Shang-Chi - Good Ideas, Bad Writing
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2021
- Ideas are great, but too many of them can sink your story if you're not careful, and Shang-Chi falls victim to the curse of trying to do too much in one movie, losing sight of what matters most. Join me for my in-depth breakdown and review.
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The most unrealistic part of this movie is how clean San Francisco is.
They went soft for the ten rings also, i was expecting some cartel shit but now its jst like some undertoned criminals
Maybe it will get better now that they're paying people $300 not to shoot each other...
They can still use CGI to add turds, muggings and drug addicts in the background.
@@varanid9 😆
Fake Clean San Francisco is tight!
They actually didn't need a big soul sucking monster for a villian. Or big CGI fights. The conflict between the father and his son was enough to make a compelling movie. I wish they kept the story tighter and more grounded.
but but but, if they wanted to be dragged into other movies and links they need to be equally powerful and marvel only knows how to prove it through cgi climaxes
This film makes me hate CGI
You gotta admit that part where he's free falling controlling the rings is so awesome though
I guess the cgi villian helped the fathers redemption
Imagine if the father finally broken the door open, and it was just an empty cave inside. Would be a cool twist
Two young lovers? Shang and Katy were clearly just friends.
Kind of agree with that ... which sucked to be honest.
Probably
Too early to tell we'll see after a few more movies.
at the very end the hold hands i believe so maybe they’re starting down that
@@ElGentoo which sucked? Why should everyone be lovers 😐
One thing I liked was that he was a male character that was reasonably well-adjusted. He wasn't a bumbling buffoon, he wasn't a brooding emo guy, and he wasn't a cocky asshole. He had family issues, but didn't make it his personality. he just seemed like your everyman who happened to get wrapped up in the plot (aside from his superhero-level martial arts).
Cause he wasn't white.
@@thezerowulf2046 depends on the day. If he was being passed up for a scholarship, he definitely would be considered white.
That transition to martial arts practice can't be that smooth though, if that is the case.
Too bad we can't say the same about the actor.
@@bad-people6510 is there something about him we should know? I've only heard positive things
There’s no romantic chemistry between Shang and Katy because they’re just platonic friends. I actually appreciated that.
it was a nice thought.
But then they kinda tried to ruin it with a hug and a hint at something more at the end.
and she was still utterly useless from a plot standpoint.
@@waldotheranger3987 How is the person that saved the day by preventing the dweller from taking the protectors soul while everyone else was tied up useless? Supporting characters are important.
@@SSJEve lol
everything she did could have just as easily been done by another character, and it would have been just as fine, or even made more sense (maybe have mother's freind make the killshot, which makes sense cause she actually has more than... 2 days worth of skill with the bow?)
makes more time for other characters, which was sorely lacking.
as drinker said (or hinted at whatever), her primary purpose was to be the dumb character that could have all the exposition stuff dumped on (which was made pointless by their frequent flashbacks that they had anyways), and to add in some sub par quips and gags that marvel thinks their brand depends on for whatever reason.
that's not nearly enough reason to justify her character existing.
@@waldotheranger3987 With that logic we can argue any character than the title role(s) dont need to exist and any of their experiences/contributions to the story can be amalgamated into the same few super roles. Seems boring to me. Not sure what the problem with having a fleshed out cast and different personalities is. Regardless, I dont think you made a good point for her being pointless, especially since her role is pretty obviously the audience stand in for experiencing this world along with being the comedic relief and emotional support/anchor of the hero. Pretty tried and true trope, especially with Marvel. Sure its ridiculous she hit such a shot with 2 days of training, but is that really what you want to nit pick in a movie as fantastical as this.
@@SSJEve No actually. Side characters in most movies that people put effort into do a lot more than just "stand in for the audience" (and I don't see how a character who just does that is actually justifiable anyways)
Problem is she wasn't fleshed out. she was completely 1d (I am a goofball who doesn't want responsibility)
If they had delved more into the idea of the main characters not taking responsibility she probably would have had some purpose and I probably would have been fine with her.
as it is, she was just a waste of time that could have been used to flesh out other characters and concepts instead.
Being a tried and true trope does not make it a good idea. not for every story or situation at least.
It is quite ridiculous. and yes, that is what I'm going to nitpick, because even fantasy has to follow rules. it's own, and certain character development rules, otherwise it breaks your suspense of disbelief.
in a fantasy setting it's much more reasonable to say "hey an ancient dragon exists" then to say "hey this otherwise very silly and undisciplined character somehow gains superhuman powers of learning with no explanation"
The late, Great Bradley James Allan was the 2nd unit director. a member of the JCS (Jackie Chan stunt) team and a great action choreographer, HE"S the one responsible for the great fight scenes and stunt work. he passed away this year, before he was able to see his work on the big screen. R.I.P....😥
That’s sad.May he always Rest In Peace and may his memory and work always bless us.
That's a shame :(
And he was only 48 too. That’s way too young to leave this Earth. May he Rest In Peace.
@@Garrus1995 48? Holy crap! I thought Doulass Adams died young.
@yes Yes, Islam, the only belief system worse than Marxism.
They were explicitly just friends. I don't understand how it's even possible to miss this
Yes that's true I think he was just to angry by thenlol
Remember, Drinker drinks a lot
@@waitandhope It's pretty much her first line of dialog. Your suggesting he saw a woman on screen and instantly went to enraged and couldn't process anything anymore.
Yeh, your probably right.
I’ve seen several reviews where they call Katie his girlfriend when it should have been perfectly obvious that she wasn’t. Even in the beginning when her grandma asks when they are getting married, Katie says outright that they are just friends.
I think the script just tried to nod at it too much. Like the grandma asking when they will marry or when they are talking with the two friends and it's clearly them mirroring the couple. It's like it's on the fence but leaning slightly more towards platonic friends. It should be a little more grounded in one side or the other
I did appreciate the characters interactions with each other. I truly felt the dad did love the mom and secretly blamed his son as well as himself by not protecting her. And I truly appreciate most of the action scenes!
Blaming his son was idiotic considering his son was about 5 when it happened
The under construction sky scraper thing was actually pretty realistic. China has a huge problem with construction of residential buildings taking so long that people end up moving into them before they are finished because they were planning on it being their primary residence and they don’t have enough money to keep waiting. The finished quality also sucks, they jokingly referred to it as “tofu dreg construction”
Megan China is the wild west when it comes to regulation. There's a video of some lady being sucked into a malfunctioning escalator while her little daughter stood there and watched. Video looked like it was at a shopping mall of some sort
Yeah, but not in my hometown Macau, I just want to say Macau is a beautiful city! Come visit it!
@@CinemaGulp those bamboo was build to support the workers, not the building itself
@@pixel_devil_macau Yes, I understand that. I just thought it was very cool.
The problem is not building takes too long to finish. It's that those were often scams and the housing developers have taken the money and ran or just went bankrupt half way. China's constitution actually says people are granted freedom of speech, religion and protest, much to my surprise. Yet they do the exact opposite. If constitutions aren't even enforced, regulations mean even less.
czcams.com/video/X3BMIKh65Ec/video.html
I usually agree with you drinker, but I wouldn’t call the mother just another “strong female character”. She beats Shangs father because her fight style totally counters his. He is aggressive, she is defensive, absorbing his attacks and redirecting them. Thought it was pretty good.
Well said! :)
Yea bro, critical drinker doesn't like women in movies. He's weird
@@beezystuff3 lol I know
@@beezystuff3 Where did say he doesn't like women. Typical triggered response.
Yeah, I think the only "strong female character" on this movie would be his sister, bc that character doesn't make much sense, but both his mother and aunt have believable reasons to be the way they are
I really liked this movie, and usually I agree with drinker on these things. Most of what he saw as problems or plot holes were clearly explained and he just wasn't paying attention. The father never lost track of where his kids were, he said he let them go and have normal lives so they could enjoy their freedom for a while before he reeled them back in. The sister didn't bother trying to hide because if dad had found her brother, who was laying low, then he would already know where she was. She fought him because she was mad, and because exposing his identity publicly would piss him off, and because she wanted to show off how tough she'd become. Shaun loses to her because he's trying to mend fences.
Dad didn't just want the pendants. He was trying to put his family back together, including the kids. He knew (and said he knew) the assassins would be no match for Shaun and SFC#2. He assumed they would all team up to rescue SFC#1 (aka mom) but when they didn't he didn't throw them in jail, it was more like spanking them and sending them to their room. And that makes sense because he's traveling to Magical Fantasy Village, and who cares if the kids escape because they'll still be back on Earth while he's rescuing SFC#1. When he returns triumphant with SFC#1 (aka mom) on his arm, both kids will fall into line because Dad Was Right All Along. His plan was perfectly logical except for not realizing they would find another portal into MFV and that his wife, SFC#1 (aka mom), was not really alive and imprisoned behind the barrier in MFV.
OK then you get to the MFV plot holes and most of these are totally legit problems with the story. Nice summary.
