The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most commercially successful franchise in the history of cinema, to the extent that Kevin Feige and his team can barely put a foot wrong. Over the course of 23 feature films and two Disney Plus episodic shows so far, not a single one has been panned by critics, flopped at the box office or tanked in the ratings, which is a remarkable achievement.
The series delivers broad, family-friendly blockbusters featuring a deft balance of heart, humor, scale and spectacle, but the action sequences have never really been regarded as one of the MCU’s strongest suits. Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, the set pieces are functional rather than awe-inspiring, typically devolving into CGI things smashing into other CGI things and causing wanton CGI destruction.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier and sequel Civil War arguably boast the most impressive action in the entire MCU in terms of choreography and a sense of urgency, ranging from the former’s opening assault on a ship to the epic freeway battle via Cap’s fisticuffs in an elevator, and of course the latter’s airport showdown. However, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings executive producer Jonathan Schwartz believes the upcoming martial arts movie will deliver the best action scenes to ever come out of Marvel Studios.
“I think this is the best action Marvel has ever done. Every punch is meaningful, every fighting style is meaningful, and the story is told visually in such a great way.”
The trailer certainly promised a wide range of battles including neon-lit scraps, wuxia-inspired scuffles that see characters gracefully flying through the air and an underground cage fighting tournament, so there’s definitely going to be plenty of variety on display at the very least. Those are bold words from Marvel’s Vice President of Production and Development, though, and we’ll just have to wait and see if Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lives up to the hype.
Published: Apr 19, 2021 12:21 pm