'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

The latest film from Marvel is a significant step forward in many respects. Not only does it introduce a setting and a genre that have never been seen before in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also marks the beginning of Phase Four, which follows the experiment of new adventures for an old character that’s known as “Black Widow.” However, without a shadow of a doubt, the most fascinating aspect is that it paves the door for a new method of visualizing action in superhero movies, which was something that Marvel had been doing for a while but had not been doing.

It should come as no surprise: the success of “Avengers” demonstrated a new approach to filming superhero action that differentiated itself from all that had been seen up to that point. This was represented by the legendary battle of New York, which is so impactful that it is still reproduced today. From that point on, a series of visual constants have been repeatedly used, including editing that is near the limit of what is understood, extravagant camera motions that are backed by digital effects, rhythm that underlines the powers and qualities of heroes and villains, and so on.

In a manner that is consistent with logic, this repetition has been tailored to the qualities of the assortment of Marvel characters. In point of fact, it was the “minor” Marvel Cinematic Universe films that had the courage to innovate and differentiate themselves from the “Avengers” canon. With the mystical choreographies of “Doctor Strange” (which have an oriental air, which makes it a peculiar precedent of “Shang-Chi”), the games with the changes in size of “Ant-Man,” and the drier and more realistic action of “Winter Soldier” due to its connection with the conspiracy and spy films of the seventies…

In general, however, and taking into account the fact that different movies have varying degrees of humor, for instance, it is impossible to differentiate between an action sequence from a Guardians of the Galaxy movie and one from an Avengers movie with regard to humor. That is the Marvel style of filming action, which is effective and influential but which, ten years later, shows signs of exhaustion. This is demonstrated by the most recent solo hero movies from the house, such as “Black Widow” or “Captain Marvel,” as well as Marvel’s own television series, in which the action is by far the least relevant or memorable part of the whole project.

However, this does not imply that ‘Shang-Chi’ will bring forth a revolutionary change in the way that Marvel films action. To begin, the premise of the movie makes the kung fu choreographies, which are either more or less spectacular or more or less realistic, particularly fitting. These choreographies, for instance, would not be suitable for a future’Captain America 4′ film. Shang-Chi still has a long way to go before it can be considered on par with Asian action cinema, despite the fact that it draws inspiration from oriental cinema and the impact of the genre’s masterpieces is quite obvious.

Taking a look at the American billboard itself, which is a recently released Hong Kong film directed by Benny Chan, who is responsible for some of the best Jackie Chan films of this century and hits of the genre such as “Divergence,” “Point of Impact,” or “City Under Siege,” is all that is required to comprehend this particular point. ‘Raging Fire’ is a fantastic urban action piece that stars Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse. It is a film that, although having far more modest means, puts all of the action sequences in ‘Shang Chi’ to shame.

It is true that Shang-Chi has a greater number of bouts than usual, and that these fights are choreographed in the Hong Kong manner by a number of people, including Andy Cheng and Bradley Allan, who passed away not too long ago. Both of these individuals were close collaborators of Jackie Chan, whose style is fully sensed in the famous bus battle. However, the editing that was done by Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir, Nat Sanders, and Harry Yoon, who were obviously not accustomed to the Hong Kong style of editing (which is clear, open, and with cuts that function as full stops rather than exclamation points), Americanizes the action.

In the second half of the story, Shang-Chi takes a turn toward a more fanciful and epic tale, with Chinese fantasy monsters and armies engaging in combat in the conventional manner. It is obvious that this is a mention of the extremely significant Chinese market. In point of fact, the climax is a mismatch between the computer-generated imagery (CGI) effects that we will not get into here.

This mismatch obviously connects, more than with traditional Hong Kong fantasy and adventure cinema, with the most recent Chinese blockbuster productions, which are filled to the brim with a wide variety of digital effects to the point that they come across as terrifying. Whether Marvel can manage to rub elbows with China on its own soil thanks to that climax is something that needs to be seen, but if it does, it may open up new options for superhero cinema in particular and mainstream cinema in general.

‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

By b0oua

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