SFC#1 was fine IMO. Not superior, just her fighting style is a hard counter to Dad's and that's why he couldn't beat her (used later by Shaun to do the same thing). SFC#1 died in the prologue and characters like that are supposed to be idolized. SFC#2 isn't quite Rey-tier terrible. You're right that she's overpowered and under-characterized. That said, she does have personality flaws. She's angry, and kind of low-grade evil, and has a chip on her shoulder about not being allowed to train with the boys that causes her to make stupid decisions in the name of showing off. That's weak, but it's more than many SFC's get in marvel movies lately, and enough that she has kind of a character arc. SFC#3 gets very little screen time; she's presented as similar to SFC#1 but she doesn't beat Dad up or anything.
Finally, Katy. I'll start with this: I find Awkwafina the person unlikable. That said, Katy was a pretty damn good character. Contrast Kat Dennings's character in Thor/Wandavision, who has a similar role and who sucks. Katy isn't super at all, but she does have a few things she does really well, established early in the movie and which makes sense. So she's human-scale competent, not totally badass or totally incompetent. She's got a nice mix of strengths to discover and flaws/weaknesses to overcome, and plenty of room for her own character arc. Katy isn't funny, I agree, but she jokes a lot when she's nervous or scared and that makes her relatable. She's got plenty of chemistry with Shang Chi, just not _romantic_ chemistry, and nothing happens between them because they're not involved romantically, which they happily don't ruin by harping on about it. They also don't beat you over the head with what a Strong Female Character she is, which ironically makes her the strongest, most interesting female character in the movie. In other words, she's not written like they're terrified of what feminists will say if she's given even the slightest weakness. Marvel needs more of this. The one shitty part was her arrow one-shotting the BBEM, and yeah that was lame, but otherwise it's fine.
I personally don’t even think the arrow shot was supposed to make her a “strong female character” but to rather make her seem slightly more useful
I mean she’s been tagging along the entire movie doing jackshit so it makes sense they give her one scene of redemption
Get yourself a life man
@@bierangtamen I also see that as more a character moment for her. She's been without direction her entire life and now she sees that, if she puts her mind to something properly, she can actually do something great. This was her big character defining moment in my opinion.
if the father didn't care that his kids would escape because they would remain on earth what was the point of capturing them anyway? kaity is useless not because she doesn't have a character arc but because she has no reason to be in the story you explained it yourself she's a regular, dumb and normal human being that can't help chang chi in any way other than putting herself in danger and making him rush to save her and making himself vunerable. his sister didn't know that chang chi was found by dad she tried to hide from him she didn't know she would be found and even then she didn't even try flaws and character arc wouldn't matter if that character doesn't actually belong to the story and is just there for bad comedy the sister being angry and brutal doesn't matter if she is good at everything because she watched other people being good at it. how is his plan logical if it failed in every aspect possible?
his goal was according to the movie reunite the family and then he imprisoned then and guess how they break out? by punching the wall. i'm not even kidding. so if that's how they can escape why capture them or track them down if all that changes is a hole in the wall that needs to be fixed. then there is the father loosing to the mother because.... her style is "hard to counter" so does that excuse the fact that he is according to the movie at least 2,000 years old and was a warrior this entire time? how can it be anything other than plot armor that she can keep up with him let alone falling in love with him for no reason and there are tons of issues the drinker didn't even mention like how the mother said that he could have been good but all he wanted was power. and the movie established that he had the entire world under his control which makes me question things like germany rising to power is only possible if he allowed that to happen which means he's basically a psychopath or he didn't have such control and chang chi for some reason says that his mother wouldn't want him if he would be bad even ignoring that its how he was all along.
@@thephoenix4093 Just to answer the biggest plot hole you identified, my impression was that he captured his kids to explain his plan to them so they could all join together to save their mom. He was expecting them to work with him. When they did, he locked them up but didn't especially care if they escaped because he had already had a chance to explain himself to them.
I honestly found Shang-Chi amazingly well done except for the final battle. Every fight felt so dramatic and was so well choreographed, like Shang-Chi VS that Veteran Ninja in Korea, the way you could see an amazing setting with the lights of a billboard flashing to the next while Shang-Chi and the Ninja engaged in a short battle was phenomenal. The Bus Fight was amazingly well done as well, and was spectacular and sensational with the music choice as well, and I love how it was introduced. But the final battle, I really just didn't like it. It felt way too cliche, especially for this to be an asian movie. A comment said this, but a fight between Shang-Chi and his father would've been enough to put an amazing battle. I personally think they could've worked around the soul sucking beast. True, Shang-Chi had a fight with his dad, but it felt like everything was focused around the soul suckers that they don't prioritize the fight between Shang-Chi and his dad. Wished they fixed that up, it would've been an amazing movie for me then.
Exactly, I was worried if they'll fall apart at the ending with the budget and all, but it kept surprising me and finished with style. Super movie.
@@brontosa5351 In my opinion, the ending was alright, it wasn't super or anything, but it did tie up loose strings, and didn't fail at showing a good conclusion. I just found the CGI battle just annoying, wished they worked around that.
What made me genuinly happy was the way they actually used chinese language alot of the time rather than english. Makes alot more sense than all of them happening to know english.
The Chinese dialogue was pretty cringy. A lot of whitewashed phrases that don’t sound natural at all.
@@my2l I guess authentic Mandarin is too problematic or something.
And I guess this is a worse version of what I go through whenever I see Hollywood nazis use "Schweinhund". That's not even grammatically correct, dammit XD
Just watch your favorite adaptation of Water Margin with subtitles.
@@EvilDoresh Damn! You know Water Margin?
@@peterwang5660 Not quite as well as Three Kingdoms, though.
It apeared to me that Shang actually held back from beating his sister, at one point stopping a punch inches from her face. It was quick but I took that to mean he could have took her out if he wanted too.
Yeah way too many “BUT Y WIMMIN STRONK” comments on this video, and even Critical Drinker himself, fail to realize that Shang Chi wasn’t even trying to fight her, and was, as he says “trying to help” her. For someone who critiques movies, that’s a pretty big thing to miss.
Your problem is you actually tried to understand the scene instead of breaking down into incel tears the second you saw a woman fighting.
@@JK-xn4mj exactly. The moment drinker sees a woman supporting in a movie these days that isn't just there but can actually do something he gets triggered and pays no attention to any detail
@@deadshot1995 Oh my god that was funny
Most of these people in the comments haven't even seen the movie themselves and have formed opinions based on a majority of these hate pandering CZcamsrs 'reviews', and most of it is them regurgitating the same non-factual, non-sensical nonsense they hear from the hate pandering CZcamsrs anyways
Can you imagine if some of these people actually had their own opinion? Fuck no man
Not every boy + girl + friends long time means = relationship.
@scaf I didn’t think so either but I also felt like the two characters had no chemistry whatsoever. If I had a friend for an entire decade I think I would already have known at some point what they looked like with their shirt off and would have had more closeness in dialogue. It’s like this script was written by someone who never had a friend for longer than a week.With the way Marvel’s writing is sucking these days I would not be surprised if she was supposed to be his love interest.
No, of course. It's actually more the other way around (in my personal experience) it started with a relationship and ended up being a long time friends type of relationship after a couple of years. I think I was very lucky to have the mother of my 2 kids as close friends of mine when the couple ended. Our daughters, who are adults now, are still thankful for it, and I am too. When we acknowledged that the passion was over but still got along very well, we just stayed with each other friends while being both in a romantic relationship with our respective boyfriend/girlfriend. No BS, no fighting, no nothing. It was a very healthy relationship so I think it's possible to do it but the other way around.
@Aaron Meadow Yeah I agree with you on that. As I said, it's more possible to happen the other way around.
I guess I'm just used to Asian martial arts films because this felt like the ones I used to watch with friends in college. The humor, the action, the mishmash of modern and traditional, this was a fun and enjoyable movie. No cringe, fun fights that went over the top, hell it was toned down compared to things like Detective Dee. Some people are just sour
Bro! RUSH hour is way more fun than this movie. By like a huge mile. Bro even Tony Leung's Tokyo Raiders was more fun than this, I know it doesn't rate high on IMBD. But it's way more fun than Shangchi, which falls short on storytelling, action and emotions.
I was listening to all the bad criticism about this movie and gave it a pass for the longest. Then almost a year later I decided to watch it. Ended up thoroughly enjoying it. The critics were way off on this one and I'll never pre-judge again.
@@lonniedurrell6040 yeah...they were too harsh on this one. Probably due to not having unloaded the trauma they experienced while watching those shows that push the message down your throats.
Idk if Shang chi is a good marvel film or a good film by mcu standards. It's a good martial arts film. That much I can say.
@lonniedurrell6040 "never pre-judge again" ah, the "I'm going to consoom indescriminently" mindset.
