The MCU's latest film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, may signal a change in the style of storytelling and presentation of the entire series. While the story of Shang-Chi protecting the village of Ta Lo from his father’s forces is similar to the franchise’s formula, there are multiple aspects that are different and make the movie highly original.
These range from the film's direction and cinematography to its usage of characters to the themes employed within the plotline. It’s fascinating how Shang-Chi manages to stand out in a series that now includes 25 movies, so it’s worth taking a deeper look at how the film set itself apart.
Equal Importance For The Friend Character To The Story
For every Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, or Peter Parker, there has been someone like Bucky Barnes, James Rhodes, and Ned Leeds. These latter characters are supposed to play the role of a ive sidekick while the main hero gets the flash of the main storyline.
Shang-Chi changed this up by making Katy just as important as the protagonist, as she was never relegated to the sidelines. In fact, it was Katy who pushed Shang-Chi to reconcile with his sister and protect Ta Lo, while Katy herself was actively involved in the battle. Her importance was cemented in the ending when Katy and Shang-Chi were both summoned by Wong, which puts on equal footing with her superhero friend.
Importance Of A Language Other Than English
It hasn’t exactly been believable that just about every character in the MCU speaks English, which even extends to alien species seen in the Black Panther had brought forward a Wakandan language, it was only used sparingly.
The Chinese heritage of the characters was tied into Shang-Chi's dialogue. This firmly establishes where the characters are from and shows that they choose to speak English when they want to.
Extended Single Shot Scenes
It’s usually the best-reviewed movies in the MCU that have some sort of creativity involved in the direction and Shang-Chi shows why. The movie features several shots that don’t cut away but continue in an extended flow.
MCU movies largely featured several cuts in a single scene to present multiple points of view, but Shang-Chi went with following the main character in his fights. This entailed expansive shots that showed the environment where the battles took place with the camera following Shang-Chi as he completed his martial arts moves.
The Protagonist Has Multiple Flaws To Be Redeemed For In The Same Story
Shang-Chi ed the list of redemptive arcs in the MCU as his story kicked off by returning to the sister he had abandoned. In a change from the norm, the protagonist didn’t have just one thing to make up for; he had to redeem himself from multiple things.
These included proving to Xialing that he still cared for her, having to overcome his denial of responsibility toward protecting Ta Lo, and for Shang-Chi to forgive himself for killing at the age of 14 under his father’s orders. All of these issues made Shang-Chi a flawed hero who not only had to work to gain back the trust of his family but his faith in himself.
Feminism As An Essential Part Of The Plot
Although Captain Marvel was promoted as such, the titular character didn’t have to face outright injustice for being a woman. Shang-Chi showed this in great detail and made the female characters stand out by having them prove their doubters wrong.
This was accomplished through Xialing proving her worth and becoming a greater fighter than any of the Ten Rings organization soldiers — despite not being allowed to train with them. It was also done in a subtle way through Katy, who was being pressured by her family to find a suitable job and potential husband but stood her ground to be independent. Both of them found acceptance in Ta Lo where Ying Nan revealed that everyone was treated equally.
Story Told Consistently Through Flashbacks
The MCU has sparingly used flashbacks as part of its narrative. Shang-Chi was a different case as flashbacks were shown throughout the movie as a way to fill in the gaps in the plot.
The story went straight in with showing Shang-Chi having his special abilities in order to surprise viewers, with the resulting flashbacks revealing how he had trained under his father. This technique was also used to tell the love story of Wenwu and Ying Li so as to provide a contrast between who he used to be and the villain he became.
Use Of Genuine Martial Arts
The bus fight in Shang-Chi should be a contender for the most-watched scene in the MCU in the future as it featured the hero pull off incredible stunts. Unlike just about every movie in the series, this one had the actors actually engage in martial arts.
While the moments featuring magical powers were clearly CGI, the scenes involving hand-to-hand combat came across as realistic and helped in making the conflict look as daunting as it was for Shang-Chi.
Close Friend Isn't A Love Interest
There are plenty of characters that should be best friends in the MCU but haven’t met, although Shang-Chi didn’t have that problem. The MCU has generally placed male/female friendships as the starting point for romances, with the pairings of Tony/Pepper, Steve/Peggy, Scott/Hope, among others, all blossoming into love stories.
Shang-Chi and Katy seemed to be set up in a similar way as they were very close and other characters commented on them being a perfect fit. However, the movie never hinted at either of them having a romantic attraction for one another and things were kept platonic. It was a worthy change since it avoided reducing Katy to a simple love interest in favor of being her own person.
An Original Character For The Main Antagonist
All the villains in the MCU so far have been adaptations of antagonists from the comics. Some are gender-swapped like Ghost was in Ant-Man and the Wasp, but Shang-Chi brought a new character altogether. Although he claimed that the Mandarin was one of his aliases, Wenwu was his true identity.
The decision to change this came from the comics’ Shang-Chi’s father being a racist caricature who has since been abandoned altogether. In of storytelling, Wenwu’s motivations were original as his goal was to bring back his wife, thus making him more of a sympathetic villain.
