Director Destin Daniel Cretton has hardly been shy when it comes to naming the movies, stars and genres that inspired his upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Most of them are fairly obvious given that we’re talking about a fantastical marital arts actioner on an epic scale, but others come straight out of left field.
Good Will Hunting was most certainly a surprising title for the filmmaker to namedrop, whereas most folks would have expected him to list Kung Fu Hustle, Ip Man, Tai-Chi Master, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and in Cretton’s words, “every Jackie Chan move ever made”.
The latest clip from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings features Simu Liu’s title hero fighting some bad guys on a moving bus, where he manages to use his jacket as a weapon to slow down his attackers, overpower them and then throw his coat back on without a care in the world. As you can see from the reactions below, it’s little wonder that Chan found himself trending, when it’s very reminiscent of his signature blend of martial arts and physical comedy.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may be tracking for a franchise-low opening at the box office, but the early reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, so hopefully the focus is more on quality than commercial performance when it comes to determining whether or not it deserves a sequel, because it would be fair to say that almost every project should get a pass during the pandemic era if it’s a great film in its own right.