My favorite hidden detail was the Kung Fu Hustle poster hanging on his apartments wall at the beginning of the movie. It made me excited and set a tone in my mind of what they were paying homage to within the movie! :)
I really like how at every step the sister gets treated like she doesn’t exist… then they get to the magical kingdom of equality……. and the aunt says “you can be anything!” and then spends all her time with Shang-chi telling him he’s the special one, while ignoring her again.
@The Antagonist um, did you time that? Cause I'm pretty sure that's incorrect.
Why does it have to be equality? Weirdos always gotta make it about some narrative you think everything is about. Seek help.
@@junemoon1664 Sadly I agree, once you become too extravagant with a thing, in this case it was being against making everything about a narrative, you become the very thing you critiqued.
Seems as if it blinds one to their own hipocrisy.
@@junemoon1664 Not allowed to criticize THE MESSAGE.
Cringe
Plot summary -
A young, trained assassin, disconnected from their roots in America has to go back to them by teaming up with their sister. Unsure if they can trust their parental figure. Towards the end there’s a big cgi fight with a smaller army compared to the avengers movies. There’s light comedy, but never touches on the dark and gritty undertones that the beginning of the movie attempts to set.
This is a summary of SHANG-CHI and BLACK WIDOW, the movies are identical in many ways. One of them worked for me wanna take a guess at which one?
None
I guess they lost the creativity way too early
jojo's bizarre adventures?
Ok yeah, that's shockingly accurate. They literally told the same film twice in a row, only this latest one was actually done better. Personally, I really liked this one a lot and while there are some criticisms I have with it here and there, overall, 8 out of 10 for me
@yes no
While I do agree with some of your criticisms, I found myself pleasantly surprised in the theater. My greatest gripe though is the mother, herself. Wenwu saw her dead body on the ground. I don't believe it was well explained how it was even possible for her to be alive and trapped by her people in Ta Lo.
The mother beat the father because she still had her powers, also he didn't get to the village before he was meeting at the entrance and was denied. Shang chi was beaten by her sister because he was holding back. They were easily found because the father knew where they were the whole time. People in the village used medieval weapons because it is the only thing that is left from their civilization and only dragon scales work on demons. Oh and nobody knows where the rings came from but it was addressed somewhat in post credit scene. I feel like the Critical Drinker slept through half of the movie or was too drunk to notice but a lot of issues he has are actually addressed in the movie. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means but I feel this is the only movie apart the last Spider-Man that was somewhat enjoyable to watch. CGI overload at the end was off putting to say the least it could have focused more on the father.
The guy who saves Tony Stark in Iron man 1 tells him they have been captured by a group calling themselves the 10 rings, between 23-24 minutes in the film, the rings are also mentioned at 1h14 - 1h15. Weirdly I don't think marvel has ever expanded upon that until now
They've gone back and forth with the Ten Rings. Iron Man 3 they're a fake(?) terrorist group secretly funded by Killian....then retcon'd in All Hail The King, where Fake Mandarin is told the real one wants to meet him. And now we have the real(?) one, but Slattery still contributed a necessary MacGuffin? Wtf?
Marvel or should I say Hollywood is discriminate against diversity. Tony Stark became the Iron Man because of The Mandarin, which became Iron Man enemy and main adversary. So it is very odd that Marvel hadn't incorporated into the MCU before.
@@BingDwenDwen maybe cause the original Mandarin was just racist trash that would have given the movies SERIOUSLY bad rep.
@Kaos The entire Marvel Universe is generic and cliche, so whats your point?
@@stell0824 I agree with you on that, most of Marvel comic books were made in a time of severe anti communist propaganda sentiment. Every other race or nationality is a threat and terrorist, except for America. Well that sentiment hasn't gone really.....
Unpopular Opinion: I liked the scene where Shang-Chi decides he's going to kill his father. I thought it showed depth and increased the dramatic tension because part of me genuinely didn't know if he was going to do it. I also liked how his transition from the violent, "closed fist" fighting style of his father to the more controlled "open fist" fighting style of his mother and aunt. It allows him to take full advantage of his heritage and is a subtle sign of growth. But maybe that's just me.
Agreed. I also appreciate how they DIDN'T have Katy/Awkwafina make a joke during Shang-Chi's 'kill-his-father' decision scene. That level of restraint impressed me, as we could feel the tension build.. and most Marvel movies would've used bathos at that point to relieve the tension. Shang-Chi didn't. A+ for allowing the emotional weight of scene to fully land.
I also love the approach to an emotional/sad scene with a male lead.
Usually, emotional/sad scenes with male leads in action movies are based on the character making a difficult decision and taking a path that's harder for him, and then the actor makes an extremely serious face. The idea is to convey that the decision is destroying him on the inside.
However, in this movie, they actually let the character cry. Not only is letting male characters cry a good thing on itself, it also shows a more empathetic side of Shang Chi. It also conveys more emotion.
Reject the masculine and embrace the feminine? Yeah, don't like that.
@@TurlessTiger How is crying feminine bruh? Everyone cries when it's emotionally required to.
Nothing wrong with it.
@@anshulkarkera8911 that’s not what he meant. He is saying the underlying symbolism of what that notion represents. He leaves the way of the “man” to embrace the way of the “woman”. I’m not convinced it was meant to be that, but that’s a valid interpretation b
Tony Leung being the shining light of the whole thing. Great actor, did well with everything they gave him. The whole story just needed a bit less contradicting elements instead of constantly trying to one up itself scene after scene.
For someone who normally makes some good points about movies, it's absolutely shocking how bad this review is. You can't get so many basic facts about a movie wrong and claim to be offering critique. The movie doesn't deserve any Oscars, but we shouldn't just straight up misrepresent the events in a movie in a bid to criticise it.
very true. His representation of the mother as 'just another strong female character is false' - she beats him because of her fighting style and her defensive moves versus the guy's offensive moves. However, I do understand his labeling of the sister as 'strong female character #2
Uh oh, found the woke one.
@@vincentskytree3189 Erm... Pardon me but that is 100% not how martial arts works.
@@vi0l3nc35 He said nothing wrong.
@@michaelcho3564 yeah you don't have gravity-defying floating rings you can swing around.
Plot twist: the fantasy part was San Francisco as a clean and beautiful city, all the rest was a documentary
I don't remember seeing a single homeless person.
@@phillewis2630 they all got Thanos snapped and didn’t come back. Or at least that’s what the government says happened…
@@CutoutClips 😂😂😂
@@CutoutClips He was a saint
I live in san Francisco and the other day someone actually took a shit on the roof of my car
"Good ideas, bad script"
So... basically almost everything disney is making recently?
Everything except for Star Wars
Not "basically almost everything". Just "everything". Unless you also include those that begin with a bad idea.
Yeah, pretty much
Basically, almost everything Hollywood as a whole is producing.
At least this one is way WAY less cringe than the other movies
I think they should’ve just taken the route of turning it into a full on martial arts Jackie Chan inspired movie.
Strong female character #2, stayed true to the comic character for the most part. Whether that is likable or not is up to you.
I actually really enjoyed the first third of the movie, it felt like a Jackie Chan-esque thriller action movie in a lot of regards, and the fights were awesome. Then it devolved into Marvel CGI rainbow lights and fell apart.
On paper the story is crazy. The fact that this movie also ends with the main two walking through Wong’s portal shows that they don’t have faith in this series and they’ll just join the avengers at the end of their own movie... instead of an actual avengers movie
Marvel’s reliance on CGI ruins everything
I like your review and agree
Dragon was good stuff though
@@getmeouttahere1209 yes, i would have prefered if it had ended with shang chi getting a better job, or some epic shot of him in the watching the sunrise or something more personal, but no, they had to bring the avengers literally in his face
They should have just kept it as a father-son movie and have their dynamics be similair to Tywin and Tyrion Lannister from GOT or like Dracula& Alucard from Castlevania and have ‘legacy’ be one of the main themes. Surprisingly Young Justice did this sort of thing better with Black Manta and Aqualad.
I thought it was more like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (with the extraneous stuff tacked on - but the father/son thing was central).
Asian father son dynamic is different than western ones
Agreed.
@@nzmanhdee6246 lmao ‘asian parents’ meme
Indeed
For those interested, in the comic books the ten rings are parts of a crashed space ship crewed by a race of dragons. Yep.
This review was sadly full of nitpicking. I thought the movie was really good. The mom's beating the dad made sense. The sister beating her brother made sense because he was obviously holding back, not to mention, he didn't fight for a long time. Katy and shang were obviously just pals. The only thing i kind of agree with is that the dragon final boss fight was a bit unnecessary, but it sure did look cool.
Marvel fanboy 😩
@@ieatmice751 are you 5 or 6 lad, pointing out flaws in criticism doesn’t label you as a fanboy etc. Just like drinker pointing out flaws or liking a movie.
CD is just pandering to his base now. Probably because he knows how the algorithm works. Plus he is against 'wokeism' so whenever he sees a woman who is not a damsel in distress he loses his shit.
