As we enter into Phase 4 of the Marvel universe new characters will be introduced. And now it’s time for Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is a Marvel character with great martial arts abilities who was introduced into the comics while working with the Avengers and trying to stop the Ten Ring terrorist organization. Now, as you can imagine, Marvel has taken a few liberties with this character and added a little bit more mysticism than what he had in the comic books. But the basic elements of this character are all there. He is the son of a man who wants to destroy world peace at all cost and is sometimes referred to as The Mandarin and yes, this is a bit of a spoiler alert, we actually get to meet the real Mandarin, unlike the one we saw in Iron Man 3. But Shang Chi is another character that will be working with the Avengers and this is a perfect time to introduce him. I want to say first that this is a fantastic movie, I enjoyed it very much, and I do consider it one of the better Marvel movies. Origin story movies in the Marvel universe tend to be better, although, that is not always the case as we have seen with Wolverine: Origins and I think we can all admit that Captain Marvel was kind of “blah.”

However, for Shang Chi, this is a great origin story that’s filled with lots of action, heart, and the right amount of comedy thanks to Awkwafina playing the best friend or sidekick if you will. But the real praise has to go to actor Simu Liu in a lot of ways played in almost perfect Shang Chi. If you are not familiar with his work, then I encourage you to check out Kim’s Convenience Store where he plays the older brother. This is his “big break” and he does a marvelous job. In fact, the Asian cast was damn near perfect. I admit that I didn’t think much of this movie going in and maybe part of that was not having known that much about the character, but I’m glad that it surprised me at every turn especially with its connection to Doctor Strange and the Multiverse. As always, each individual movie perfectly connects to something larger and this is no different.

It’s an almost perfect movie and we’ll get to why it’s not exactly perfect a little bit later, but here’s what makes this movie great and worth seeing in the theater. First, the action is Non-Stop and it’s some of the best martial arts choreography that we’ve seen especially for a superhero movie. The cast is great not only for the lead actors but Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, who played the father to Michelle Yeoh who is great in anything she does. I admit, she is still one of my favorite Bond girls. I don’t think Asian actors get enough credit when it comes to English roles, but there has been an abundance of great Asian actors that have graced the silver screen and it’s nice to have them more and more in superhero movies. Awkwafina is always a delight on the big screen and she has perfect chemistry with Simu Liu. If you have a great cast, then almost you’re guaranteed to have a good movie. There’s a lot of nods to not only the original storyline of shame she but how this is all connected to the other Marvel movies. Spoiler alert: they got to Ben Kingsley make an appearance again as Trevor or the fake Mandarin. He was a delight. I felt like the pacing and everything about this movie was damn near perfect. It did a good job of setting up the character’s origin story and how the main character has to face off against his evil father to save the village that his mother was from while basically following his own hero’s path. There are some slow moments for dramatic effect with the characters and the issues they’re wrestling with, especially their past and the choices they must make in order to save the world. But as slow as these scenes are, they do work well and don’t disrupt the pacing. Overall, this is a great film with the right amount of action and comedy that will make fans who are not familiar with Shang Chi fall in love with the character. It’s a very enjoyable movie and while I still can’t say it’s the best Marvel movie, I’m sorry Winter soldier and Logan will take that spot, I can definitely throw this into the top 10, especially for how great this particular origin story is. And the little welcome scene during the credits, introducing them to, “spoiler,” what Bruce Banner refers to as the “circus” is adorable.

Now here’s what doesn’t make the movie perfect. Ancient mysticism is one thing, but it needs to be explained so that the audience fully understands. I don’t think they did that well enough, except when creating some ancient enemy that wants to destroy the world. Boring! Tell me more about this enemy and what they really want to do. Where do they come from? What is the enemy’s origins? You can’t give an audience a little mystery and then have some flying creature come out of a mountainside and say he wants to destroy the world. We need more than that. It’s true that the crux of this story is not about battling ancient monsters, but the son having to stop the father to save the world and so that the sins of the father are not thrust upon him. Typical hero’s path where you must slay your enemy to become the hero and in this case, you’re on father. Is it a little too Luke Skywalker defeating Darth Vader, maybe, but it’s those kinds of stories that have the most heart and are the ones that we can relate to the most. I just feel like they didn’t do enough explanation of what the ultimate evil is and then gave it some carbon copy motivation of wanting to destroy the world. We’ve seen that, what’s original about this? Maybe there are some scenes that help better explain what the ultimate evil really is, which didn’t get put into the final cut. But as beautifully as Michelle Yeoh’s character explains the purpose of the village and its history, we still don’t know much about this ultimate evil and you can’t gloss over that fact with great action scenes. Yes, fantastic action scenes, but as an audience, we need more than heroes and monsters battling each other. Maybe, it doesn’t really take away from the film, but it’s the one thing keeping it from being perfect. Then again, as all Marvel films connect to other films and to a larger picture, maybe those answers will be explained in the obvious Avengers movie that will be coming out in phase 4!

Really, I’m just nitpicking as a storyteller. It’s still very much an enjoyable movie and needs to be seen, especially on the big screen. I don’t think Disney premium access would do it justice. If this is the first true superhero movie that we get to see coming back from the pandemic then Shang Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings it’s perfect for that. The movie will keep you on the edge of your seat. The cast will keep you entertained and laughing. If you’re a fan of Marvel movies or just superhero movies in general, you will not be disappointed and it’s about time that a great Asian cast gets to shine in a Marvel movie! For me, it’s almost perfect and left me wanting more. It is certainly, one of the best martial arts movies I’ve seen in a long time. So, I definitely recommend going to see this movie in the theater, it’s worth every penny of a full-price movie ticket and introduces these new characters, wonderfully, to the Marvel universe. Plus, there’s plenty of Easter eggs connected to the other Marvel movies that will make your inner nerd child jump up and down. It’s easily a 9 out of 10 for me and I can’t wait to see it again!