Movie Review: SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS...

Yesterday, I went to my local AMC theater to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) newest installment, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Needless to say, this film was a blast! As someone who originally started his career as a stunt performer, Simu Liu did an amazing job conveying the emotional and physically badass nature of Shang-Chi that makes him such an interesting character and superhero.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton succeeded in showing the two sides of Shang-Chi...one side being a normal guy who just wants to live his life in San Francisco singing at karaoke bars and happily parking cars as a hotel valet. And the other side being a conflicted would-be assassin who's trying to get out from underneath the shadow of his powerful but tormented thousand-year-old father.

In regards to Shang-Chi's father, the legendary Tony Leung (from such movies as 2002's Infernal Affairs and 2013's The Grandmaster) did an outstanding job playing Xu Wenwu. In The Legend of the Ten Rings, we find out that Wenwu is so powerful (and he aptly proved it in this film) that a terrorist "who brought America to its knees" based his persona after him as inspiration several years back. That terrorist, of course, was The Mandarin—and The Legend of the Ten Rings managed to tie this subplot with the events of Iron Man 3. Yes, one of the main characters from that 2013 film made a cameo in this movie...and no, it's not Tony Stark.

In terms of the remaining cast members, Shang-Chi featured both well-known and up-and-coming performers in this movie. Along with Leung, the formidable Michelle Yeoh (of 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2018's Crazy Rich Asians) appeared in Shang-Chi as his aunt, Ying Nan.

Meng'er Zhang was fierce as Shang-Chi's sister, Xialing (the owner of an underground fight ring in Macau), and Fala Chen did a terrific job winning Wenwu's respect and his love as Li, the future mother of Shang-Chi and Xialing.

And adding additional heart and humor to The Legend of the Ten Rings was Awkwafina (who appeared in 2018's Ocean's Eight and alongside Yeoh in Crazy Rich Asians) as Shang-Chi's overly-Americanized friend, Katy. Awkwafina had a couple of hilarious lines in this movie—one of them being her comment about how Shang-Chi didn't do a very good job concealing his identity by changing his name to...Shaun. To paraphrase: "It's like changing your name from Gina to Gina." (The second version sounding like vagina.)

Overall, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the best MCU movies yet. Clearly, the fight scenes in this film were inspired by Jackie Chan flicks and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The origin story of this superhero was very emotional...and if you at least stay for the mid-credits scene, you'll see that a huge future lies in store for Shang-Chi as he finds himself involved with the Avengers in a post-Thanos universe.

Will I see Shang-Chi at the theater again, you ask? Absolutely! How can I not make a repeat viewing of a movie that successfully debuts an Asian superhero in one of the biggest cinematic franchises in history?

To borrow a memorable quote from the Legend of the Ten Rings: "If you aim at nothing, you hit nothing." Happy Labor Day weekend.

Quick Review: BLACK WIDOW...

A few hours ago, I went to my local AMC theater to watch the first Phase 4 movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Black Widow. It was very enjoyable...and a lot deeper than I expected. Black Widow is clearly about family and redemption—with Natasha Romanoff (once again played fiercely by Scarlett Johansson) reuniting with the folks (a.k.a. Russian agents) she called family when she was young, and confronting a person from her past (now working as the mysterious assassin named Taskmaster) whom she did wrong when Romanoff was trying desperately to leave the life of a cold-blooded assassin behind before she joined SHIELD and the Avengers.



Just like every other Marvel movie, Black Widow was very entertaining and had top-notch special effects (I actually know someone who was a visual effects artist on this film... Well-done, Delon Ho). Ironically, it was the amazing CGI at the climax of Black Widow that somewhat had a negative impact on the movie. For the first two acts of the film, we see Natasha and her sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) try to outrun fellow Widows in cool action sequences that were shot on location in Budapest and Norway, respectively. (It was in these parts where this movie felt like the 2018 Jennifer Lawrence espionage flick, Red Sparrow. Not a criticism.) But by the end of the film, we see Natasha, Yelena, Alexei (David Harbour) and Melina (Rachel Weisz) make their way up to a giant floating fortress hidden in the clouds...something that you would obviously see in an Avengers or Captain America movie.



While Black Widow's change of tone from a gritty assassin film to a CG-heavy comic book movie could've been handled a bit differently, it was still an enjoyable flick. As mentioned at the start of this review, Natasha Romanoff sought redemption—and ultimately achieved it. It's after watching this film that Marvel fans should feel sad for Black Widow considering the fate that befell her in 2019's Avengers: Endgame. But when it comes down to it, Natasha's story was finally told alongside those of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor...and the MCU is better for it.

Image of the Day #2: Work-in-Progress Photos of My Marvel Drawings...

Just thought I'd share these work-in-progress pics that I took of the Black Panther, Iron Man, Spider-Man (a.k.a. 'Iron Spider' in Avengers: Infinity War) and Thanos artwork that I posted late last month. As you can see with my past couple of blog entries, I'm on a bit of a Marvel binge right now. Happy Saturday!

