Media Side Blog

This is really just a blog about films/shows/miscellaneous media, aesthetically pleasing things, and stuffs like that. For random check out the main blog.

The film starts with a flashback and has subsequent ones that end up filling in the blanks in the story. It feels like the awkward retelling of your cool adventure with your friends. Which is what the movie turned out to be in the end. This story spans centuries but connects well to the broader focus of the MCU. You can see the Emil Blonsky & Wong story, which ends up in She-Hulk (2022), being shown slightly in this movie. Along with an insight into Iron Man 3 and the “Mandarin”.  The effective plot and storyline have made this movie well-rounded both on its own and within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The editing works seamlessly with the story and theme. This story is centered in the modern era, but also has attachments to ancient China and you can hear it within the score and soundtrack. Comedic timing is utilized as well. The theme is about living up to your potential and at pivotal points in the story, the score comes in to fill the emotional spot in the scenes. With the help of the editing team all over the moving parts in this film come together into a cohesive work of art. 

Is the cinematography effective? I would say it is. While writing this section I paused on what could be the master shot. It is a wide-angle shot, a pretty good distance from the characters. There is a bright light in the area where the characters are standing but just outside that area, where the camera is positioned, it is dark. Leaving us to focus on what is happening in the center of the scene. The special effects on the water freeze it there for a split second before we cut to the camera positioned in the middle of where the characters are standing. I think that using the master shot between takes was an important move to make, showcasing the area. It allows us a chance to breathe what is about to happen. The scenes before were all back-and-forth shots between characters talking, not taking in the rooms and spaces the characters are in. This shot, however, shows a shift in the story as the plot fills in the holes. 

I have mentioned earlier how the score and soundtrack are indicative of the story and period. Scenes that include the mother are often accompanied by a soft instrumental that is reminiscent of the wind, which was used heavily in her culture's fighting style. The film utilizes a modern EDM style of music when presenting new locations, like San Francisco, Macau, and the Ten Rings Fortress. A recurring theme throughout the music is the difference between what is perceived to be soft (the mother’s side) and rough (the father’s side). The score and soundtrack are cohesive and function effectively with the rest of the movie, whether it is more in the background or foreground.

Yes, there are many examples of special effects throughout the film. At the beginning of the film when the mother and father meet, they’re fighting with ancient god magic and alien technology so the fight needed to feel supernatural. The way it was handled was phenomenal. I felt as though I was there witnessing this scene firsthand. Every other use of the special effects is handled similarly and ultimately lends itself to grounding the story in the universe it was created in. 

The characters in this film are believable. I mentioned earlier how they were able to connect this film to other films in the series. One of those films was Iron Man 3, where the villain of the story hired an actor to portray a terrorist who wanted to destroy America. The actor’s character, The Mandarin, was based on the father of Shang-Chi, Wenwu, and his legendary Ten Rings. What made Wenwu believable as a character was that despite learning to be a better person through his courtship with Sang-Chi’s mother, Ying Li, he ultimately regressed into the warlord he was for centuries after her death. His guilt and grief on not being able to save her lead him to be convincingly coerced by the Ten Rings to attack the mother’s ancestral home, Tao Lo, to “save her” from them. He had forced his children to learn to kill, taking away their childhood, attacked the home of his late wife under false pretenses, and set free the Dweller-in-the-Darkness. Shang-Chi was almost forced to kill him to stop the death of many innocents. However, the climax of the movie is when Wenwu finally sees the wrong his choices led to. He then aids Shang-Chi and Tao Lo in fighting the monster and Wenwu dies to protect his son. I believe this is an appropriate end to his character. After thousands of years of living, killing, loving, and making mistakes, Wenwu finally has the chance to rest. He isn’t a good person by any means but at least he has the right idea by letting go of the power for the benefit of his family. 

The base of this movie is a martial arts film and the addition of Michelle Yeoh is a big win in my book. She is easily the most famous female martial artist and actress out there. Her character was Shang-Chi’s aunt and his mother’s older sister, Ying Nan. When Shang-Chi arrives, she helps him learn to fight the way his mother taught him years ago and bolsters the confidence of his sister, Xialing, and best friend, Katy.

San Francisco is a different locale for an MCU movie, where they stay either on the East Coast or Los Angeles when in The United States of America. The city happens to also have a high Chinese population. The next location is Macau, China, which has a similar atmosphere to Las Vegas. This setting makes sense when we meet Xialing and her fight ring gambling business. After that is the Ten Rings Compound, where Shang-Chi and Xialing grew up, an obvious location because their father still operates there. The Tao Lo village is also an obvious location where the main conflict and climax of the movie happen. It was hinted at throughout the entire movie. Ultimately, all the locations work with the story or the personality of the characters. 

There are a lot of motifs for Chinese dragons, from the postcard sent to Shang-Chi at the beginning to the fluid motion of Tao Lo martial arts. The Chinese dragon symbolizes many things however the “Great Protector” is a blue/green color. They symbolize healing, peace, and growth. All of which are themes for the main characters. Shang-Chi and his family need healing. Wenwu needed to come to terms with his wife’s death and when that happened he was at peace. Xialing was neglected and abandoned by her brother and father, she has since properly healed from those wounds. Shang-Chi was meant to grow to his full potential and the third act of this movie shows this growth.