inherit the rings? A post credits scene hints why she should not, but considering her father wielded them, it seems like a mark in her favor. Unlike Shang-Chi, she was about that life and possibly a better fighter. Why are we perpetrating her dad’s misogyny? By the end of the film, it makes sense why it was immediately necessary to pass them on to Shang-Chi, but couldn’t he have five, and she have five. Explain it to me like I’m dumb. 

While no one should die for a movie, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is a better reason to risk it all than Smashmouth. It was my best theatrical experience since the pandemic started.