Shang Chi
Alright, alright, fine. I officially renounce what I said about Marvel and being SO exhausted after “Avengers: Endgame” that I was done with Marvel movies. They just keep doing such great things that keep me sucked into the movie the whole time and casting people that are so memorable and do a wonderful job in their roles that I can’t help but be intoxicated by each Marvel movie.
The world building in the movie was just beautiful! It reminded me of how people must have felt when they saw the world of Pandora in the movie "Avatar.” I don’t even remember the story line in “Avatar” but I do remember thinking while I was watching it that I just felt so cozy and comfortable
that I wanted to take a nap. I have learned in the time since that can be attributed to the world building of the movie. Great world building is sure to take elements from the world in which you live and adds elements that make it fictional. The realistic elements help the viewer or audience member feel comfortable in the world. That is what this movie did masterfully with the world of Ta-Lo. It was able to use elements of the real world enough to where it felt like I was being eased into this other world rather than just hurled into a brand new foreign land where I have to adjust to a completely different way of living for two hours. It almost reminded me of the land of Wakanda in “Black Panther.” Pandora and Wakanda are excellent examples of world building, in my opinion, and I think the land of Ta-Lo stands with those two as a great world.
The characters were so fun! Awkwafina has, funnily, become a staple of Asian-American cinema and I am NOT sad about it! She controls this movie! Well, I would say that she controls the first half of this movie and then Simu Liu really takes the control and does quite a wonderful job with it! Awkwafina, though, she is just so funny and fun and comfortable to be with. I feel like I could go stay at her house and she would be cool with that. I am so happy that she is in the MCU now and I hope I get to see a lot more of her.
Michelle Yeoh, oof I just love her! Huh, aren’t you all seeing now how much I love “Crazy Rich Asians?!” So I guess it’s probably no surprise when I say that I am excited to see how Gemma Chan does in ”Eternals” which comes out this November. Anyway, Michelle Yeoh added so much class and love to the movie, I thought. Even though she was playing this warrior, fighter character, she was able to do it while still coming across as classy which just made me like her as an actress all the more.
The fights almost seemed like an art form or a choreographed dance in this movie. I’ve heard martial arts be compared to an art form before but I’ve never seen that aspect of it or agreed with that sentiment. I saw it in this movie, though. I saw it especially in Ta-Lo when the main characters were being taught to embrace their inner-selves and I love the thought that once you have a sense of inner-peace, the exterior of your body will move in a way that reflects that inner-peace.
Toward the end of the movie, I don't want to give too much away, but when Shang Chi is fighting with SOMEONE and they each have five of the rings, did anyone else think it looked like duels in the latter part of the Harry Potter
series? If you know me personally, you know that I have a deep, almost emotional relationship with the Harry Potter world so I quite enjoyed that homage to Harry Potter,
whether it was intentional or not.
Overall, I loved this movie! What can I say? I am kind of a sucker. I will probably love any movie that Marvel puts out there.
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