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I just watched Shang Chi! (it's only out in theaters and not online, which... I'm not sure what Disney is trying to do. But I'm trying to support motives with Asian American main characters so... I bought a ticket and hied myself hence, to the first movie I've seen in the theaters since Endgame! Or maybe Nezha.) Anyways, I sat in a seat that was at least 10 feet from everyone else and wore a mask the entire time, so I think I was pretty safe.
Overall, I liked it! I'd put it amongst one of the better Marvels.
1) The fight scenes were actually good! Creative settings, well-paced, each one was different, and the camera work followed the action properly instead of jittering all over the place.
2) I really liked the language fluidity of the movie, shifting from Chinese to English and back again. Most people in the movie were bilingual and it works really well, having them shift from Chinese-only spaces to English spaces, to the mixes in between. There's scenes where they basically start speaking Chinese, and Awkwafina's like "oh hey" and everyone just shifts smoothly into English. I do wish the climatic moments were in Chinese, especially when it's just between Shang Chi and his family, but you can't get everything. (Also, it's weird that everyone in Macau speaks Mandarin, but Disney's obviously trying to sell to mainland audience, and at least unlike Pacific Rim people actually speak Chinese)
3) As with most Marvel movies, the plot isn't particularly amazing, but it's serviceable, and doesn't have any "wtf?" moments like Endgame or Civil War. The bits of backstory reveal also worked quite well. I also really liked the humor in the movie -- it didn't really take away from the drama of the moment as it sometimes does in other Marvel films.
4) Oh I really liked the mythical creature cameos! It was cool to see Qilin and 9-tailed foxes and a proper Chinese dragon that fought with water.
Overall it was nice to see a movie where China and Chinese Things did not feel exotified. Marvel, as usual, cannot follow through a theme to save their life, but it was a solid movie, and it's exciting to see characters added to the Marvel Club that are clearly Chinese American in identity.
Okay, next are some more spoilered comments
( spoilers )
Overall, I liked it! I'd put it amongst one of the better Marvels.
1) The fight scenes were actually good! Creative settings, well-paced, each one was different, and the camera work followed the action properly instead of jittering all over the place.
2) I really liked the language fluidity of the movie, shifting from Chinese to English and back again. Most people in the movie were bilingual and it works really well, having them shift from Chinese-only spaces to English spaces, to the mixes in between. There's scenes where they basically start speaking Chinese, and Awkwafina's like "oh hey" and everyone just shifts smoothly into English. I do wish the climatic moments were in Chinese, especially when it's just between Shang Chi and his family, but you can't get everything. (Also, it's weird that everyone in Macau speaks Mandarin, but Disney's obviously trying to sell to mainland audience, and at least unlike Pacific Rim people actually speak Chinese)
3) As with most Marvel movies, the plot isn't particularly amazing, but it's serviceable, and doesn't have any "wtf?" moments like Endgame or Civil War. The bits of backstory reveal also worked quite well. I also really liked the humor in the movie -- it didn't really take away from the drama of the moment as it sometimes does in other Marvel films.
4) Oh I really liked the mythical creature cameos! It was cool to see Qilin and 9-tailed foxes and a proper Chinese dragon that fought with water.
Overall it was nice to see a movie where China and Chinese Things did not feel exotified. Marvel, as usual, cannot follow through a theme to save their life, but it was a solid movie, and it's exciting to see characters added to the Marvel Club that are clearly Chinese American in identity.
Okay, next are some more spoilered comments
( spoilers )
