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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - (2021)
I don't think @
Wooley is going to like this short review. I came into
Shang-Chi and etc not very enthused. For one thing, it's
another origin story in a series of films which seem to be mostly origin stories. I know Marvel might be restocking the pantry, but I'm pretty much over them. Another thing is the fact that the whole martial arts sub-genre isn't a favourite of mine (I only rate
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 7/10, which sends some people into shock.) Plus Wooley told me it was about on par with
Black Widow, which wasn't very exciting. But you know - expectations again - it helps when they're lowered. There were parts of
Shang-Chi I really liked in the end. It's not a Marvel great or anything, but it has some of those special Marvel moments that make it the amazing series it is. First of all though - the screenplay is
awful. The dialogue sounds like it was written with the aid of fortune cookies. "Remember your ancestors - your strength comes from them" - "Be like the wind, and as strong as an ox." - "Always follow the path your heart..." well, you get the kind of thing. Cheap and dumb inspirational quotes - dime store wisdom, and many cringe-worthy lines.
Where I depart from my esteemed fellow MoFo's opinions though are with the design of the creatures at the end of the film - I thought they tied into the whole Asian culture feel of the film, and looked magnificent. The soul sucker and the dragon almost had me gasping - and the action was pretty tight. I admit that there are a few face-palm worthy moments (the archery bit especially) but I enjoyed that part of the film the most. In fact, the action all 'round was pretty good, and the underlying story was serviceable enough. I did really dislike the return of Trevor Slattery and his awkward comic relief, but I did like all of the other exceptionally well designed fauna that exists in the other dimension. I thought the film had an excellent score as well. I thought
Shang-Chi was a step in the right direction after the tepid
Spider-Man - Far From Home and
Black Widow. Not a great film - and one with many flaws, but as many great and good points as there are bad and awful ones.
I was a little more withering in my letterboxd write-up : "Some great action and effects, but a screenplay that feels like it's been written at the last minute on a 10-minute bus ride to the studio. Perhaps Marvel films are getting a little constrained by their own box-office weight, and it's a little too much too fast, but there are lines and narrative strands that become dumb just through repetition. It looks impressive, and is, but it's not good cinema - just average."
7/10
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Enternals - (2021)
And then came this...what a mess. Watching
Eternals is like watching a film where someone gave a 3-year-old $1 billion to make a movie, and from there huge-budget chaos reigned. It looks like Marvel wanted
Eternals to be the biggest blockbuster yet - it even strains to outdo
Infinity War and
Endgame, and it constantly has you questioning just how wise it is to just go for excess in the manner they have here. It's an impressive train-wreck of a movie - with a screenplay that feels like it's a very rough draft from an untalented screenwriter. (Four people are credited with writing this film.) Of course, it's once again introducing us to new Marvel superheroes - and unfortunately they're a bunch that are going to overshadow Captain Marvel, because they're basically all immortal Gods.
Okay - I will admit, for immortal Gods they do die and get hurt an awful lot, but their powers are so overwhelming that I just know I'm going to be missing the days when it looked like the odds were stacked against the heroes in these films. The story is of world-ending import, and makes
absolutely no sense. I won't give anything away - because it's a spoiler-rich story - but there are so many holes in the plot it just has to sink. Of course, it's also history-altering. I didn't enjoy this, and I'll never be watching it again - a film on about the same level
Thor : The Dark World was, competing for the title on my list of worst Marvel movies. It would be interesting to make my list seeing as it's the 26th.
4/10