Ring of honour
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
Cert 12A
W★★★★ e’re 13 years into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the comic book giant has delivered its first martial arts movie. The 25th film in the franchise is at its most enjoyable when it allows us to forget its links to Marvel.
When we meet former stuntman Simu Liu’s new Avenger, he’s going under the alias of Shaun and working as a hotel valet driver in San Francisco with his kooky best mate Katy (Awkwafina).
Just as we’re settling into a gentle slacker comedy, the pair take a very eventful bus journey. When a gang of thugs try to steal the pendant hanging on Shaun’s neck, the valet driver responds with a blistering volley of martial arts moves.
After a wonderfully choreographed fight scene morphs into a thrilling Speed-style tear-up through the streets of San Francisco, Shaun reveals his true identity to his bewildered best pal.
Turns out he’s the son of centuries-old supervillain Wenwu (Tony Leung) whose superpowers come from ten snazzy bracelets.
We met him in the balletic fight scene that served as the film’s prologue.
Worried that his estranged sister (Meng’er Zhang) will be targeted next, Shang-Chi races to Macau with Katy in tow. A brilliant opening half-hour ends with a Jackie Chan-influenced sequence on a skyscraper covered in bamboo scaffolding.
As this is an Avengers movie, we suspect we’re heading towards a finale featuring CGI monsters and some sort of inter-dimensional portal.
But while the destination is crushingly familiar, the journey is exhilarating.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton barely puts a foot wrong, blending blistering action with epic family drama and wellhoned physical comedy.
And as a non-annoying comedy side character, Awkwafina may prove to be a vital cog in the Marvel machine.
A wonderful fight scene morphs into a Speed-style street tear up