Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3rd, 2021)

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Nothing cool about fish man powers.

I agree. Aquaman and Namor are just underwater Tarzan without the stupid monkey sidekick.

 

[jye4ever]

I hate to say it, but the Rock would have been a better choice, back when the Rock had the hair and eyebrows.

Wow good eye

 

[jye4ever]

Are we sure getting offended is just an annoying modern generation problem….

Hmm go to 2:10

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Are we sure getting offended is just an annoying modern generation problem….

Hmm go to 2:10

Their fashion offends me.

 

[The Buffinator]

Just got back from seeing the movie. I quite enjoyed it. It definitely felt like Marvel decided to give Shang-Chi a few fantastical elements previously more associated with Iron Fist, what with the village of Ta Lo subbing for K'un-Lun, The Great Protector replacing K'un-Lun's dragon and the rings themselves being Shang-Chi's version of Danny Rand's fist. But I think giving him the rings makes sense going forward, allowing him to play on the same level as other super-powered MCU heroes (Phase 4 is already getting a Hawkeye in Kate Bishop, so no need for another one lol). I also like that there's a mystery behind the rings' origin & to where/who they're sending a signal. BTW, I may have just missed it but did Wong & company mention WHEN the rings started sending the signal? Was it when Shang-Chi obtained them, when he killed the Dweller-in-Darkness creature or do we not know? Regardless, it should lead to plenty of speculation as to who's on the receiving end. I'm going out on a limb right now and saying it's not Darkseid.

I thought the action sequences/martial arts fights were well done and the CGI for the fantasy elements in the final battle was top-notch. I also liked the family elements of the plot, although IMO maybe a couple of the separate flashbacks could have been combined to improve the overall pacing.

The one thing that didn't work for me was the Katy character. I have nothing against Awkwafina, but everything about the character felt forced and/or ridiculous (but not in an intended, funny way). OK, maybe I do have something against Awkwafina, because when she fell from the building during that fight on the scaffolding I was like "Oh, please let her die!". I also kept thinking Ali Wong would have been better for the role.

 

[jye4ever]

Just got back from seeing the movie. I quite enjoyed it. It definitely felt like Marvel decided to give Shang-Chi a few fantastical elements previously more associated with Iron Fist, what with the village of Ta Lo subbing for K'un-Lun, The Great Protector replacing K'un-Lun's dragon and the rings themselves being Shang-Chi's version of Danny Rand's fist. But I think giving him the rings makes sense going forward, allowing him to play on the same level as other super-powered MCU heroes (Phase 4 is already getting a Hawkeye in Kate Bishop, so no need for another one lol). I also like that there's a mystery behind the rings' origin & to where/who they're sending a signal. BTW, I may have just missed it but did Wong & company mention WHEN the rings started sending the signal? Was it when Shang-Chi obtained them, when he killed the Dweller-in-Darkness creature or do we not know? Regardless, it should lead to plenty of speculation as to who's on the receiving end. I'm going out on a limb right now and saying it's not Darkseid.

I thought the action sequences/martial arts fights were well done and the CGI for the fantasy elements in the final battle was top-notch. I also liked the family elements of the plot, although IMO maybe a couple of the separate flashbacks could have been combined to improve the overall pacing.

The one thing that didn't work for me was the Katy character. I have nothing against Awkwafina, but everything about the character felt forced and/or ridiculous (but not in an intended, funny way). OK, maybe I do have something against Awkwafina, because when she fell from the building during that fight on the scaffolding I was like "Oh, please let her die!". I also kept thinking Ali Wong would have been better for the role.

I actually felt the height during that scene on Imax I had chiils lol

But I agree she was the weakest part of the movie.

I also didn’t really like the village warriors.

Shang’s mother was from there and she could easily defeat the rings but the rest of them were dopey for lack of a better term.

Did she sleep with the dragon protector or what lol

At first I was convinced

Spoiler:

that her sister was really Shang’s mom in disguise.

 

[matticus]

https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/m...ook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm

 

[Victοr]

When HT finally makes Grand Admiral Thrawn you will have your Namor lol

Yeah, but he'll be blue and an Admiral, not a sexy demigod... But hey, the more old EU SW characters I get, the happier I'll be.

I’m a Namor fan myself and never understood the ‘roid look on a swimmer. John Byrne did a great run that I own and love. The guy can lean up before filming, hire an actor not the body. Otherwise we’d have more wrestlers playing these roles, oh the humanity.

It's not about being a mass of muscles, it's about fitting the role. The guy's 40, I doubt he can bulk and cut to the point of looking like a healthy and built 20 YO. He's not a sex god, at the bottom line. Namor was always supposed to be a sexy and alluring man. He shouldn't be as big as Thor, but he should be shredded at the very least. If they give him a diet, a workout regiment, dress him up and such (and please don't give him a beard, I've seen pictures of him with a half-assed mustache and just... no) I suppose he could look passable assuming good costuming. It's not bad casting on the level of Kang. But, at the end of the day, he's not "muh Namor". I guess at least the new direction could be interesting. Aztec/Mayan aesthetics are pretty cool.

