I love that they had Shang Chi follow through with his father's order cause it showed that he's a real person, as in not having stereotypical heroic morals and showed the guilt and shame he felt from getting the revenge he thought he wanted
This is a story that is so well told...I know for myself that parents with a past can be difficult, sometimes impossible, but the kind of people we choose to be isn't bound by that
Watching you go through the emotional progression of this movie was hard but I hung in there and I was not disappointed. Xu Wenwu is my favorite villain with Killmonger a close second. Its because they are complex and the MCU has had to take time to be able to develop more complex stories. There were reasons for this because of the differences between Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Studios but with their separation and Disney settling the political battle between Ike Pearlmutter and Kevin Feige Marvel Studios was able to gain the independence to tell their own stories. This follows a typical Chinese tragedy story arc where victory and the villain must come to sad resolutions for the hero. Xu Wenwu was never a good guy but he was a good father or as good as he could be. He loved his family and it was the realization of that love to allow him to sacrifice himself in the end to give his son and daughter the chance to be the heroes that they were born to be. A very Chinese American twist on good Chinese tragedy story telling.
@@OlmanWillo for me BP and Shang Chi are the two best MCU films, in either order. Most emotional depth and layers, which makes sense cuz they both have cultural significance. Close 3rd for me would be Guardians 1 :)
I personally felt Wenwu's characterisation was done better. Kilmonger started well but devolved somewhat to be "typical villan guy" with his take over the world plan by the end. Wenwu's arc through this film was facinating. An all conquering, immortal, warlord, who to his surprise, while in the middle of his quest for more power, found himself falling in love. So much so that he took the rings off, forsaking the immortality they gave him so he could be with her and raise a family. You get the clear impression that he would have gladly grown old and died with her had circumstances been different.
If Quantumania hadn't been almost entirely in the Quantum Realm, a Shang-Chi/Ant-Man team up would have made a lot of sense. They're both based in San Francisco, but a conversation between Katy and Luis would be scary.
i love how every reactor i've seen to shang chi goes in excited about simu and shang chi, but after the films done they discuss tony leung's wen wu the most. Fantastic casting all around and saying Tony leung is the highlight of the MCU for me is something i never thought i'd be saying but when he was cast i didn't have a doubt in my mind he would bring a complex range of emotions to this villian
The dad took him because he was the only one that saw who killed his mom that's why if you notice when they walk in his son gives him a lil nod of confirmation before he attacked the guys
Shang's sister is an AMAZING fighter. Driven with determination. A whole class of her own. But if it's compared to Shang... He's not known to be the Martial arts Master in the whole MCU for no reason. He is the best in that area. Nobody can beat him in the area of Martial arts, not even his sister. He was severly pulling his punches when he was fughting his sister in the ring because he didn't want to hurt her at all. Leading him to put his guard completely down. There's a lot that influenced bith of they're fighting styles but Shang has always been and is, at the end of the day, a far superior fighter.
Thanks Meg and caleb for reacting to this movie, it's one of my favorite of the MCU and also a comfort film for me (don't even know why). I also really liked your reaction, you both often have good insights and analysis on what you're watching. ^^
That fighting arena that Xialing runs is a buffet of easter eggs and cameos! A Black Widow assassin fighting an Extremis (Iron Man 3) soldier, The Abomination from the first Hulk movie fighting Wong, and I'm sure there's one's I've missed, but man, it's just so cool to see the landscape of brawlers expanded out that far since the start of the MCU!! Also... Broken record here... If you love easter eggs, interconnectivity and the expansion of the MCU, among other things, as much as I do, Agents of SHIELD is sooooooo worth it :P I also feel you can appreciate Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness MORE after seeing season 4 of Agents of SHIELD. It's not required, but it's like DLC in a video game. Totally enriches the experience :) Great reaction, as always, and enjoy!!
