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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 2, 2021 7:32:04 GMT -5
I saw Shang Chi earlier today, and had a great time. Liked the story, action sequences (VERY well shot), acting performances, music, and most of the visuals. A lot better than my experience with Black Widow recently. It was nice to see San Francisco again personally, and to my surprise my current city was included. The English subtitles don't really do justice to some of the Chinese dialogue that is presented, but that is bound to happen with some lines due to pacing of certain scenes. When you do see Shang Chi be sure to of course stay until after all the credits have rolled. If it wasn't for COVID-19 I would go and see this film again in theaters, since the theater room I was in kind of sucked.
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Post by brutalis on Sept 4, 2021 16:50:46 GMT -5
Truly wonderful movie! Definitely NOTHING other than very basics of character for Shang and his father from the original 70's concepts. Which is perfectly fine as that stereotypical and somewhat racist portrayal wouldn't work for today. Movie creates a very good origin, dynamics and is NOT just a Kung-Fu action flick. It is a full blown Marvel movie with a superb story and great acting combined with what the MCU does best in delivering action, humor, story, CGI.
Tony Leung provides the BEST pseudo villain of all the MCU so far. He brings a level of depth proving "human" villainy far surpass any CGI villain. Shang by way of Simu Liu lives up to the promise of the meaning of his name: the rising and advancing of his spirit. Nice reimagining of the Ten Rings idea creating a unique action/mystical visual (like Strange did) as movie versus comic book concept. Would like to maybe see Shang become more creative with his use of the rings in coming pictures.
Spectacular popcorn fest of a movie!
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 4, 2021 23:41:09 GMT -5
Truly wonderful movie! Definitely NOTHING other than very basics of character for Shang and his father from the original 70's concepts. Which is perfectly fine as that stereotypical and somewhat racist portrayal wouldn't work for today. Movie creates a very good origin, dynamics and is NOT just a Kung-Fu action flick. It is a full blown Marvel movie with a superb story and great acting combined with what the MCU does best in delivering action, humor, story, CGI. Tony Leung provides the BEST pseudo villain of all the MCU so far. He brings a level of depth proving "human" villainy far surpass any CGI villain. Shang by way of Simu Liu lives up to the promise of the meaning of his name: the rising and advancing of his spirit. Nice reimagining of the Ten Rings idea creating a unique action/mystical visual (like Strange did) as movie versus comic book concept. Would like to maybe see Shang become more creative with his use of the rings in coming pictures. Spectacular popcorn fest of a movie! Yes, this is why I was excited a couple of years back when Tony Leung was announced as The Mandarin/Wenwu. He is an A++ actor. I actually came away from this film wanting to see an entire movie regarding just his story.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 4, 2021 23:45:54 GMT -5
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 5, 2021 7:28:24 GMT -5
Truly wonderful movie! Definitely NOTHING other than very basics of character for Shang and his father from the original 70's concepts. Which is perfectly fine as that stereotypical and somewhat racist portrayal wouldn't work for today. Movie creates a very good origin, dynamics and is NOT just a Kung-Fu action flick. It is a full blown Marvel movie with a superb story and great acting combined with what the MCU does best in delivering action, humor, story, CGI. Tony Leung provides the BEST pseudo villain of all the MCU so far. He brings a level of depth proving "human" villainy far surpass any CGI villain. Shang by way of Simu Liu lives up to the promise of the meaning of his name: the rising and advancing of his spirit. Nice reimagining of the Ten Rings idea creating a unique action/mystical visual (like Strange did) as movie versus comic book concept. Would like to maybe see Shang become more creative with his use of the rings in coming pictures. Spectacular popcorn fest of a movie! I have yet to see you pan a movie.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 5, 2021 9:10:33 GMT -5
This was a cool video looking at the contrast of the publication and the film.
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Post by brutalis on Sept 5, 2021 10:16:07 GMT -5
I will give a shout if I see a "stinker" Icctrombone, but i usually try to simply enjoy the movies I see. Also, I tend to only see the "bigger" movies that I WANT to see on the large screen. I am NOT a movie reviewer out to pick them apart looking at flaws or errors or to sing their praises for increased box office. I just provide my "personal" response to movies I enjoy. You can look but you won't find any comments from me on less than stellar movies which I saw as I prefer to just not comment on them. My posts are only for positive responses. In movies, comics, books, cartoons, music or anything else we discuss here in the CCF. I try not to dwell on or support negativity in any form.
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Post by The Captain on Sept 6, 2021 9:22:09 GMT -5
Since this wasn't streaming on Disney+, took the wife and daughters to see this last night. Theater wasn't packed, but there were enough people in attendance to give it a little of the old feeling (it was also probably because they had 6:30 and 8:00 showings on either side of the 7:30 showing we attended).
I can't say enough good things about this movie. It was probably the best-done MCU film in the past 5 years (taking out Infinity War and Endgame, which were epic in scale), far better than GotG 2, Dr. Strange, Captain Marvel, and even Black Panther.
Simu Liu was great in the title role, but the supporting cast didn't let him down. Tony Leung was so much more than a villain and his motivations, much like Erik Killmonger's, felt real, as it had nothing to do with money or power, and I want to know where Awkwafina has been all my life, because I adored her, as I did Meng'er Zhang as Xialing.
The action scenes were well done, although a little frenetic in places (it didn't help that the theater was a little on the small side, so I felt like I was almost on top of the screen, which made it hard to see from side to side as things were happening), but the human moments were realistic. This was a story about family and where people fit in the world, and that is what made it work.
I've seen folks online complaining about the "girl power" aspect of the film, as they felt it took away from Shang-Chi's story, but I felt that it added to the richness of the film, as the character development for Katy and Xialing was just as important as it was for Shang-Chi.