Back in the Day: IRON MAN Is Unveiled to the World...

Ten years ago today, the first Iron Man film arrived in theaters nationwide and began a franchise that currently spans 19 movies and culminated in the record-breaking success of Avengers: Infinity War last weekend. Back in 2008, it was Warner Bros. and DC's The Dark Knight that took the box office crown that year (with the Chris Nolan movie earning $535 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide)...but Iron Man's "modest" success (it made $318 million domestically and $585 million worldwide) was only a precursor to the major financial windfall that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) would enjoy over the next decade.

While Warner Bros. strives to achieve the same kind of success with its future DC Expanded Universe movies like it did with last year's Wonder Woman (we'll see if Justice League 2 ever gets made, even though I enjoyed the first film last November), Disney and Marvel Studios can only ponder about the amount of box office gold they will achieve once Infinity War completes its epic run in cinemas, with this July's Ant-Man and the Wasp and next March's Captain Marvel (and of course, the still-untitled Avengers 4 next May) lurking on the horizon. But this blog entry is about the flick that started it all.

Much props should go to Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard (I hope he's not beating himself up too much over the amount of money he could've earned if he wasn't replaced by Don Cheadle as James Rhodes / War Machine before 2010's Iron Man 2), Clark Gregg and director Jon Favreau for allowing the MCU to become what it is today. Oh, and let's not forget about Samuel L. Jackson—whose end credit appearance as Nick Fury and his immortal words "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative" would lead to cinematic history. That is all.

Images of the Day: The AVENGERS Are Back on the Big Screen...

To commemorate the nationwide release of Avengers: Infinity War in cinemas tonight, just thought I'd share these illustrations that I recently drew of Black Panther, Iron Man, Spider-Man (in his 'Iron Spider' suit from Infinity War) and their Infinity Gauntlet-wearing nemesis: Thanos, the Mad Titan. I myself will be watching the movie during a matinee screening at AMC Theatres this Saturday. 10:45 AM, to be exact.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I usually prefer using traditional markers to color my artwork instead of a digital paint program—'cause I'm old-school like that. But I do like utilizing Adobe Photoshop for cool lighting effects...as shown in my Iron Man, Iron Spider and Thanos drawings. Happy Thursday!

NEW WARRIORS, IRON MAN and the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Even though New Warriors will be a TV series and not a feature film, it's cool to imagine the possibilities in terms of how Disney will have this upcoming show cross over with other Marvel programs and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) itself. In the comic books, Squirrel Girl (to be played by Milana Vayntrub) mingled with Luke Cage (played by Mike Colter) and Jessica Jones (portrayed by Krysten Ritter)...so it's not far-fetched to think that Marvel would use its Disney-provided resources to have Vayntrub's character interact with the title characters played by Colter and Ritter in their respective Netflix series. And MCU-wise, Samuel L. Jackson and Jaimie Alexander did, after all, reprise their roles as Nick Fury and Lady Sif in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD a few seasons ago.

In regards to the MCU, it would be absolutely awesome if Marvel president Kevin Feige incorporated certain characters (RE: Squirrel Girl) from New Warriors to the movies themselves. (Although we'll overlook the fact that the Marvel flicks have so far refused to acknowledge Agent Phil Coulson being brought back from the dead after the first Avengers film to star in Agents of SHIELD.) Squirrel Girl defeated the likes of Galactus and Thanos in the comic books—so it would be cool to see her appear in any of the next two Avengers movies (though 2018's Infinity War has been in production for quite some time now, so it might obviously be too late to incorporate Squirrel Girl in that one). Or at the very least, add some heavy star-wattage to New Warriors by having Robert Downey Jr. do a one-episode cameo as Tony Stark on the show. Squirrel Girl did meet Iron Man in her earlier appearances in the comic books...and even stole two of his armored suits (one for her, the other for her trusty squirrel companion Tippy-Toe) to fly to the Moon and fight Galactus! So the gist of this paragraph? Squirrel Girl + Iron Man suit = Awesome.

I'm sure that New Warriors will be another successful Marvel show like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Daredevil have been. (I'm not so sure about Iron Fist.) But it doesn't hurt to daydream a little and see such a spunky character as Squirrel Girl appear on the big screen and fighting alongside her fellow Avengers as they take on Thanos and company. And preferably, she dons the Iron Man suit in an MCU flick like she did in the comic book panels shown below. Of course, her live-action Iron Man suit would look much, much cooler than this illustrated version. That is all.

Images of the Day: Meet the New Power Rangers (and Rita Repulsa)!

Back in 1994, when I was a freshman in high school, one of my guilty pleasures when I came home from class everyday was watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on TV. I never saw the feature film that came out in 1995, but I was a huge fan of the FOX series...especially when the Green Ranger became the White Ranger, and Lord Zedd showed up on scene to wreak havoc on Earth. Heck— I even got the White Tigerzord toy for Christmas when I was in 9th grade (Why did I tell you that? I don't know)! Do I still have it, you ask? Yes. Yes I do.