The narcissistic parents never changing hit close to home. Love the full circle arc for his dad, such a great villain who peeled back the layers to sacrifice everything for his son in the end. ❤🙏🏾
This is the first Marvel movie to bring true martial arts to the MCU going as far as to pay homage to two Jackie Chan classics. On the Bus as the thugs go after Katy, Shang-Chi fights them off, revealing he's more than just a valet. When one tries to grab him by the jacket, Shang-Chi wraps his jacket around the assailant's arms and knocks him back. He then quickly slips the jacket back on in time to drive an elbow into another goon's chest, which draws parallels to the supermarket brawl in Rumble in the Bronx, Chan's breakthrough in the American market. Another tribute to Chan comes later on when Shang-Chi tracks Xialing's fight club down in Macau. As the Golden Daggers underground circuit gets invaded by Wenwu's goons, a brawl breaks out that sees Shang-Chi and Katy try to escape via scaffolding on the side of the building. It mimics Rush Hour 2, where Chris Tucker's Carter and Chan's Lee ran afoul of the triads, which caused them to engage their enemies on a scaffolding outside a high-rise
I grow up watching Tony Lueng, he is a legend in Hong Kong. First time I saw him played a role in a foreign film. He played this villain role fantastically.
I can't tell if you're familiar with Ben Kingsley ( Mandarin actor dude). Just want to let you know that his body of work is quite extensive and significant in my humble opinion. Worth checking out his filmography.
The point of comparison I always have with Wenwu is Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion- men who view themselves as terrible people, only redeemed by the love of their wives. When that love is lost, they try to get it back out of the fear that they can’t be a worthy person, or worthy father, without their soulmate.
I love how you describe and do make it cultural based comment. Shang Chi did a great job portraying Asian’s household. Asian parents mostly do the tough love. They do realized and aware the world’s threat. They trained their child forsake of the child. They try to protect, rarely express their affection in scared of it makes us weak. But being loved wont make someone weak, it will makes us stronger. I hope that the later generation will combined the good of the traditional aspect and the modern for a better generation. And yeah … thousand years of violence wont erase that easily.
Shang-chi skills are so go he could beat bucky and Steve without the 10 rings. Using the Rings he could go toe-to-toe with someone on Thor's level. Two of the early fighters where a black widow assassin and extremist soldier from iron Man 3.Wong's opponent at the fighting pits was the abomination the villain from the incredible Hulk movie. The abomination evolved over time like Bruce did also he looks more comic book accurate. And if you noticed Bruce became human again when he became smart Hulk he merged the two states of being preventing from turning human again.
Like another comment mentioned Werewolf by night is perfect for a Halloween watch and is not connected to anything else timeline wise so it can be watched out of order, they have an in color version that just released by I recommend the original black and white it’s sooo good for a short film that came out of nowhere
I love this movie. I think one thing to think about with Wenwu is that he is a thousand years old. He'd have been a warlord in an age when the tactics he uses here would have been considered mild, even merciful, and he wouldn't have thought of himself as the bad guy until she taught him otherwise, and then after she died... yeah. Right back to what he had known for centuries.
The beginning of the new phase Despite what you have heard of future movies,Shang chi was pretty well recieved and did decently well despite being a covid movie at the time
I think he loved his kids strongly but her love for him was contingent on him becoming his better self. In order to protect and love his kids he thought it best to revert which of course was wrong.
If you liked this movie, I have to also recommend "Short Term 12", which was Destin Daniel Cretton's breakout directorial debut. An extremely underrated movie with an insane cast and heartbreaking story.
