Swaroop Landge

A pleasant surprise!!! This film really surprised me to be honest! I found it to be a breath of fresh air!! I am not familiar with the character at all so I had no idea what to expect from this film to be honest? However this was definitely one of the few MCU films in 2021 that I was genuinely intrigued to see because I am a big martial arts fan!!! I also wanted to see something different in the MCU? For the most part I absolutely loved this film!! However I do think the first half of the film is better than the second half though… It is very similar to Black Panther to be honest? But both films do things better than the other? It’s a shame that this film didn’t quite get the same reception as Black Panther did though… Nevertheless Shang-Chi is still a solid entry in the ever expanding MCU!!!! It feels fresh because we haven’t seen this type of MCU film in the MCU? It has elements of martial arts, fantasy, comedy and it gives the audience a world that we haven’t seen before in the MCU! Speaking of the martial arts, this film has by far the best fight choreography in the whole franchise!!!! I was honestly really surprised by that actually? The fight scenes are fantastically choreographed and you can see everything that is happening!!!! Simu Liu is a breath of fresh air as the title character! He is a very different type of superhero to what we are usually use to seeing in the MCU… He brings a lot of energy, humour, coolness and relatability to the character and overall film! He’s a likeable character who you want to see more of!! Simu Liu is going to be a big star I think!!! Awkwafina also really surprised me to be honest? She plays a really relatable character too who’s genuinely funny and also brings a lot of energy to the film! Meng’er Zhang is also a standout as Shang-Chi’s sister. She’s interesting and equally as badass! I really liked their relationship too! Michelle Yeoh is a great addition to the film as well! Florian Munteanu is another standout as the side villain Razor Fist. He’s a cool character who I enjoyed seeing onscreen! Andy Le plays another cool character; Death Dealer but unfortunately he doesn’t quite get the same payoff… His character’s death is underwhelming? But another big highlight of the film is Tony Leung as Wenwu/The Mandarin! He is one of the best villains in the whole MCU! He’s more than just a villain to be honest? He has a lot of depth and you can genuinely understand his motives! He’s surprisingly really relatable and you can even root for him! Obviously he isn’t a very nice guy or Dad but you can genuinely tell how much he cares about his family! All of this makes for a very compelling character!!!! He’s very much the heart of the film actually? It was also nice seeing Ben Kingsley back as Trevor from Iron Man 3 who provides a lot of laughs! Abomination from The Incredible Hulk also makes a small appearance too! I hope we get to see more of him in future MCU films… Overall this is a truly great film that has a lot of very clear messages about being yourself, being true to yourself, never giving up, family, managing expectations and discovering who you really are! I found all of these themes to be really effective! This is a seriously fun and enjoyable MCU film with a lot of heart, action, spectacle and characters that you want to see more of…