@@ieatmice751 nah man.. marvel has its flaws that's for sure. They figured out the formula and kept repeating it which led to phase 4 movies being a bit mediocre. However u can't deny that Drinker went off rails in this one, the movie wasn't as bad as he made it to be, and that's a shame cuz sometimes his criticisms are spot on.
To be honest this review is totally spot on, y’all just looking to be politically correct and woke, but in the reality this movie was straight up a fantasy movie, and very little marvel! The dragons??? The fucking dragons???
As a Californian resident, I can 100% confirm that this state is about as clean as Critical Drinker’s liver
Its a huge state. Whats dirty and whats clean varies by town.
Don’t forget The Hand from the MCU Netflix branch, that was also a secret organization that somehow never crossed paths with HYDRA or The Ten Rings 😄
Or Leviathan
Netflix Marvel isn't canon
@@hobocop2150 They reference the Avengers in it though
And the Roxxon Corp from Cloak and Dagger...
@@kyguy3242 it was made non canon when the shows got cancelled.
Personally, if I had been allowed a creative hand in this, then I would have written out Katy, and had her role filled in by Xialiang, the two siblings living together with a relationship that seems, on the surface, perfectly amiable, but with a subtle undercut of tension and unspoken issues and wrongs, self-perceived or otherwise, unaddressed.
Then, when plot needs to happen, Xialiang directs Shang-chi to go to the hidden club, telling him on the flight that this was how she spent her free time, since they obviously wouldn’t spent every waking moment together.
(This is just me injecting a bit of the dynamic I share with my siblings; We love each other, but we don’t want to be around each other 24/7.)
Anyway, it’s incomplete, but it’s what I could think up as an unprofessional creative writer in the span of three minutes.
14:40 I thought they were always just friends
The father was the highlight of this movie for me; such a great actor and character, sadly doomed to be in a Marvel movie. It's very frustrating that these movies are forced to be bland and not provocative, because they could totally benefit from it (and I believe many first scripts have been 'marveled' over the years, letting us only see glimpses of the great ideas behind what became passable movies).
(edit: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai is the amazing and renounded actor from Hong Kong that portrays the father and stars in better movies such as Chungking Express, Internal Affairs and In The Mood For Love)
"The father" - i.e. legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung. He's one of the most famous actors of the last generation in Asia. Watch *In the Mood for Love* (a fantastically subtle and nuanced and melancholic "love" story directed by the equally legendary Wong Kar-wai) or *Infernal Affairs* (a fantastic suspense thriller - which was famously remade by Hollywood as *The Departed* - also starring the equally famous and talented Andy Lau) if you want to see "the father" at his peak.
@@ZippyDan Chungkin Express and Hard Boiled are prob Tony Leungs most famous movies. (though of course most will associate Hard Boiled with Chow Yun Fat first)... and some may know him as the gay guy from Jackie Chan's Gorgeous too (though more of a cameo in that movie)
Though with in the mood for love maybe also check out days of being wild and 2046 as they are all loosely connected.
Though I'd also recommend Bullet in the Head and the Red Cliff movies too.
... If I am being honest I have only seen one "bad" Tony Leung movie. I think the worst movie I have even seen of Tony Leungs was Europe Raiders as it wasn't as good as the first two, though some will say all three in the trilogy were bad. lol
@@icydsting6037 I recommended what I thought are his two best movies. "Most famous" doesn't mean "best". And I'd argue that the two movies I listed are his most famous internationally, while the two you listed might be his most famous at home.
*Chungking Express* is a great film but a little thin on plot, and some might not "get it". *Hard Boiled* is more of a Chow Yun Fat vehicle as you said, and to be honest it's primarily an action film and its action scenes are solidly 80s and haven't aged well (though they were groundbreaking at the time and did partially serve as inspiration for *The Matrix* ). *2046* is not nearly as good as other Wong Kar-wai movies, in my opinion, though it is still solid. I liked *Days of Being Wild* . I haven't seen the other films you recommended.
@@ZippyDan I wasn't arguing, just adding to the convo.
@@ZippyDan Infernal Affairs > the Departed 🙂
Seeing him struggle with his dark path would have been awesome! Imagine if during the fight with his sister, after she knees him in the balls and everyone laughs, he just rips into her and nearly kills her out of instinct. She’s left looking horrified at her brother, Katie actually has a chance to react and see that Shang isn’t who she thought he was (which should have been a major culture shock), and we get to see that the darkness is still in Shang Chi. So when the ending comes and he spares his father’s life and gives up the rings, the scene carries more weight. (Or Marvel could grow a pair and have Shang just embrace his darker past and take the rings for himself cause he doesn’t trust anyone else with them).
I totally agree
I want that movie.
I thought he did keep the rings ?
@@sterlinggutierrez5240 He did
@@sterlinggutierrez5240 I meant more of, he takes the rings from his father during the fight and also takes up the burden of them. He sees the images of his mother and hears her voice, and he is even tempted to shatter the barrier and free her (cause the rings were supposed to be amplifying the demon’s voice or something. The movie doesn’t explain). But we see Shang Chi take the rings and say that these will be his burden. Not just have his dad randomly die and then Shang gets the rings and is a sudden master of them.
The more I look back at this movie, the more disappointed I am
Most of the gripes people have with this movie are nit-picks that in my honest opinion wouldn't make it any more significant than it already is. All it would do it pull in a slightly different demographic interested in separate ideas than people looking for something else in a movie. This is how I felt after watching the movie. There really wasn't much I could change about it because I found it fun, engaging, it didn't try to force any agenda without regard to quality, and it made a good impression on a hero I didn't even know about. The only thing I could actually pin-point to say I didn't like was _the Mandarin_ and him somehow being able to translate his "mythical pet's" words. Other than that, whether or not this movie is enjoyed has way more opinion that objectivity and I don't think its fair to label it without acknowledging what movie preferences or idealistic values influenced the choice in label.
The action choreography was really good in this
Regardless of how you feel about this movie, we can all agree that Tony Leung is awesome.
The only reason I went to see it and may see it again when it comes to Disney plus
Who
Not much of a movie fan? In the Mood for Love, Hard Boiled, Chungking Express, Hero, Infernal Affairs...
it was HIS movie
I'm hoping Simu Liu gets a chance to shine after this, he is a good actor and felt believable that he was Tony Leungs son. But they cut so much of the reference material, which was problematic, and shoehorning awkwardfina in there was a mistake.
First 2 minutes and my thoughts are "any one of these would make a good movie, why so many different things crammed into one?"
@oky lie
How many things were crammed into Thor Ragnarok? Or Infinity War? Think about it
Because writers and creators could find/generate ideas with some potential but lacked skill, talent and experience to fully pursue them ^_^
A lot of movies seem to do that nowadays. It seems that the roles of TV shows and movies have reversed. The former, particularly the “prestige shows”, have one good idea and stretch it out for multiple hours, with tons of filler. They often bill themselves as “ten hour movies”. The latter, often with only a couple of hours of running time, take every idea, ideas usually set aside for sequels by more competent filmmakers, and make it a jumbled up mess. Let tv be tv and let movies be movies.
Personally, I think it depends on how well it is executed. For example, the original Star Wars trilogy is arguably the poster child for movies that seamlessly combine many different types of character arcs and genre styles into one (whether it be World War II battles, space operas, samurai films, Wild West movies, Eastern religions/philosophies, Biblical archetypes, the mythological hero’s journey, a son’s struggle to redeem his corrupted father, a broader story of rebelling against tyranny, etc.).
I have only just seen Shang-Chi today. So I might need more time to let it settle, before I judge my experience with it. But at the moment, I thought it succeeded at combining those very different elements. Nonetheless, I will also wait and hear the rest of what Drinker has to say.
I loved this film! It can be too easy to overthink films and be quick to find fault, especially with such poor quality nowadays, but I left the cinema feeling like I’d watched a well-acted fun film with heart, and it felt a bit different from the others in the genre that have been released lately. I also loved the visuals, and the choreography. I’d definitely watch it again.
Wenwu's character steals the show and definitely has the most developed character in the movie. I also feel like the sister had a story arch that was stripped out of the movie but hints of it were left in. There were multiple scenes in Ta Lo that addressed Shang specifically but left his sister awkwardly out of the shot that felt super intentional but never brought up again.
It was obvious Shang was holding back when fighting his sister. Did you watch it with the sound off so you couldn't hear him talking?
Also Shang didn't fight properly in a long time.
His sister did
Didn’t they become lovers at the end? When they held hands
Lmao so apparently you don’t notice how the men in marvel movies are always ridiculed and beaten by women lol! Yeah a woman can beat a man in a fight 🤡
@@generalsod7854 Oh you _really_ didn't watch the movie 💀
All marvel heroes talk while in battle
Would say as a counter point about mr rings, his motivation is to get his family back together so even if a bad idea it makes a kind of sense to want his kids back
Except the literal first thing he does in the movie is send an army of assassins to murder his kids (and nearly succeeds, there are over a dozen moments where Shang-Chi nearly dies and only survives by chance).
