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Post by Gris on Jul 21, 2019 5:09:45 GMT -5
With Simu Liu as the titular protagonist and Tony Leung as the for reals this time Mandarin.
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 21, 2019 13:36:50 GMT -5
With Simu Liu as the titular protagonist Some of you might know Liu as Jung in Kim's Convenience. He can act, he's funny, he's already buff, and he's worked as a stuntman, so he seems like a great pick for a Marvel leading role. If I have any doubts it's in his acting chops, but I'm getting used to being surprised by comic book castings. and Tony Leung as the for reals this time Mandarin. So this is even better, IMO. Tony Leung is a legend and has been in some of my favourite movies (Hard Boiled, Chungking Express to name a couple) and can absolutely nail a villainous role if Marvel bothers to write one for him. The choice to make the for-realzies Mandarin is pretty interesting. I've had my doubts about this movie, but these seem like steps in the right direction. Very cautiously optimistic.
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Post by Savant on Jul 21, 2019 14:00:00 GMT -5
I don't know much about Shang-Chi other than he's supposed to be the best unarmed fighter on Earth.
But I'm willing to give this a chance, especially considering that the REAL Mandarin is gonna be a part of this.
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Post by Gris on Apr 19, 2021 9:16:42 GMT -5
We finally got a trailer and... it looks good? I mean, it probably won't go beyond being a good martial arts movie, but I do like a good martial arts movie.
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Post by takewithfood on Apr 19, 2021 13:29:48 GMT -5
Looks maybe a little better than I thought, though maybe not as interesting as I'd hoped.
Years ago we discussed how the super hero formula was getting stale, and the best new movies were breaking the mold my crossing the super hero genre with elements from other genres: Ant-Man was part heist film, The Winter Soldier was part spy thriller, Logan was part western, etc. One of the last genres that has yet to be adapted was a proper Hong Kong/Wuxia martial arts flick, and I guess here we have it.
However, even this formula might be getting a little stale as the super hero genre inevitably wears out its welcome. I do think the MCU has some life left in it yet, but Shang Chi feels like the kind of movie that would have been mind-blowing 5 years ago, and maybe only passable today. The fact that we're all starved for content due to the pandemic will probably help a lot, but basically I'm not getting my hopes too high in terms of innovation relative to some of the better movies we've already seen of late.
That said, I'm still excited. I love a good martial arts movie, and I tend to prefer the more grounded, street-level, mortal heroes like Black Widow and Hawkeye over your living gods like Thor and Captain Marvel. They're easier to relate to, both as characters and in terms of comprehending the scope of their abilities: It's hard for me to discern how much danger Captain Marvel is in at any given point in a fight scene because I don't fully understand what she can do, and what can and can't hurt her. It's much easier when I'm watching a dude whose super power boils down to being really really really ridiculously good at punching people.
Most of all I'm hoping the fight choreography will be next-level. I think the Winter Soldier in particular demonstrated how good fight scenes can be in super hero movies, without relying on special effects and magical powers to provide all the razzle dazzle, but there's a lot more room to improve. I'm not expecting Simu Liu to be the next Jackie Chan or anything, but there's no reason that Marvel, with all its insane budget and production powers, can't flex a top-notch martial arts movie.
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Post by Gris on Jun 25, 2021 4:21:03 GMT -5
New trailer, this one reveals more of the structure of the film and even if it seems like a fun one it also makes it seem pretty risk averse when it comes to both plot and theme. We'll see.
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Post by takewithfood on Jun 28, 2021 1:45:31 GMT -5
I'm really curious to see whether this feels more like a Marvel movie, or more like a traitional kung fu flick. Honestly, I hope it leans mostly towards the latter, because it's something we haven't seen in the MCU to date. I don't need fancy special effects, we've seen all that before - I want badass fight choreography!
Tony Leung owns this trailer as the Mandarin, which is promising. You can never go too wrong with a strong villain.
September 3rd isn't that far away... can't wait.
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Post by takewithfood on Jul 28, 2021 11:07:29 GMT -5
Another new trailer: Due out September 3rd. Keep in mind that Marvel's "What If?" comes out in like two weeks, and with ten weekly episodes will take us past Shang Chi and right up to Eternals on November 5th. The Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel series should follow that, with Spider-Man: No Way Home probably in between them on December 17th. It's going to be wall-to-wall Marvel, so buckle up!
This trailer doesn't really change anything for me. I'm a little worried, but pretty excited.
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Post by Gris on Sept 4, 2021 5:19:42 GMT -5
Watched it last night, it manages to set up and fulfill some pretty nice fights, including at least one in an environment that fans of the genre will appreciate. It's still of course a superhero origin movie, but even with explanations, flashbacks and more chinese voice/subbed dialog scenes than expected it keeps a pretty nice pace. It's exciting, funny and pretty tight, packing "a lot of movie" in its runtime. My only somewhat serious concern with it is the bombast of the finale, but it's probably more of a matter of taste than execution. I wish every origin movie was this good.