Thank you for these reactions!! SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS takes place in late Winter early Spring, 2024 just before the events of FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER, March-April 2024. This is according to the layout of the MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE official timeline (you can see this layout without dates on DISNEY+ in the Marvel section). How is this determined? The blip event where Thanos snapped away half of all life in Universe-616 ("the Sacred Timeline") ended sometime late September 2023 immediately preceding the Battle for Earth (see AVENGERS ENDGAME) on the Hudson Valley in the northern New York state. The blip had lasted five years and happened in 2018. The events of WANDAVISION take place in the weeks following ENDGAME, around Halloween time. The first three PHASE IV projects give us the whole direction and thrust of THE MULTIVERSE SAGA (Phases IV, V, VI and possibly VII). 1) WANDAVISION: introduces us to the Scarlet Witch, the most powerful being in the Multiverse. She is key to solving the Three Problems of the Multiverse Saga (1. The Dynasty of Kangs, 2. The Incursions, and 3. the even more powerful God-Emperor of Battleworld, Doctor Doom). 2) FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER: establishes Sam Wilson as the new Captain America, the hero who will unite New Avengers, Old Avengers, and Young Avengers to face the Kangs, and more importantly, will lead survivors from Earth-616 to confront the greatest of all supervillains, Doctor Doom. Aided by the Fantastic Four, Wilson will lead surviving heroes from Earth-616 and other lost timelines into Battleworld. 3) LOKI: introduces us to 31st-century Nathaniel Richards and his variants, the Kangs. His introduction as “He Who Remains” alludes to the coming of both the Fantastic Four (because all Kangs descend from Reed Richards) and the greatest threat and supervillain of all, Doctor Doom (for all Kangs use Doom’s Space-Time Platform). SHANG-CHI and its PHASE VI sequel, "THE WRECKAGE OF TIME," are very important entries in the MULTIVERSE SAGA. The Ten Rings are actually quantum technology used by a Kang-variant (see ANTMAN & THE WASP QUANTUMANIA), one who conquered the 41st-century Kree and Shi-ar Star Empires. The Rings are powerful: they can be used to create designer timelines editing alternate pasts and futures. These time-definat Rings (a wink at who they really belong to, Kang the Conqueror), prevent AGING to anyone who wields them (like they did for Xu Wenwu as seen in SHANG-CHI), and can be integrated into a Multiversal-Engine "Lifeboat", granting escape to anyone fleeing their dying universe undergoing an Incursion event (see DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS). The Rings and the Quantum Bands (see MS MARVEL, THE MARVELS) will play an important role when universes begin dying in Phase VI on the road to AVENGERS SECRET WARS. Remember these three points, what the Ten Rings really are, and be patient. Doom is coming.
where's Spider-Man: Far From Home, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Black Widow and What If... all of those come before Shang-Chi ?
Are you guys still moving through the MCU? This was 5 months ago, and while a lot of the post-Endgame MCU is less than expected, there's some gems in there. Guardians 3 is good. Black Panther 2 is decent.
We are! We just started Daredevil Season 2 and plan to get through pretty much all the current marvel stuff. Star Wars just has us hooked right now! - Caleb
My favorite Marvel movies are Spider-Man No Way Home, Black Panther, Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Captain America The Winter Soldier, & Iron Man. My favorite Marvel TV shows are Daredevil, The Punisher, Moon Knight, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, & Wandavision
Simi Liu is a stuntman a dancer and a martial artist he does his own stunts yes that was the great protector she was the dragon on the wall Auntie showed them when they arrived xx
are you guys gonna go back and watch the mcu disney plus shows and and movies before this? this doesn't spoil anything you skipped but j wondering if you're planning on doing all of it
my biggest pet peeve is the bus scene. buses use air brakes. they compress air to disengage the brakes and allow you to drive. if they cut the air line it would lose pressure and the brakes would automatically engage. the bus should have stopped rather quickly
Even if it didn't use air brakes cutting the brake lines is another Hollywood trope/myth, since it tends to be a fairly pressurized system where there would most likely be enough fluid already in the system to probably stop or at least slow down enough so it could have used the parked cars to come to a stop earlier. Tory Valachi, One of the former people from Mythbusters has a show now testing vehicle myths & tropes and one was them actually cutting a vehicle's brake lines to test the trope usually seen in mob/mafia movies of a hitman cutting a target's brake lines, it took several hours after cutting the brake line for most of the fluid to even leak out and then took multiple stops afterwards before it really affected their vehicle's ability to stop.
So let me get these straight, you purposefully don't watch these in theaters when they come out just so you can watch at home months later on a smaller screen?
Fun fact, Ta Lo is one of the 7 mythical realms on earth said to be the 7 capital cities of heaven or something like that, another of those 7 is Kun Lun from Iron Fist series! Very similar places only Kun Lun dragon has wings and it's heart gives the worthy champion who faces it, the power of the Iron Fist! Now imagine a Shang Chi sequel like (Shang Chi And The Legendary Iron Fist) DOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!!!!! Especially cause they both dipping major hip hop vibes and sick beats, sure Iron Fist would be recast though
Hi! I'm a huge fan of the Batman reactions, but had to kick in this door just to say... it continually surprises me how much your husband looks like Tom Holland. That's all. Have fun! You guys are awesome!