@@robertgoss7971 I feel like that compliments him in a way, as he is a thousand year old warlord who barely knows love. You can also spin it as he wants to test them again in their skill, as he even says he’s been monitoring them for ten years at that point
@@robertgoss7971 he knew they wouldn't be able to beat up his kids & he'd been watching them for years. Plus he legit loved his wife & kids in his own twisted way. The best way an immortal warmonger probably can.
The gang that attacked on the bus was sent to get his pendant, they looked like they were more than willing to kill him, especially Laser Sword Arm Guy. Would children be receptive to the concept of family reunion after that?
Nah, it'll be fine
Agree, while I also wants to add, even when he genuinely loves his kids, he's also deluded and out of touch, and he thinks he has complete control over his kids and high ego so bringing them back together and telling them his plan is bc he believes his kids gonna agree with him since he believes he's right and the kids will agree with him.
I think the dad was the only character that compelled me at all, with his struggle between good and evil. He's basically a mob boss that wants to retire but can only keep his family safe by keeping up his power. I think it would have been better if the fluff was taken out, the father-children dynamic was shown a little more, and if the people that killed his mother had a larger personal relevence to the greater plot so that everyone's motivations are more streamlined in relation to each other.
I didn't care much for Shang Chi himself because he didn't possess a lot of charisma or any quirks that made him particularly interesting. I was much more interested the story of his father and the overall father-son arc. I don't recall seeing a lot of Marvel villains who redeem themselves at the end by sacrificing themselves. While this kind of trope is overdone in a lot of movies and dramas outside of Marvel, I love that this was a father and son story, so the sacrifice was not just to right wrongs, but to also pass along the ten rings to a direct descendent who he believes would be able to do what he couldn't do while he had possessed them. It was VERY earned and therefore VERY emotional.
I love that the movie had some qilins (mythical Chinese unicorns, which were basically just dragon horses) and a muddlethick (the faceless thing with wings and like 6 legs, which is mentioned in _The Classic of Mountains and Seas._ , which is a collection of descriptions of legendary plants, animals, and peoples in different parts of China, written by Daoist priests I think) Also, the dragon is an actual Chinese dragon, living in water instead of breathing fire and residing in caves like what you might find in European mythology. Very cool, and I can't wait to see how Shang Chi's character connects to the overall MCU. In my heart, I want him fighting alongside Iron Fist and Daredevil, but that is probably just a pipe dream of mine.
I thought most of the movie was actually pretty good. It had good and fight scenes that are unique in the MCU, a story that had a lot of potential and characters that I considered quite interesting but it ended up having the same problem as the first Wonder Woman. They set up a mostly grounded story about human conflict with elements of the supernatural and a logical ethical dilemma. And at the end they switch out the conflicts that grounded the story with an entirely supernatural baddie, completely changing the genre and themes of the movie.
It sucked, they completely tried to copy Ninja Assassin
It looked way too choreographed, which is a shame because with a bit more imagination it would of been good
I have only seen video essays on it, but from what I've seen/heard, there's some grounded stuff with the fight with his dad. Isn't he literally turning things around at that point, even using his mother's fighting style against him?
Too bad Daredevil has been de-cannoned. Those first season fight scenes are still the best of MCU
Khanya Nqabomzi Nqundwana
Nah
You never watched the movie
Chang's mother beats his father in the first fight scene because she has trained to fight against other super powerful fighters. His father has only ever had to fight regular humans. You can see how his attacks are basic and repetative, because regular humans have no means of beating them.
Chang is beaten by his sister because A) he pulls his punches because he didn't know she had gone through her rigorous training after he left the Ten Rings, and B) she has been constantly fighting in her organisation since she set it up, whereas Chang has been living as a regular person for like a decade
I mean...Shang-Chi's father is effectively a god. No real reason *not* to use the same tricks for 1000 years if they're fast and strong enough to work, right? Not like any human can hope to dodge them...Right? Ri-
Still doesn't make any sense, that's like me being self-trained boxer and become more experienced in underground fighting ring. Problem is my foundation is wrong so when going up against experienced and trained fighter I would lose period. Its retarded.
I don't think anything was wrong regarding Shang Chi's mother and drinker over thought that unfortunately. However, Shang Chi's sister being able to outmatch men just by watching them by her own claim was a bullcrap dialogue and how was she able to rise to the top spot of the fighting tournaments with just watching the boys movements and outperform them is nonesense as well. Considering the fame of the tournaments, everyone with different style of fighting techniques that could be lethal to an unexperienced untrained person like her, were participating and some how she became a supreme fighter? Weird and objectively false but ok... .
Chang's mother was trained to fight super powerful fighters like "not fumanchu" but couldnt handle a group of yakuza?
@@blakelogan007 it was stated in the movie that she left her power in Talo (Chinese Wakanda) just as her husband left the ten rings so she was a highly trained martial artist but with out her supernatural powers. I don't know if it makes sense or not but that was the explanation.
When he said that he would have to kill his father, it made me realize there was nothing there before.
What did he wanted to do? Talking him out of it? was he against killing or not? Shang Chi spends the entire film being carried by the things happening around him or running away from ninjas, he has no ambition in life and probably went back to being a valet driver until Wong showed up at the end.
@McMahonHater
1 second ago
2:45 Technically The Winter Soldiers program and The Black Widow program were both Russian military so I'd put them in the same group
Btw "Not . Fu Manchu" should actually by the Mandarin considering he's the guy who had the 10 Rings of Power. Unfortunately they madeca mess of that in Iron Man 3.
While many of your points are well taken, I think some of your criticisms are countered with a more careful and sympathetic viewing. Here are some points of contention:
1. The origins of the ring are for another film. This point is clearly indicated in one of the post credit scenes.
2. Shang Chi's mother's enhanced abilities (and that of her relatives) are the result of her origin in Ta Lo. This concept is explicitly mentioned in the film. While you may think that the explanation is simple and contrived, there is nevertheless an attempt to create an internal logic to the world. The father is immortal but people in Ta Lo "fight like the gods."
3. Shang Chi and his friend maxed out their credit cards to get to Macao. People do financially irresponsible things all the time.
4. Shang Chi's sister probably owns the building that's perpetually under construction with money made from the illegal fights or she bribes the actual owner for her illicit purposes.
5. Shang Chi initially hopes that his son and daughter will buy into his plan. That's why he initially includes them. He genuinely wants to reunite with his family but his long history of brutish behavior distorts his vision. This conflict is revealed in the film's final scenes. A generally perverse character with momentary glimpses of humanity seems to be his essence.
6. It could safely be assumed that the evil force calling to Shang Chi's father is more than a voice but a spirit manipulating his weaker self. He even says that he felt his late wife's physical presence as well.
7. "Not Funny Katy" is selfish. That's not a problem, however any more than the cowardly nature of Weasel in the Deadpool films is.
8. "Not Funny Katy" isn't necessarily supposed to be a love interest. There's a disclaimer at the beginning when she states that they're just friends when she is asked when she and Shang Chi will wed. It is acceptable to simply take the character's word for this claim. To do so would certainly explain the lack of romantic chemistry and no love scenes.
9. Shang Chi does have a dark side. His admits to "Not Funny Katy" that he did kill on his first mission. The horror of it caused him to run away and live an unassuming life.
Of course, there are other issues that I can't resolve and your blogs are brilliant but I think you were a little harsh on this one.
I disagree with the first point, in the sense that I think sequel-baiting extremely vital information is a dumb idea. This movie is supposed to be an origin story, so why not tell us about the origin of his powers? Not only that, but good movies, even parts of a series, are supposed to be able to stand alone in their storytelling. You set up an arc and wrap it up in a satisfying way, while leaving some room for a sequel without compromising the structure of the movie in question. What I get out of Shang Chi is kinda like filling a water bottle halfway and leaving the other half of the water to put into the next bottle. There needs to be enough proverbial water, enough fully realized story content, to fill both bottles to full capacity.
He is not white so we do not give him the same benefits we give white males. Make the same movie and substitute diverse women for more white men speaking Chinese and you have an Oscar winning movie
@@sguardian870 that’s a bit of a stretch, and quite a loooooong one… but on the whole I agree with the OP on everything but point one. Some explanation on the rings would have been valid. In all the movie was a lukewarm disappointment with badly done effects, some interesting character work (I feel the father could easily have been redeemed if only shown that his wife wasnt who was whispering to him), but was a movie I’d expect made for an audience ages 6-12.. and 12 at max.
@@TrueMentorGuidingMoonlight maybe because the origin of the ring doesn't matter to the overall narrative of the movie because this movie is more about Wen Wu, the owner of the ring rather than the ring itself
@@2ndless57 So its safe to assume WenWu pulled the rings out of arse when having a bad case of constipation? Since the origin of the rings dont matter anyway.
Rey-Skywalker School of Character Development. That was gold.
IE, he's whining about a female character who isn't weak to make the man look better.
