Kevin Smith is not a difficult man to please. He gushes over every major superhero or science-fiction movie, to the point where he revealed one of the things that pulled him through his near-fatal 2018 heart attack was a desire to see Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
All of which makes it something of a surprise that it’s taken him this long to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. That’s not for want of trying, mind you: the director had tried to see it before but fell asleep during the movie. He’s at pains to say that this wasn’t because he was bored, simply that he’d been working very long hours on Clerks III.
But now he’s stayed awake until the credits roll and, as per his ‘Fatman Beyond’ podcast, he loved it:
“Here I am awake through this whole viewing. What a wonderful movie. Like, everyone’s a charm city. Everyone’s fucking killing it. The action sequences are fucking fun, movie’s beautiful. Story’s touching. Fucking villains are fucking badass. You know, the reinvention of the rings is great, your leading man is fantastic, your comedic fucking backup is great. His kickass sister’s wonderful. All the fucking fighting is dope. There’s a fucking dragon and those giant fighting dogs or lions or whatever. I’m like, it fucking rocks man.”
I can’t disagree with Smith on any of that. After the disappointing Black Widow, I turned up for Shang-Chi more out of duty than excitement, and it blew me away. The early bus-based fight scene is a jaw-dropping set-piece, and the film repeatedly demonstrates its superpowered martial arts majesty. The ending sequences were maybe a bit too CGI-heavy, but the titular ten rings proved to be a truly kick-ass weapon used in a ton of interesting ways.
After the positive reception, a Shang-Chi sequel is inevitable, though I’m betting we’ll see Simu Liu showing up in a few other MCU movies before that happens. In the meantime, Kevin Smith’s Clerks III will undergo some reshoots soon but is looking good, and a trailer is planned for early 2022.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is available to stream on Disney Plus.