Loved it. 8.5/10
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 7, 2021 0:11:25 GMT -5
Since this wasn't streaming on Disney+, took the wife and daughters to see this last night. Theater wasn't packed, but there were enough people in attendance to give it a little of the old feeling (it was also probably because they had 6:30 and 8:00 showings on either side of the 7:30 showing we attended). I can't say enough good things about this movie. It was probably the best-done MCU film in the past 5 years (taking out Infinity War and Endgame, which were epic in scale), far better than GotG 2, Dr. Strange, Captain Marvel, and even Black Panther. Simu Liu was great in the title role, but the supporting cast didn't let him down. Tony Leung was so much more than a villain and his motivations, much like Erik Killmonger's, felt real, as it had nothing to do with money or power, and I want to know where Awkwafina has been all my life, because I adored her, as I did Meng'er Zhang as Xialing. The action scenes were well done, although a little frenetic in places (it didn't help that the theater was a little on the small side, so I felt like I was almost on top of the screen, which made it hard to see from side to side as things were happening), but the human moments were realistic. This was a story about family and where people fit in the world, and that is what made it work. I've seen folks online complaining about the "girl power" aspect of the film, as they felt it took away from Shang-Chi's story, but I felt that it added to the richness of the film, as the character development for Katy and Xialing was just as important as it was for Shang-Chi. Loved it. 8.5/10 This iteration of the Mandarin was something I never knew I wanted. He could have easily been portrayed as the amalgamation of Fu Manchu and the original Mandarin where he'd essentially be a cartoon mustache twirling villain that seeks power, and wants to punish his son that went into hiding. But he was given far more dimension than that. I came away from this film actually wanting to see a movie just about his character. Also, I'm not sure why folks would be complaining about women actually doing something in the film. Didn't detect any ulterior motive, or hidden messages of women empowerment in the script to the point where it would be pandering. Katy and Xialing helped Shang Chi as much as anyone else did, and they weren't just going to sit on their butts doing nothing. Seems like there will always be a contingent of yahoos with a political axe to grind even if a problem doesn't exist. Glad you and your family enjoyed the film. I'm already excited, and curious where the MCU takes Shang Chi next.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 7, 2021 11:17:22 GMT -5
I enjoyed the film a fair bit. I went in knowing I wasn't getting a martial arts/spy film (which is the Shang-Chi I grew up with) so that likely helped. Honestly this was really close to what I'd picture a good Iron Fist movie being.
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung may well have played the best Marvel villain we've gotten thus far. And it's always a joy to see Michelle Yeoh. I also really enjoyed seeing Benedict Wong as Wong with a life outside Dr. Strange.
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Sept 9, 2021 1:21:16 GMT -5
Shang Chi wasn't going to bomb. The only MCU movie that is arguable is Black Widow, and it took it to be released during the apex of the pandemic for that to even be considered.
Eternals won't bomb either especially with Chole Zhao in the director's chair. These MCU movies are guaranteed to make a decent showing at the box office at this point at worst. Fiege is 24-0.
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Nov 13, 2021 0:25:24 GMT -5
Watched this tonight since it's now on Disney+. Really fun movie. Great characters. Awkwafina rocks. Interested to see how this all plays out going forward with the greater MCU
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Nov 14, 2021 9:51:26 GMT -5
Very fun film, and Marvel absolutely needed some wuxia kung fu fighting! That being said, once the film spiralled into two enormous cg dragons battling each other, I sort of lost interest.
There was also an amazing opportunity to make this film about the perils of fake news and how it can tear a family apart, but it preferred to keep things light and simple, which is fine, but it also prevents Shang-Chi from really distinguishing itself beyond the awesome fighting.
Also, why the hell is he still as good of a fighter as his sister when she trains and fights everyday, and he just begins his days with pushups?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 14, 2021 10:25:05 GMT -5
Very fun film, and Marvel absolutely needed some wuxia kung fu fighting! That being said, once the film spiralled into {Spoiler}two enormous cg dragons battling each other, I sort of lost interest.
There was also an amazing opportunity to make this film about the perils of fake news and how it can tear a family apart, but it preferred to keep things light and simple, which is fine, but it also prevents Shang-Chi from really distinguishing itself beyond the awesome fighting.
Also, why the hell is he still as good of a fighter as his sister when she trains and fights everyday, and he just begins his days with pushups? Well, {Spoiler: Click to show}she did beat him! I'm a little harsher than you are, I'm afraid. Were it not for the excellent casting and the chemistry between the actors, I think the film would have just been a pretty generic CGI action flick. One that got me to check my watch at times, too. I liked how it gave the main opponent an unusual motivation, but I think that aspect was regrettably underplayed. In fact, it happened with quite a few good ideas scattered here and there... It's like the film tried to be something else than the result of a tried and true formula, but never quite managed it. It was a surprise and a joy to see a certain fake supervillain, though.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Nov 19, 2021 11:20:02 GMT -5
Very fun film, and Marvel absolutely needed some wuxia kung fu fighting! That being said, once the film spiralled into two enormous cg dragons battling each other, I sort of lost interest.
There was also an amazing opportunity to make this film about the perils of fake news and how it can tear a family apart, but it preferred to keep things light and simple, which is fine, but it also prevents Shang-Chi from really distinguishing itself beyond the awesome fighting.
Also, why the hell is he still as good of a fighter as his sister when she trains and fights everyday, and he just begins his days with pushups? Once it got to the whole secret world I found myself losing intrest, but everything before that was pretty fantastic. I especially loved the way they brought back Kingsly.
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