@@ShadowSonic2 No? He explained why Rey Skywalker wasn’t really a character and more of the human version of plot armor. I mean, she has nearly 0 FLAWS and good fortune always comes her way. That’s not how you write a good character, in addition, the universe around isn’t quite consistent with the character along with the other characters (e.g. she patched up a wound and saved lives with the FORCE? That was never established is previous Star Wars movies…)
Furthermore nearly 2 hours of training she’s able to defeat extremely powerful entities w/o getting tired or needing help?
It doesn’t matter that she’s a girl, it matters about her character. The writers just want people say
“ah wow look at this girl, they’re clearly superior”
So where did he complain that he specifically said he didn’t like the character because “
she’s strong and a woman, making her the opposite sex will be better”
@@Bill-Watterson No flaws, good fortune
Sounds like Wonder Woman to me.
@S W dude, when you see a "snarky" short comment calling something "reeeeecist" and "seeeeeeexist" without proper arguments, while using all sorts of meaningless buzzwords, don't even bother replying, these morons are beyond help and are not worth the effort.
@@dangazobiton9774 when Chang shi fights (has trained his whole life) it’s badass. When xu xuilin, his sister, yes she has a name, fights (also trained her whole life) it’s her being “strong female number 2” if you don’t see why the comes across as being a woman hater than your truly the one beyond help. I thought the women leads were very strong (written wise) in this movie and we’re much more dynamic than Rey
The father passes from psycho, to role model, back to psycho. It was bizarre and strained from start to finish because it felt like two different movies being played simultaneously on the same screen.
I really liked Wenwu as a villain, cause he is just a normal human, but he has an aspect of Ras al Guhl's immortality and Darkseid's fatherhood, where some of children despise him. Dude felt memorable and made me want to keep rooting for him.
Drinker's abrupt and loud laughing is very contagious.
It's the hearty sailor's laugh
EDIT: 3:57
is****
That and the "Unspecified virus of unknown origin."
@DANGER MAN nah
@DANGER MAN no one's crying. Also nah.
My only thought when you mention the different secret groups was "Can we get a Hydra vs Ten Rings movie?" Here's the plot. Important Hydra leader number whatever discovers some ancient Chinese Super Weapon thing and wants it. The Ten Rings find out about this little quest and also go in. The two sides fight each other, one side using stealth, martial arts, and magic, while the other uses guns and competency. They bleed each other near dry to achieve their goal, only to get ROFL stomped by its defender. Afterwards, an uneasy truce is formed and the two sides agree to stay out of each other's way.
And it would pay a nice homage to Civil War too. Because one of them is Cap’s enemy organization, another is Iron Man’s. A kind of negative Civil War.
@yes nah czcams.com/video/BLUkgRAy_Vo/video.html
That could be interesting, if done well.
Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that, even with a perfect script, Hollywood would find 20 plus ways to fuck things up.
FUND IT!
Where are the strong females and diversity?
Honestly, the story about the father was more interesting than the nobody son. Dude was a cardboard cutout. Look at all the things the dad accomplished even before he had the rings. I would have rather watched a prequel of his father's life and all the things he did prior and the mom. The beginning reminded me a lot of House of Flying Daggers (an actual excellent film). Also, I don't know why this movie exists, it doesn't really fit into the current Marvel Universe. They should have redone Iron Fist and fixed the Danny Rand backstory. I would have loved to see Danny go back to Kun'lun and fight The Thunderer or see how he got the Iron Fist powers to begin with. Netflix really messed up his character but they did get his girlfriend right.
Well, there was no romantic relation between Shang-Chi and Katie because they were friends, not a couple...
The only thing I take away even from these little snippets of this movie is that I somehow feel the urge to buy a BMW now...
I felt the same way. Marvel must have traded in the Audi's.
I think that red one was a 435 -- saw one on the road yesterday. One of the few current cars that aren't flat-out hideous.
Is no one going to tell him that Shang and Katie were just friends?
I came here from Ryan's Pitch Meeting - which has a funnier take on that. :)
They are both so average looking they both can do better lol
Are you serious? That literally makes it 1000x worse. Her purpose there is now even more unwarranted
@@kaleb5926 yup. And it seemed akward like it would only make sense for teenagers to behave that way. But They are all grown
@@SHNASTDOG Part of the movie's themes is that they're still acting like children and need to grow up. Plus it also shows how much she cares for him and how much he values her.
The entire time I watched Shang-Chi, and especially after finishing, my primary thought was "how is this part of the Marvel universe". Because apart from throwing some known characters and names on screen, it consistently felt like its own standalone movie, which would honestly have made it better. Not great, but better.
The choreography was easily the best part of the movie for me. That's about it.
I appreciate most of the criticism but I think Drinker is being unfair reducing the female parts of the family to "strong female characters". There was a clear explanation of the magic that allowed the mother to beat the father and I thought the scene that explained the sister's rage and resentment toward the brother was really compelling. He was her protector and only real family and he abandoned her and broke a promise. Drinker makes it like she should just be over it and understand that "he must have a really good reason". That's preposterous. The movie just lost me at the end with Awkwafina sharpshooting magical dragons with a bow. Movie was really cool up until the final setting, I thought. Kung Fu scenes were pretty sick and the fight between the mother and father in the bamboo forest was absolutely beautifully done. I just wondered why the dad seemed to not care at all that a bunch of his men in the jeep were all just killed moments ago. Not a perfect film for sure, but it was freaking Citizen Kane compared to most of the other movies that you have trashed in the last 5 years.
The father was an immortal super villain. His henchmen are just mortal disposable pawns to him. So it makes sense he only spent effort to save himself and didn't even look back at his lost soldiers.
Yup
I totally agree, I will say though, for katie shooting the dragon in the throat that for as unrealistic and kind of bs it was for he to all of a sudden land the shot, It fits the overarching story of her character in finally meeting some type of true potential.
@@thebeatleswin1 Haha so true. I predicted that story arc the moment they mentioned Katie doing archery and that comment about needing to shoot the dragon's throat xD
Nah I disagree I thought they were bad.
"Like with Tatyana after a couple of lines of cocaine, I'm going hard and fast on this one". I love you, man. 🤣🤣🤣
Tatyana is getting quite the backstory built. When will she have her own channel?
@@christopherjones5446 better than most characters nowadays. Hero of another story.
Who is Tatyana?
@@papias133 the Drinker's usual.
@@Intio I get a feel for her moreso than Rey and Michael Burnham combined.
From what it seems so far in their shared backstory and dialog, Katy and Shang-Chi were never presented as a romantic couple. They're best friends since high school. I think this is a first for an MCU film with a male lead. The romance story is given to the father/villain.
On that note, can we acknowledge for a moment how much dramatic weight and nuance Tony Leung brought to the character of Wen Wu/the father/aka not the Mandarin. He easily carried many of the scenes. For anyone who is a fan of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, he is likely the biggest draw for a lot of viewers.
Then what the fuck was katy's point? I'm pretty close to all my childhood friends, but if one of them was a secret assassin and I was a useless idiot I'd much rather not get in their way.
@@grimnir8872 Sure. I'm not trying to justify her role in the film. Just pointing out that since Drinker felt they didn't have a single romantic moment among them, they were never intended to be a romantic couple in the story.
There was a male lead?
@@grimnir8872 maybe watch the movie and form your own opinions lol
Sorry for the interruption, I know this has nothing to do with the video but it's for you, to whoever is reading this, and it's urgent.
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I just don't feel drinker even watched this movie. Shang chi and Katy are platonic friends rather than lovers. Xu Wenwu doesn't call back his children because he needs them, rather he wants to be a family. And even the water map was important cause the entry to the village is protected by bamboo forest that keeps on changing and he found out that cause he was lucky(movie convenience) but this time he needs him and his army to enter the magical village. I understand the criticism but most of them are not even valid. The mom is a strong female character but not without a reason. It's explained in the movie had you watched it
agreed.
He's insulting the writing, and you aren't really listening to his logic. All of the writing is convoluted and nonsensical. For example, why would Katy just up and abandon her life to follow her 'friend'? I have really good friends, but I wouldn't risk my life in some magical war because they didn't even ask me to go
@@desertratz307 I mean one point wrong doesn’t invalidate the other points that op pointed out.
Katy is pretty bad character though and shouldn’t be here
8:35 you ask why he needed the necklaces in the first place. Back when their father went the first time, he never successfully made it to the magical bullshit village. His car was directed out of it and fell off a cliff. He meandered to a random clearing in the forest where he met his future wife, but that still wasn't the magical bullshit village. That's why he needed necklace GPS. Hopefully that somewhat alleviates your questions about the plot in the first half. Great videos!
I always found it bizarre that the father didn't question the fact that the voice he believes to be his wife now seems to only know the phrase "help me", and that the delivery of such phrase sounds like a text to speech programme.
"Nah, it'll be fine"
-Dad-Chi probably
i mean she was very important to him like that girl changed a conwurer over 100 years to a family man. Probably he was just blinded by love
@@pixelgood3258 lets say he lost his mind when he found her death, the hope of her being alive is what makes him do stupid things...
i would find more realistic that he wants to release the soul sucking demons on the village that rejected him years ago... who knows, sounds more like a man like him would do...
