What I know of Marvel Comics’ history with Asian representation and culture isn’t good. Stereotypes of course pervaded a lot of comics in the old days of the form, but Marvel dipped into them rather noticeably; it had for many years a racial caricature of a principal villain called the Mandarin, a Chinese despot, martial arts master, and archenemy to Iron Man. Another staple of popular racism, Fu Manchu, actually featured in the comics too for a time before the company lost the rights to the character. He likewise was a shallow and lazy villain whose primary purpose was to be the nemesis of a new Marvel character called Shang-Chi, introduced in the early 1970s no doubt to capitalize on the then massive popularity of Bruce Lee and the mainstreaming of martial arts in America. In this though, Shang-Chi became one of the first Asian superheroes in American comics, gradually beginning the process of atonement for such gross exaggerations that preceded him.
Ever the Disney tradition, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings does not address Marvel’s poor track record of depicting Asians, barring a single reference to Iron Man 3 and that film’s initial villain being drawn from the same stereotype source as this one. However what it does do is centre the Asian-ness of its’ story and characters without concession. It’s themes and aesthetics may still be largely western and typically Marvel, but it is without a doubt a singular entity amidst a universe that is becoming increasingly insular.
That said, the Ten Rings have been referenced before in the MCU, though I don’t recall it myself. It is a private Chinese army and espionage network named for the ten super-powered rings wielded by their immortal leader Xu Wenwu, played by the great Tony Leung. And they have been tasked with finding his son Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), who ran away as a teenager after having been bred as an assassin and currently lives a relatively normal life in San Francisco. There isn’t much of a legend at play either in the organization or the rings themselves, which are left as yet another nebulous magical object to be explained in future Marvel installments. However there is substantial backstory that informs much of the movies’ conflicts and characters -and in an unusual move for Marvel, it is all subtitled. In fact this movie probably features more non-English dialogue than any other in the MCU, so taken it is with its’ culture of choice.
The movie is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and he expectantly pulls heavily from Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts films: urban examples for sure, of the classics of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, but more often highly regarded wuxia films like Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, both of which share actors with this movie and are directly homaged in certain shots or edits. The martial arts are one of the major selling points of the film, its’ clearest aesthetic distinction among the other Marvel properties, and in some regards they certainly don’t disappoint. These are some well-choreographed and inventive fight scenes and set-pieces (although the big bus fight doesn’t quite live up to the one in Nobody earlier this year). In a system where so much action is intangible, it’s nice to note that these beats are quite obviously real -Simu Liu has no stunt double. They’re often creative as well, utilizing details of the environment in fun and exciting ways. However a lot of the time the fights aren’t very visually interesting: the cinematography and editing, though not as obstructive or incomprehensible as may have been feared, aren’t dynamic, and betray Cretton’s lack of experience with martial arts directing. Occasionally there is a great visual moment, as when Shang-Chi engages one of his assailants in front of an open window back-lit by a neon screen -but it comes at the end of a sequence fought along the scaffolding outside a skyscraper that is poorly lit and kind of muddy. And the fighting in the climax typically is propped up by fairly boring CGI, incorporated into the characters’ techniques so as to deprive them of their authenticity.
But this area of the climax is nonetheless compelling because of the dramatic stakes between hero and villain. Shang-Chi, much like its’ immediate Marvel predecessor Black Widow, is really the story of a fractured family. Like in Black Widow, there was a short period in their childhood where both Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) lived in relative happiness with their parents, that was at once taken from them with the death of their mother, an act which continues to scar and motivate all three of them in differing ways. It’s a more interesting dynamic though than Black Widow, which was about the familial feelings of four non-relatives forced into a controlled family unit. Here the bonds, despite being so dysfunctional and dissonant, are stronger and more layered, especially between Shang-Chi and Wenwu -the former of whom resents and hates the latter for conditioning him into becoming what he is now. It’s the source of an identity crisis for the hero: who is he apart from what Wenwu made him into? What can he be?
Simu Liu plays this internal struggle very well, proving that the little-known Canadian sitcom star was the right choice for the part. And he largely excels in the role’s comedy too, no doubt due to all those years honing such skills on Kim’s Convenience. Unequivocally though it’s the performance of Tony Leung that rises above everything else in the movie. The Hong Kong legend’s Hollywood debut is exactly as compelling and complex as expected, his character such a perfect multi-faceted contradiction of actions and values -instantly ascending to the highest tier of Marvel villains. Any time he enters a scene he carries such gravity, such raw humanity and a palpable drive, and as has often been commented on, his transfixing eyes convey so much more than his mere dialogue -which is in English for the first time. Leung isn’t the only Asian cinema royalty to appear in the film though -Michelle Yeoh, seemingly required for every Asian-dominant Hollywood movie, appears as another relative of the Xus. Awkwafina, likewise a staple of this Asian Renaissance, is the principal audience surrogate character and best friend of Shang-Chi. There’s a minor though not terribly fulfilling arc for her, of trying to find direction in her life -in mirror to Shang-Chi -but mostly she’s there to bridge the gap between the Asian subject matter and American audiences. Zhang, a Chinese theatre actress, is also really good, and there’s one returning Marvel cast member some suspected might show up who does, and is for the most part an utter joy -even if the appearance comes off as an over-correction for a problem that was never really there.
Shang-Chi appropriates a lot of Chinese mythology and iconography, particularly in its’ last act which features heavily creatures, concepts, and fashions associated with Chinese culture. Indeed the pool of artistic reference points are almost uniformly concentrated in China and its’ cultural diaspora (also the biggest international market for the movie) leaving it lacking that Black Panther pan-African identity it’s no doubt aiming for. But that’s not to take away from the real representational importance of the movie or its’ legitimate distinctions from other mainstream blockbusters. Shang-Chi is the first post-Endgame Marvel title to suggest there can be a future for this franchise beyond simply increasing the scale of the crossovers (the multiverse idea they seem to be pursuing isn’t very creatively exciting for me). And in a series that has recently taken an interest in the subjects of grief and family, this movie probably does them the most justice.
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