Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has been out for a long time, but I wasn’t too interested in checking it out. Don’t get me wrong, it looked like a great movie, I just wasn’t interested in watching movies at the time. One day, my parents put it on and I decided to sit down and watch it. When I sat down to watch, I didn’t know what I was expecting. Marvel movies always have a way of surprising me. I usually have no idea what I’m in for when I start a Marvel movie. This time, Marvel introduced a completely new character to me. I had never seen or heard the name of Shang-Chi (despite him being in the Marvel comics), and I had no idea what the ten rings were. Despite these factors, I had a good time watching the movie.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows the story of Shaun. Shaun is a seemingly normal individual; he works as a valet driver with his best friend, Katy. Stuck in their teenage delusions, they continue to live their life normally, until a group of shady individuals attack them both on their bus to work. Shaun figures out that these individuals are a part of his father’s group, the Ten Rings, and he makes it his mission to go find his sister. In hopes to find and help his sister, Shaun and Katy go to China, only to get himself and Katy into more trouble. Him, Katy, and his sister have to deal with larger problems than just Shaun’s father’s organization, and along the way, they uncover more secrets. 

In the end, Shang-Chi was a great movie. I had a lot of fun while watching it; the action scenes were wonderful and well done, and there were times where they gave me a good laugh. Like most marvel movies, the music completely enhanced the scenes and made the action so much better. I enjoyed how fast paced the movie felt, and even by the end, I wanted more. The movie felt short, despite it being over two hours long. The fight scenes had remarkable choreography and had a great sense of timing. It didn’t feel too fast that I couldn’t understand what was happening, but it wasn’t too slow that it felt boring. The slow downs within the fights were a nice touch and gave me a little more time to breathe. However, I did feel as if there was more action than dialogue. Most of the dialogue was needed for the story to continue, and somewhat impactful. The dialogue was mostly to show who the characters were and to move the story. Every now and then, there would be some quips, and some small jokes that I would chuckle at, but overall, I felt as if there was more action than dialogue. But considering it’s a superhero action movie, it would make sense.

Although not knowing anything going into the movie, I found Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to be a great movie and I am quite excited to see these characters in future Marvel movies. I can’t wait until they interact with more characters from the Marvel universe, and to see what other problems they encounter. This movie is definitely a fun one to watch and I would recommend it to people who enjoy action and to even just try it if you don’t.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.