@@omegarugal9283 yeah i mean he saw her dead on the floor soo yeah
@@omegarugal9283 I don't like that, that would mean that everything his wife changed in him would go to waste. You can see from the flash back, after her death, that he still cared for his son and daughter but grew more and more addicted to revenge starting to pull apart their relationship. In that time period he was seeking power just like you said, but after his son and daughter left he most probably felt shitty again just like when his wife died. The time period after they left must have been when he fell the hardest, losing his wife and kids and thinking that getting his wife back would bring not only her but also his son and daughter
there's a scene where shang-chi is forced to ride in the backseat of a car while all the other characters do things. I felt like that was the perfect metaphor for the whole movie.
OH YEAH Trevor was in the front while Katy was driving lmao
Would that car happen to be a BMW by any chance...?
Might just be me, but there seems to an awful lot of them in this review... 🤨
@@residentelect Bmw and Hyundai are sponsoring marvel movies, they appear a lot, specially bmw in Black Widow and now in Shang-Chi
@@WrathofFenrir99 it's like you don't understand what "metaphor" means
@@WrathofFenrir99 "unbelievableness" is not a requirement for metaphors or other forms of figurative speech. You're grasping at straws here just quit. You're trying so hard for me to be wrong that you're not even paying attention to what I'm saying.
This story would’ve been way better if it was just about Wenwu preparing to take over the world using the rings and wanting his son to be his successor, but then Shang-Chi refuses and that’s the main conflict of the story. Shang-Chi tries to take the rings from his father but he lacks any sense of who he is and he’s conflicted with himself, so the movie is about his story and path of self discovery by learning about his family roots and history in order to become strong enough to defeat his father in the climactic end, ultimately taking the rings for himself after he becomes worthy. I feel like a more tightly written, personal story would’ve been better than the typical big CGI monster fight at the end with CGI this and CGI that and CGI everything. CGI is a useful tool but if an entire movie relies on it and not the writing, it’s a bad movie. Regardless of how good the visual effects look. Also, I find Shang-Chi’s sister (forgot her name) in this movie to be redundant and practically useless. In my vision she’d be removed and give more time and attention to Awkwafina’s character so that she could grow and develop throughout the story with Shang-Chi instead of just being comedic relief and somehow good with a bow and arrow at the end for seemingly no reason
This is marvel, it has to go cosmic bruh
From the music, to the ideas, to the fight choreography, and other small details you could tell their was a genuine effort to do something here. I felt like the drinker was a little to harsh on this some considering he gave multiverse of madness a easier time. Maybe if the move was given more time in the oven instead of being pushed out like modern marvel it would have been an amazing watch.
My wife and I just watched the Netflix movie “Sweet Girl” last night and I’d LOVE to see the Drinker give his thoughts on that train wreck. With so many media venues this day trying to generate content it’s sad to see what stuff they come up with.
Lmao I was at my father in laws birthday party the other week and some fifty year old lady was raving about sweet girl, haven’t watched it would much rather see the drinkers take on it
That sounds bad.
Fast Food syndrome
I kinda saw the 'plot twist' coming but ignored it initially as the fight scenes seemed plausible with a 6'3 Jason Momoa but I lost it at the end when the 'Sweet Girl' turned into Jason Bourne! Hahahaha :D
Some say that there's a legitimate shortage of 'comedy films' but they're very much around - just in the guise of superhero/action thrillers these days! *SMH*
what a stupid movie that was
Damn, Tatiana really has been through a lot over the years.
Does she have her own channel? Asking for a friend.
To think drinker isn't her only customer. We don't know a third of her exploits
And, apparently, a lot has been through her.
her c-section scars have c-section scars
She's the model for Strong Female Character #xxx 🤭
Thanks for another deep, thoughtful review. For me, Katy was the only part of this film that made any sense. She was so bored that she took any opportunity for excitement (e.g. joyriding). When she saw that Sean was an avenue to over-the-top danger, she went with him, hoping to fulfill her own deathwish.
Katy and Shang-Chi are not lovers at all. There were some scenes that were total cringe, but I really liked it.
The audience wants action entertainment where they don't have to think too hard about things (or be lectured). It's why transformers was incredibly successful despite the story plot holes.
EDIT: I meant the Shia Ledouche Transformers.
EDIT 2: Some movies call for deductive and critical thinking, but I don't really consider those "blockbuster summer action films" that make 100's of millions at the box office. Movies like Memento, The Machinist, or Primer or those that require the viewers to think and rewatch.
YUP
And thats why Transformers are lately not remebered as fondly than the first original Transformers movie .
No one can beat the Soundtrack , the action and the emotions that come out in that movie.
Micheal bay never had the touch , so he never got the power. Yeah ....
The Transformer movies all sucked, and got worse with each sequel.
They were good if you wanted to watch giant cgi robots beat the shit out of each other but other than that it’s only 1 and 3 that are actually worth watching
Bumblebee was way better but I still prefer the 80s film, nothing can top that
This honestly felt like a bad popcorn version of a John Woo movie, and that's what I paid for.
Let’s be honest: If Shang Chi, Strong independent sister, & Awkward-fina sister had to fight Hawk from Cobra Kai, the three would be slaughtered in Half 🐍
It’s a been a Long & Hard time since I got the like from the Drinker, I am honored 🍻
I would pay to see that fight, to be honest.
No.
@@alextheblueman-reviewergam9655 be a great fight
Considering an Olympic women's soccer team got their asses kicked by a 15 year old soccer team, I believe it.
The concept of the ten rings and how they were used was my favorite part of the movie, it was practically why I watched the movie.
This trend of putting strong women characters equal to or better than the male lead in a male-hero movies is much worse than the lame men in female-hero centric movies. It sends the message that no matter how capable the women are, they only deserve to be supporting characters (the Trinity syndrome).
I think it's just part of our social evolution though and hopefully we'll move to more balanced characters soon.
interestingly enough, if you've read/watched chinese martial art stories, Shang-chi's reliance on anchient magical mumbo jumbo isnt actually that far off from how those stories handle their plots. You just kinda accept them. I'm suprised Shang-chi didnt include much about cultivation. Which is a common trope in cn martial arts fantasy media.
in chinese martial art stories you are supposed to find a ancient scripture that teaches you how to practice the magical mumbo jumbo, or you find the old master that know how to do the mumbo jumbo and convince them to teach you
ikr. As someone who has read xianxia and wuxia novels, i was pretty happy how they included it in it. They didn't go full xianxia mode, and included it naturally (as much as they can). When i saw wenwu and his wife fight and how they mentioned dragon scale armour, i was like, "ah.. Typical". But normal movie goer might not get it. The balance they achieve in making the script is amazing.
Probably saving it for a sequel as a way to merge what gave his mother power with what gave his father power. Explaining a whole system of growing magical bullshit would confuse this already confused plot even more.
Even the Jackie Chan Karate Kid movie with Will Smith's kid has fantastical allusions. About your life force and energy. And about how Kung-Fu and martial arts cannot be mindless. Because warriors do not fight mindlessly. And Kung-Fu isn't just beating people up, its about how you wear your jacket and how you respect people and do your best to avoid fighting before it becomes absolutely necessary.
And then you watch this movie and "we need an action scene so lets write one in, even when it doesn't fit". Why?!
People are calling this a Martial Arts movie. Firstly, the idea that everything "Asian" is martial arts is laughable and stereotypical. And secondly, this is more Fast & Furious shlock than martial arts movie.
Probably because "sitting on your arse for literal decades until you magically become better at everything" doesn't land itself well for the Marvel Capeshit action flick format.
I still cannot get over the lead actor’s arrogance to state how he is the first Asian “hero” in Hollywood. Because Bruce Lee wasn’t a real person and all.
Liu is just a plank of wood: boring and bereft of anything interesting to say.
maybe he mean comic book hero hero? IDK xD
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk He did...He even said, "superhero".
@@Ubreakable-lr2dk sunfire, liu kang, jubilee, morph? If he's talking about created time, then in captain america's first movie, sure marvel promotes his movie as first avenger but only to a small extent of the promotion. Does chris evans goes around saying 'FIRST AVENGER!' like a narc?
@@sophrenia I mean we need to figure out what he meant by superhero is there a difference between a hero and a superhero?
She was the daughter of a 100+ year warlord and magical martial artist woman, it would make sense for her to be a “strong female character”
This is Simu Liu's first lead role in a film, having previously had supporting roles in his career.
Awkwafina was the first actor cast in the film.
The symbols in the Ten Rings logo are Chinese characters: "quan" (authority), "li" (power), "zhuang" (strong), "wei" (extraordinary), "jie" (outstanding), "shi" (influential), "hong" (grand), "xiong" (mighty), qiang" (strength) and "wei" (dominant).