Anyways, check out the pic above (courtesy of Entertainment Weekly) showing the new and improved Power Rangers (who may or may not have Iron Man and Japan's Guyver as role models) from next year's live-action movie Power Rangers...which gets released in theaters nationwide on March 24, 2017. Shown below is Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa. I'm a huge fan of Banks, so I don't care that her take on Rita looks nothing like the Asian space witch who was the nemesis of the Power Rangers in the original TV series, and more like Poison Ivy in another live-action Batman film (but not 1997's Batman & Robin). If the new Power Rangers flick is a hit, then I hope that Lord Zedd will show up in the sequel. I'd like to see how much more edgy Zedd can get considering that his brain is exposed in Zedd's original incarnation. I'll end this entry right here to ponder about that...

Meme of the Day: That Crazy Deadpool!

Just thought I'd share this meme that I saw on Facebook showing Deadpool poking fun at next month's highly-anticipated film, Captain America: Civil War. If you watched the Ryan Reynolds movie over the last two months, you'll remember that one scene where he makes the observation that Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead are the only students of Professor X who Deadpool kept running into during the flick ("It's almost like the studio couldn't afford another X-Man"). Well— The same applies to Civil War... Where money and the running time limited the amount of superheroes who could show up to fight alongside Captain America or Iron Man in this film. But looking at the comparison between the comic book and movie below, it really is sad that Civil War's epic storyline won't be given full justice on the big screen. At least Spider-Man will make an appearance. That is all.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR - The New Spidey Is Revealed!

Check out the newest preview for this year's highly-anticipated film from Marvel! Along with showing the first Avenger and Iron Man going at it over a disagreement pertaining to the events of 2012's The Avengers, 2014's Captain America: Winter Soldier and last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Captain America: Civil War trailer also unveiled Marvel Studio's take (as opposed to that of Sony Pictures) on Spider-Man...who will now be played by 19-year-old Tom Holland. But enough talk, check out the trailer below! So Tony Stark's nickname for the Web Slinger is 'Underoos,' eh?

Captain America: Civil War...

Check out the new trailer for Marvel's biggest film of 2016! Considering the fact that Iron Man and all but two of the Avengers will make an appearance in Captain America: Civil War (Thor and the Hulk are the only ones who are no-shows in this movie), it's no wonder that Warner Bros has moved the release date for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice up to March 25 of next year (Dawn of Justice was originally supposed to come out on May 6, 2016...which is the day that the third Captain America flick will be released). Tom Holland's Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen in this preview, but that's okay. Methinks that Marvel wants to keep footage of the new Spider-Man under wraps to some degree the same way that J.J. Abrams is keeping the story of Luke Skywalker a secret during The Force Awakens' marketing campaign. So at what point in Civil War will Captain America and Iron Man stop fighting and just hug it out? Thanos lurks on the horizon.

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Ant-Man...

I saw the latest Marvel flick earlier today, and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. Well okay— I wasn't surprised. Despite its wacky title, Ant-Man is yet another example of Marvel Studios striking gold with even the most obscure comic book characters (watch last year's Guardians of the Galaxy to be even more convinced of this). Paul Rudd seemed right at home as Scott Lang and his size-changing alter-ego, while all of the other cast members ranging from Michael Douglas (Dr. Hank Pym), Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne) and Michael Peña (Luis) to Corey Stoll (as Darren Cross and the villainous Yellowjacket) looked very comfortable in their roles as Lang's allies and enemies. The Yellowjacket suit worn by Stoll was pretty cool... (Spoilers Ahead) Had Hydra gotten a hold of this weaponry and mass-produced it as planned, this army would've been just as dangerous (even moreso) than Loki's alien underlings and Ultron's robots from the last two Avengers movies. Speaking of The Avengers, I'm wondering if Rudd will steal the scenes he's in when he shows up in Avengers: Infinity War and next year's Captain America: Civil War? Probably not. Lang bantering with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark will definitely be something to watch on the big screen though.

Oh, and Ant-Man made me realized just how cute and cuddly ants can be (if you were their size, that is). But I still have a can of Raid® tucked away underneath my kitchen's sink...just in case. That is all.

Avengers: Age of Ultron... The Teaser Trailer is Finally Here!

Despite the fact that Star Wars: Episode VII is still my most eagerly-anticipated movie of 2015, this teaser trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron got me pretty damn stoked for next May! This preview was originally supposed to make its premiere during next Tuesday's episode of the hit TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but in the age of the Internet, things are rarely kept under wraps until their intended release date (Just ask J.J. Abrams in regards to all of the leaks surrounding Episode VII). Anyways, here are some screenshots that I grabbed from the trailer, and check out the preview at the bottom of this entry. "There are no strings on me." You said it, Jame Spader—err, Ultron.

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