The Main Issue With Each MCU Phase 4 Entry (So Far)

6. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings - Its Third Act Belongs In Another Film

One of the franchise’s most compelling origin stories, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings benefitted from expert pacing, interesting depictions of Chinese mythology, well shot and edited action sequences and strong lead performances from Simu Liu and Tony Leung as the titular hero and his villainous father, respectively.

Its first two acts expertly laid out Wenwu’s time as the Mandarin, Shang-Chi and Xialing’s resentment of their warlord father and the mythic nature of the Ten Rings (both the organization and artefacts). The combination of mythological lore and the impact of a father's grief on his children held significant promise and would have elevated the film to the upper echelons of the MCU.

Unfortunately, its third act devolved into standard MCU shenanigans with sprawling armies clashing with CGI beasts and suddenly elevated stakes with the introduction of the Dweller-in-Darkness.

The world-ending beast was crammed into the film late in the game and its presence distracts from the more emotionally resonant conflict between Shang-Chi and Wenwu. The film is not completely ruined by this switch in narrative structure but suffers a bit because of it.