This is renowned Hong Kong film actor Tony Chiu-Wai Leung's first role in an American film and his first English-speaking role, even though he has always spoken it fluently.
The red and black suit Shang Chi acquires at Ta Lo is a homage to the suit he wore in the Jonathan Hickman "Avengers" comics.
The filmmakers cite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Tai Chi Master (1993), the The Matrix (1999) series, Donnie Yen's "Ip Man" films and Jackie Chan films as an influence on the martial arts action. Michelle Yeoh starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
Shang-Chi is the first superhero film with an Asian leading protagonist for Marvel Studios.
The bus fight is loosely inspired both by Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton.
Shang" and "Xia" are homophones (same sound different Chinese characters) of "up" and "down", respectively, in Chinese.
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung was thrilled to join the film as he is a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This movie was going to be made by Paramount Pictures before Disney bought Marvel.
This is the second movie where Awkwafina had apologized onscreen for her poor Chinese. The first was The Farewell (2019).
In Xialing's room there is an AC/DC poster implying she is a fan of the band. AC/DC songs are well-known to be part of the Iron Man (2008)'s soundtrack as well the sequels.
Many of the scenes were visually inspired by Akira Toriyama's popular manga and anime series Dragon Ball (1986), which Destin Daniel Cretton is a fan of. The "Kamehameha" energy wave is also mentioned by Katy in the film.
Ludi Lin, Steven Yeun, Mike Moh, Alex Landi, Lewis Tan, Edward Zo, Liviu Covalschi and Ross Butler were considered for the role of Shang-Chi.
First film by Destin Daniel Cretton to have a predominantly Asian cast.
...Thanks for the spew of internet trivia?
Wenwu, “not FuMachu”, captures his children because he wants to put his whole family back together. Wife and kids. The movie is pretty obvious about his reasons.
It's pretty stupid, considering he's 1000 years old.
@@RKNancy 1000 years old, but has only been a father and husband for a small fraction of his lifetime.
@@1HeatWalk was there even an explanation for how he’s lived that long? I may be forgetting things so that may be my bad but the information about the rings and what they grant is so utterly vague. All I kept thinking towards the end is “how the fuck is Shang-Chi, the person now wielding these rings for the first time, outfighting his father whom had been wielding them for years?” A vast majority of this film felt unbelievably contrived imo.
@@Krax0n- yeah in the beginning of the movie described a powerful man who rumored to have found rings from a crater or a tomb which granted him immortality. He could have used the rings for good, but he used it for POWER instead. Also the aunt said Shang-Chi is a product of those who came before him. WenWu (the father) as Yang the dark side with a hard fighting style and Ying Li (the mother) as Ying the bright side based on soft fighting styles. WenWu was unstoppable but he could never beat Ying Li in a fight. Shang is born from their love and learned to embrace both fighting styles and becomes a better fighter than his parents. For me, the rings only improves your Kung Fu but it doesn't teaches you how to fight and that explains why the rings found Shang to be more worthy than his father.
@@Krax0n- the rings grants it wielder Immortality/invulnerability in some capacity as long as they wear it I think. It stopped their aging process.
The Critical Drinker is dropping another well crafted bomb again. I swear Awkwafina seems to be the flavor of the week when it comes to the "funny" Asian female character trope these days. When I initially heard of this film. I initially thought it was one of Disney's TV shows.
@Jello as an asian, I concur lol
Cuz she’s a caricature of Asian community . They wouldn’t prop up someone who would actually do positive
That’s what a diet of offal, neeps and tatties will do.
If it doesn’t have more eyelids than a Beholder holding an eyeball sandwich, then it’s not Scottish cuisine.
@@TeamBOBBYEE A caricature of asian community when did they have a caricature of a funny asian american. you probably havenst seen the movie lmao
Shes just cursed. Every movie shes been in has flopped.
Point of order: The Hand is also active in this universe, via the Netflix Marvel series. And the Eternals. And the Inhumans. And Shield. And the Kree. And that society of Wizard monks. And Wakandans. And the Azgardians, though I'm not sure how secret they are. So yeah, I'm a little concerned that basically everyone is part of a super secret organization. No wonder Earth is so hard to conquer. Every time you try, you accidentally draw the ire of dozens of secret superpowered ninja wizard aliens.
I'm getting kind of annoyed by the "strong female character" critique in this video. I do agree that it goes too far sometimes (especially the gender swapping that happens for no good reason) but here it just doesn't come off as a genuine criticism, and more like "another woke movie, because women". No. In this movie they actually show why the powerful female character (the mother) could beat the powerful male antagonist (the father). She uses his attacks against him and fights with a defensive style rather than being the aggressor. Makes total sense if you think about it for more than a second.
@@IoiniEverson I still don't think the daughter is a good example. The reason she is powerful is not "bacause woman" and no line of dialogue is even hinting in that direction either. If anything she was motivated by jalousy. Drinker missed the mark on this one, imo.
@@Nutbag517 I agree with you on the mom, but not the sister. I'm sorry, but there's no fucking way that she got not only as good as, but better than Shang, just by watching him practice from a distance. Trying to learn something like that without a teacher means there's nobody to correct small mistakes and bad habits once they form. Things that are hard to notice about yourself, but are clearly visible from the perspective of a master watching you. It also means that any mental exercises or mindsets needed to correctly perform are lost on her. The idea that she could be even better than her brother in this situation is laughable at best.
There's a similar situation with Katy towards the end, where she learns how to use a bow and hits a perfect shot in a matter of hours. And if that shot is instead meant to be seen as just dumb luck, then wow. She fulfilled the same role that literally anyone else there could have done better, and all for an unsatisfying lucky shot.
I kinda wished Tony Leung was Shang Chi. lol
Man is a freaking legend.
I agree, I've been a fan since I saw him in Hard Boiled with Chow Yun Fat.
I heard his character's toy / action figures sell really well, and michele yeoh's too I guess. The other characters? Not so good.
At this point I’m bored of Marvel. They’ve messed up so much that I don’t feel anything about their films because it’s just expected to be dissatisfied.
It's fast food movie making
@@NeverSaySandwich1 2 mcchickens and a mcflurry away shots the spot. After a blunt or sum don’t even get me started. Then I work out the next day and eventually I get mcdicks again at some point. Cause it’s good. I’d argue great.
Endgame was the literal end.
i just hope that guardians of the galaxy and ant man are good, but kang is not the best avengers enemy, but opens wide the time travel doors, alot more than endgame did
its disney...disney is the reason Marvel sucks now. They are buying everything they can to help push this woke crap on us from every angle and genre.
Disney is your enemy more than you realize.
Would have liked if they incorporated more of the fantastical stuff that appears in the finale, earlier and more regularly.
She's not his girlfriend. They're just friends
The reason I didn’t see the dads reaction as cheap is that grief is a hell of a bitch and that made his character very understandable. The pacing was still super annoying and a lot of it was hard to immerse myself in but his motivations were believable
I gotta be honest. My wife and I watched this in theaters yesterday for our 7 year anniversary and I unplugged my brain when it started and it was an absolute awesome movie. A breath of fresh air for an origin’s story compared to all the other ones that have become mundane.
I took it as an origin story that marvel retconned it into the MCU and i just didn’t ask questions. Wasn’t preached to politically or “morally” so that’s a plus
I think making the story tighter and everything more centered on shang and his dad would have 100% given this movie the grounds to explore their characters in deep and meaningful ways while still having some cool kung fu style fighting scenes.
Take out sister, take out love interest girl whatever her name is, take out the guy with the faceless demon and the whole secret world.
The mother could have just as easily been just a part of a hidden village that is spiritually enlightened and that is why she is able to fight the way she does.
Overall though the fact that this is the best marvel of phase four is friggin tragic.
My main criticism is it feels like a bollywood movie with the romantic dance fight and what not.
The headless feathered monster is called a Dijiang and is representative of chaos and confusion in chinese mythology and can communicate with Trevor because Trevor is also in a state of confusion and chaos
See now why didn’t they explain that? It makes more sense now lol
@@akilbrazier1421 movies dont have to explain everything. That would be boring and Im sure many people would complain either way
@@pedrogheventer2566 Wtf that's idiotic. THIS is an information that should be conveyed in the movie, without which it became as CD says in the review
@@pedrogheventer2566 It's best to explain these things, but it's also a challenging to as well. It's not like movies can just put ad breaks or captions whenever it's convenient.
Best way I can think of is a slight mention.
Edit: There's probably better ways.
@@lightningpenguin8937 The better way is to establish the rule before the main conflict. So that you can use it to solve the conflict.
When you're describing Shang-Chi, it basically sounds like you're describing Finn.
They didn’t do him that bad
who??
This movie is citizen Kane next to Iron Fist lol
@@Therealfakemaxgoldberg OP doesn't mean actor Finn Jones, they're talking about Finn from Star Wars
@@Ebon_Sean well, the comparison still holds imo
Hahahahahaha! I love flowing salt in this review. For some reason, it is funnier than normal.