Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings

[CapeCodRPGer]

First Trailer

Looks like fun.

[Thomas Seitz]

Epic! This is what I have been waiting for; Shang Chi, the best fighter in Marvel.

[JoelF847]

Looks great - though I thought Eternals was going to be the next movie after Black Widow.

[Thomas Seitz]

No they re-arranged the schedule so now Shang-Chi comes out THEN Eternals. I checked.

[Aberzombie]

It looks like an interesting movie, but since I already pay enough money to Disney, I doubt I'll bother to pay more to see this in a theater. I'll just wait until it's up on Disney+ (without the extra fee).

[Albatoonoe]

I miss theaters so much that I will happily go and see this in one.

[Thomas Seitz]

Hell I'm going to see ALL the Marvel movies in theaters. It's not like I got better do to.

[CapeCodRPGer]

New trailer.

Looks really good.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

It does indeed. If the trailers are anything to go by then CATFA has some stiff competition for my favorite Marvel movie.

It being a kung fu movie helps.

[CapeCodRPGer]

Since it takes place in San Francisco, I hope they put in a Easter egg for Big Trouble in Little China.

[Thomas Seitz]

I hope so, Cape! Also loved the fact we get a sighting of Abomination in this trailer and a dragon. (who may or may not be Fin Fang Foom.)

[TriOmegaZero]

This trailer got me excited. Knowing nothing of the comics, the ten rings look impressive in action and the character dynamics are fresh. Still looks like a Marvel movie, but that's not a bad thing for me. And the Abomination tease was great.

[Thomas Seitz]

Tri,

In the comics, the rings that the Mandarin own are fairly potent weapons, with various powers for each one. IE one does fire, one does ice, one can control minds, etc. Also they are finger sized.

But yeah, this trailer was great. I truly believe Shang Chi will be the Black Panther movie for Asians.

[TriOmegaZero]

I'm aware the Mandarin has them in the comics, looks like it remains to be seen if he'll appear beyond the fakeout or if he'll have his rings in such a case. If these are the MCUs take on the ten rings, so be it.

[Thomas Seitz]

I think, Tri, this is the MCU take, IE the rings MIGHT have some of if not ALL the powers of their comic counter part...but clearly they are intended to be more combat oriented via Iron Ring style. Which I HONESTLY find cool.

As for whether we get the Mandarin...right now I'm putting my untested belief that Shang-chi's dad IS the Mandarin (at least via title)

[KahnyaGnorc]

Well, MCU's Shang-Chi's dad can't be Fu Manchu, for many, many reasons, so the real Mandarin makes sense. Daddy would still be a big bad, arguably a bigger bad, in fact.

[Thomas Seitz]

Kahnya,

Indeed. I'm honestly glad we got rid of Fu Manchu.

[Marc Radle]

Disney just announced that Shang-Chi is getting a short, limited theatrical release and then it leaves theaters and goes to Disney+ (first at the premium rate, and then to standard Disney+)

The fear of this surging Delta variant is just to real

[JoelF847]

Marc Radle wrote:

Disney just announced that Shang-Chi is getting a short, limited theatrical release and then it leaves theaters and goes to Disney+ (first at the premium rate, and then to standard Disney+)

The fear of this surging Delta variant is just to real

I don't think that characterization is spot on. Yesterday Disney announced a 45-day theatrical window, which while shorter than the historical 90-day window is in line with what most movie studios are doing with re-negotiated windows since the pandemic started. So after 45 days it will be on D+, but not as a Premium, just part of a normal subscription. I wasn't able to find any news since yesterday's announcement, but would love it to be on D+ much sooner than 45 days and would happily pay Disney to see it streaming sooner, say 7 or 10 days after release.

[Marc Radle]

From what I understand Disney is still deciding if it will be freely available on Disney+ (to subscribers of course) or as a Premium release or as some sort of as-of-yet not announce hybrid pay per view kind of model.

[JoelF847]

Marc Radle wrote:

From what I understand Disney is still deciding if it will be freely available on Disney+ (to subscribers of course) or as a Premium release or as some sort of as-of-yet not announce hybrid pay per view kind of model.

Unless you're working for Disney/Marvel and have inside info, yesterday's news about the 45-day window is the most current.

Could that change? Sure, but unlikely unless theaters are closed due to lockdowns in the next 3 weeks.

[Thomas Seitz]

I just hope it does better than Black Widow....

[Quark Blast]

Better? Stateside = unlikely but International = likely. At least that's what the tea leaves say.

[Thomas Seitz]

Eh.. I want it to upset F9 on the top spot...