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Post by takewithfood on Sept 4, 2021 8:15:12 GMT -5
Marvel and their big finales. They just can't let go of that part of the formula.
I haven't seen it yet, and I'm still wary of the theater where I am, so I guess I'm waiting until mid October for it to come out on Disney+. Oof. Glad to hear a good review of it!
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Post by Dhark on Sept 6, 2021 16:57:14 GMT -5
Certainly didn’t do Iron Fist any favors for hopes if future MCU legitimacy… but I enjoyed it.
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Post by mcr on Sept 7, 2021 16:55:10 GMT -5
Saw it today. I liked it overall, more than Black Widow, but there was one bit I didn't understand: Near the beginning, Shang-Chi receives a postcard which he thinks is from his sister. When the Ten Rings steal Shang-Chi's necklace, at first he thinks his sister is in danger so he goes to warn her. But she says she didn't send the postcard saying where she was, and they assume it was a trick from their dad. But then the Dad says he knew where they both were the whole time and suggested he might not even have been behind the postcard (which makes sense - if they already know her address and put it on a postcard, they don't need to trick him into going there to follow him since they already know where she is). So if Dad already had Shang Chi's necklace and he knew where Sister was, why bother sending him a postcard in the first place? And if the postcard wasn't from him, who is it from, and why send it? Shrug. I also have some strong, potentially controversial thoughts which I'll save to keep this thread on topic, but suffice to say I'm not sure it accomplished what the studio wanted it to by having an Asian superhero headliner.
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Post by takewithfood on Jan 5, 2022 12:41:25 GMT -5
So I FINALLY got around to seeing this. I enjoyed it in parts, but the screenplay was a total mess. Not quite a complete disaster, but if I had written it, I would ask that my name be taken off the credits. It reeks of corporate meddling and Marvel formula at its worst. I think my biggest complaint is that it felt like an origin story and a sequel crammed into one, which left not nearly enough time to develop Shang-Chi himself. It's normal for the main character's arc and hero's journey to be stretched across the entire film, but the way they keep interrupting it with flashbacks, exposition, and the establishment of other major characters over and over and over again makes it so hard to follow, hard and to feel anything deep for Shang-Chi. Every time he abruptly got another major moment in the film, I had this feeling of "Oh, yeah, that guy." because it had been so long since we were with him, and I couldn't recall where we had left off with his story or how it made me feel. Tony Leung is the real star of the film. This movie is mostly about him, and he's wonderful - wonderful to the point where he makes everyone look bad. I love Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience is great) but these two actors are on completely different levels. The sister was great too; I hope we see more of her. Akwafina was Akwafina in everything she's in - like, I get that the film needs a normal person who can feel as out of place in a magical setting as the audience would, but aside from that job, they didn't seem to know what to do with her character. After Tony Leung, the #1 thing this movie had going for it was that Simu Liu can anchor a fight scene in a way no one else in the MCU can. But unfortunately there was so much other shit in this movie that they couldn't take full advantage of it. What makes a Jackie Chan movie special is that the fights are all so fucking amazing - and they're amazing for one reason: EVERY fight scene has Jackie in it. As often or not in Shang-Chi, fights are between other, often nameless characters, or CGI monsters, and suddenly we're just watching a regular MCU movie again. It's such a shame. Basically, I would have liked this to be two different movies. The first one can the introduction to Shang-Chi and his brutal life under his father's rule, and involve his sister, and hints about who his mother was. That would give the movie time to really focus on Shang-Chi's arc from running from his problems, to accepting who he is and what he's done, and confronting his father, without the distraction of a massive CGI dragon fighting a massive cgi demon. Keep the magic to a low hum and let us focus on the fight choreography. Hint about all the really crazy supernatural stuff, have credit scenes with Michelle Yeo in that mystical village with all the wacky animals, show a flash of a dragon, and get people all excited for the sequel. Maybe in the third act, Shang-Chi gets to walk away with 5 of the 10 rings, to show that he's now on an equal footing with his father - that way we get to feel pumped about all the power he just gained, while leaving us thirsty to see him acquire the rest.
Second movie can have all the crazy shit in it. Shang-Chi vs. Disappointed Asian Father Stereotype round 2, lots of magic, crazy animals, and most importantly, a storyline centered mostly around the kids' relationship with their mother. There's lots of time to get real over the top and establish all sorts of wild stuff because we already know the characters and just want to have fun with them now, and in the end Shang-Chi can walk away with all 10 rings.
Or, honestly, give 5 to your fucking sister you greedy bastard. You were riding a fucking dragon fighting a soul-eating demon, and you let your sister fight it with a fucking rope. C'mon, man. Anyway, as is often the case with slightly disappointing Marvel movies, I liked it, but I just wanted MORE. Please just give me MORE of what makes this movie special.
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