I always thought Namor looked Asian. Back in the 90's, I thought Cary-hiroyuki Tagawawould have made a good Namor.

I never got that. Same with Terry McGinnis. They always looked like white guys with "hunter eyes" to me.

I hate to say it, but the Rock would have been a better choice, back when the Rock had the hair and eyebrows.

Wow good eye

The Rock doesn't fit Namor at all. This is just 2000s memecasting.

Nothing cool about fish man powers.

Magic rat wand powers are cooler.

I agree. Aquaman and Namor are just underwater Tarzan without the stupid monkey sidekick.

Plebs. Namor's great and anyone who can command the Ocean has a cool power defacto.

Spoiler:

I'm not a big Aquafan since I always found his personality rather generic and his outfit pretty ugly, but I never got the meme that water powers and being King of the Oceans somehow makes a character lame.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Plebs. Namor's great and anyone who can command the Ocean has a cool power defacto.

Spoiler:

Is his power to bore people to death?

 

[Victοr]

Is his power to bore people to death?

That's not a good way to talk about Doom's only frie- ally. Mostly. Sometimes.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

That's not a good way to talk about Doom's only frie- ally. Mostly. Sometimes.

No but seriously, how come they don't stop him? Is he powerful or something? He was on land in those photos, not the ocean.

 

[Victοr]

No but seriously, how come they don't stop him? Is he powerful or something? He was on land in those photos, not the ocean.

He just activated a bomb. Universes were colliding and one Earth had to die. The Illuminati went there to kill that Earth and save their own, plus both universes. Strange summoned some Eldritch Abomination and slaughtered the Not!Justice League:

Then one by one they all chickened out on activating the bomb:

So Namor just did what had to be done:

But then he went crying to Doom for help because he had literally teamed up with a bunch of cosmic homicidal maniacs:

But Doom blew him off:

Doom was doing the work long before:

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Interesting art.

 

[Victοr]

Interesting art.

Don't act like you're not impressed.

 

[Otomofan]

Those "modern" Marvel comics are bottomless pits of cringe.

Why are all the super-heroes so skinny and crying like a gaggle of pussies?

The 90s may have been more ridiculous and the EXXXTREEEEME look is really dated, but I'm still less embarrassed about reading those than I would be about reading this trash.

 

[Victοr]

Those "modern" Marvel comics are bottomless pits of cringe.

Why are all the super-heroes so skinny and crying like a gaggle of pussies?

The 90s may have been more ridiculous and the EXXXTREEEEME look is really dated, but I'm still less embarrassed about reading those than I would be about reading this trash.

"Modern" is a bit of a broad term. It's around 2013 that things shifted, and 2015-2017 that the real awful era reigned. In 2011 you had things like Uncanny X-Force, Hickman's FF which gave way to his Avengers run; it wasn't all bad. But around the time Bendis started writing Iron Man the whole industry shifted. The last two years or so have been marginally better, as things such as "HOLY MENSTRUATION" aren't published anymore. It's not like DC was better. Batgirl had transwomen talking about sexist doctors not wanting to put a fetus in their womb(?) way before Ewing added his own MtF character in Immortal Hulk. The 90s had their thing, which can be come dated or cringy, but at least it wasn't offensivelly awful.

It pains me that Green Lantern, just in a decade and some change, went from a nothing book, to one of DC's main attractions with tons of spin-offs and a widely expanded universe, to a bunch of mediocre series, a meandering two-season run by Morrison that ended on a whimper, and now this:

There's just no reason to be invested in these things. Keep liking that one run from your childhood, buy those specific costumes if they make figures of them, but let the "brand" go.

 

[Otomofan]

Oh, WAY ahead of you there, buddy!

 

[Victοr]

Oh, WAY ahead of you there, buddy!

Yeah, I was never so decisive in such regards. I'm getting better though.

 

[Otomofan]

So 72 for 3 days and projected 84 for the 4 days.

Not bad for a Z lister during a pandemic.

 

[GhostBeard]

It's not about being a mass of muscles, it's about fitting the role. The guy's 40, I doubt he can bulk and cut to the point of looking like a healthy and built 20 YO. He's not a sex god, at the bottom line. Namor was always supposed to be a sexy and alluring man. He shouldn't be as big as Thor, but he should be shredded at the very least.

I suppose that marks the difference in our personal views of Namor (a common issue among comic fans I think). My vision of him goes back to the original artwork of Everett and Kirby. Early on both Johnny Weissmuller and Fred Astaire would, as different stories go, provide inspiration for his physique and facial features. While you need the "Sue Storm was attracted to him" angle, I never thought that translated into 20 year old, shredded, underwear model-type. Chadwick was in his 40's too, I also didn't have a problem with his casting. Chris Reeves was a bean pole when casted, that worked out.

But I also don't understand the shade thrown at Zachary Levi's muscle suit. Not every actor is Cavill and willing, or able, to throw on mass amounts of bulk, which never (for me) lent to his effectiveness as the character. My take, your mileage may vary.