[CapeCodRPGer]

Saw this today, I thought it was good. But

Spoiler:

The monsters feed off souls. So how come the village was'nt all gingers? No souls for the monsters to feed from. Better defense. ;)

[Thomas Seitz]

*ignores that...* what I'm interested in is the fact they named dropped a major Marvel magical being that's also a Strange antagonist.

[CapeCodRPGer]

Also, someone in the movie says Jeff Gordon has the most Nascar wins. But Richard Petty has the most Nascar wins at 200. Jeff Gordon has 93 wins.

Do the writers know how to look things up on the internet? I used to be a big Nascar fan and wrong things like that get me worked up.

[KahnyaGnorc]

CapeCodRPGer wrote:

Also, someone in the movie says Jeff Gordon has the most Nascar wins. But Richard Petty has the most Nascar wins at 200. Jeff Gordon has 93 wins.

Do the writers know how to look things up on the internet? I used to be a big Nascar fan and wrong things like that get me worked up.

I've heard writers intentionally stick in wrong stuff to try and sneak past the editors and consultants, which is where most of the ridiculously bad computer stuff comes from in movies and TV.

[Thomas Seitz]

Considering they aren't claiming that a horse dewormer can cure you of a fatal disease, I'm willing to give this a pass...

[CapeCodRPGer]

Thomas Seitz wrote:

I'm willing to give this a pass...

I'm not. Such a simple thing to look up and they screwed it up.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

Well, we know that the MCU is not *our* Universe. So it's entirely possible in the MCUverse that Jeff Gordon has more victories...

[DeathQuaker]

CapeCodRPGer wrote:

Saw this today, I thought it was good. But ** spoiler omitted **

Natasha Romanoff not really dead, confirmed! ;)

=============

Just saw this, it was very good. I've only seen Shang-Chi in the comics a little bit so I can't speak to accuracy, but I thought it was a fun martial arts film that was well acted with some awesome performers. Also, Michelle Yeoh has still got it (not that I had any doubts; I just think she's awesome and need to report from time to time that she's awesome). Some unexpected MCU cameos. Good SFX, and I liked the fight choreography but I am much less picky about these things than others.

Stay for mid- and end-credits scenes.

I was at an actual movie theater and a lot more people there for this than Black Widow and Suicide Squad (though theater still had many empty seats and easy to stay physically distanced from everyone). Hard to say if it's because of audience interest or just more people are tired of staying at home and want to go to the movies/aware that the theater has reopened.

[Thomas Seitz]

DQ,

I'll let you know about that last one (more people see this than BW and/or SS) when I go on Monday.

[Quark Blast]

DeathQuaker wrote:

I was at an actual movie theater and a lot more people there for this than Black Widow and Suicide Squad (though theater still had many empty seats and easy to stay physically distanced from everyone). Hard to say if it's because of audience interest or just more people are tired of staying at home and want to go to the movies/aware that the theater has reopened.

According to IMDB it's because the movie is better: 6.8, 7.4, vs 8.1

[dirtypool]

More people saw it in theaters because it was better reviewed by the people who saw it in theaters?

The best response to that is to use your own oft used phrase:

Wut?

[CapeCodRPGer]

When I saw it, theater wasn't that full. But it was playing on like 4 screens there.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Not that Norwegian metrics mean much on the international stage but the theater was full to capacity when we saw it today (at least as full as restrictions allow). I was also rather surprised to see how many east Asians there were in the theater. There were several families, in some cases three generations (probably) in one go, and that is f&%+ing unique in this town.

So, I think I've found my new favorite Marvel movie. Maybe CA:TFA has been dethroned. I'll have to sleep on it. It's the least Marvel-y of the movies so far, or at least the one that stands out most from the rest - I'm only familiar with the name of Shang-chi from before so I don't know how closely this sticks to the comic lore. The pacing was excellent, the characters were at worst entertaining, and the various Chinese mythical beasts were a treat. Katy was endearingly annoying, which is really hard to pull off. It was good to see so many awesome Hong Kong action stars showing up, and the reintroduction of Trevor Slattery was a very welcome surprise.

If you know me you know I'll find something wrong with pretty much any movie. The main annoyance was the inconsistent use of Chinese. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot more than I expected and I was happy, but there were too many scenes with people speaking English with each other when by all rights they should be speaking Chinese. The second was, like all Marvel movies, they have inconsistent action. Some of it was excellent and a joy to behold, some of it was the messy overly edited, overly active camera that serves only to make things less clear and enjoyable. Final niggle, the old 'you're a weak woman so you can use the bow instead of a melee weapon' trope. That one annoys the hell out of me but it's movie with soulsucking demons from another universe so I'll let it go with only a minor grumble.

All in all, I had a blast and will be watching this one again sooner rather than later, unlike any other Marvel movie in the last few years.

[Thomas Seitz]

While I tend to avoid agreeing with him, Dirtypool, QB does make a good point this movie is a) better reviewed and b) seems to be better received than BW.

[Quark Blast]

Thomas Seitz wrote:

While I tend to avoid agreeing with him, Dirtypool, QB does make a good point this movie is a) better reviewed and b) seems to be better received than BW.

Yeah, it's hard to argue with facts huh?

:D

[Purple Dragon Knight]

Sorry for the one month thread necro, but for those who saw it, was it good or boring? I have, like, a very low desire to pay over thirty dollars to view any MCU movie right now, especially with Dune and Venom shouting at me to come see them... :P

PS: I know nothing about Shang-Chi, having never read any of his comics before, so there's that too... how crucial is his role in the MCU overarching plot and interactions with the other heroes?

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

I'll reiterate that it is possibly my favorite Marvel movie so far. Still not sure if it's better than CA:TFA, but it's close. I can't speak to your desire to see the new Venom since the last one was a bust for me (not that I have any relationship to the comics or the characters previously, it just wasn't a terribly good movie).

If it comes down to Dune or SC&tLot10R I'd ask this: do you like Marvel movies better than other SF in general, and are you a fan of Dune in particular?
If you're a fan of Dune or generally like SF over superhero stuff, I'd go with Dune. If you like kung fu/wuxia movies and superheroes more than stuff depth to it than Marvel, prioritize Shang-Chi.
If FX and visuals and good sound design are important parts of the moviegoing experience, Dune all the way.

SC is a stand-alone film. The rest of the MCU is irrelevant to the plot and events (though one might ask where [SOMEONE] whose job it is to take of things like the BBEG was when it was handled the first time. There is a link added to Doctor Strange via Wong showing up, and we'll probably see SC in later Marvel movies due to a couple of scenes but these aren't important to this movie.

[Purple Dragon Knight]

Thanks Bjorn! extremely well-crafted and useful response!

Based on your answer I know what to do now! :)

[Quark Blast]

Right now SC is the highest grossing movie of the year with very high marks even for a MCU movie. It may get eclipsed by the final Daniel Craig Bond movie and is virtually certain to by the Dune movie, but still well worth seeing on the big screen for those who've taken proper precautions.

[Tristan d'Ambrosius]

But only in America. Worldwide it's number 6. So it's already eclipsed. Or do only American figures count?

[Quark Blast]

Tristan d'Ambrosius wrote:

But only in America. Worldwide it's number 6. So it's already eclipsed. Or do only American figures count?

Of course not but it's a little disingenuous to count Chinese numbers given how their cinematic market isn't actually open to foreign movies, particularly American ones. So I think it's just easier to ignore consideration of what the absence of CCP shenanigans would produce and say this movie is tops for now*.

* Technically it might still be behind F9 in a fair global market but we can't know for sure.

[DeathQuaker]

Purple Dragon Knight wrote:

Sorry for the one month thread necro, but for those who saw it, was it good or boring? I have, like, a very low desire to pay over thirty dollars to view any MCU movie right now, especially with Dune and Venom shouting at me to come see them... :P

PS: I know nothing about Shang-Chi, having never read any of his comics before, so there's that too... how crucial is his role in the MCU overarching plot and interactions with the other heroes?

Bjørn Røyrvik wrote:

SC is a stand-alone film. The rest of the MCU is irrelevant to the plot and events (though one might ask where [SOMEONE] whose job it is to take of things like the BBEG was when it was handled the first time. There is a link added to Doctor Strange via Wong showing up, and we'll probably see SC in later Marvel movies due to a couple of scenes but these aren't important to this movie.

Just want to note there are a few references to a few other MCU films that if you are familiar with them (most notably Iron Man 3 among, to a much less extent, a few others), you will appreciate them, but none of them are critical for following the main plot or protagonists' arcs.

The very end sets up future interaction with the MCU, I expect specifically Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. I doubt it is critical to see both however.

I really liked the movie and PDK you and I often have opposite taste in tv shows and movies--no judgment there, that just might be informative to you. OTOH it's a very different movie from some of the other pop culture things where we've both posted comments to. I can say the film has good pacing. There's a certain style across a lot of the film that to me personally made me think "what if Jackie Chan showed up in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?" That might be a good or a bad thing depending on one's perspective.

[Thomas Seitz]

Apparently so, dirtypool.

(Also finally got to see this last Saturday. It was everything I expected IE very good and well done.) As for Dune surpassing this movie....I doubt it. Bond sure. Bond is Bond and this is the last Bond movie with Daniel Craig. But Dune...? Not sure that's happening...

Also considering this isn't coming out any time before Bond drops, I don't see Dune doing nearly as well as some predict.