Shang Chi Review

Shang Chi is proof that original ideas can still succeed brilliantly, that not everything needs to be a stale rehash or a copy. Shangs father Wu Wei the immortal and his legendary weapon were only loosely based on the Mandarin character from the comics, the way they were depicted was almost entirely original. Also the mandarin never had a brilliant relationship dynamic with his son, that was original to the movie too. Shang Chi has many strengths as a movie, from the exciting martial arts action, to the supernatural splendor of the rings, and the fantastical elements of Tao Lo, to the charming everyman character and his goofy friend Katy. But its greatest strength isn't the spectacle, its the human heart at the core of the story, the drama between father and son as Wu Wei seeks to mold his son in his violent image. Shangs mother was murdered to pay for his fathers sins, and his repressed rage towards his father eventually comes boiling forth during an intense confrontation. Wu Wei is a tragic figure, who is driven mad by his wifes murder and in his misery blames the people of Tao Lo for her death, believing he can open the gate to the underworld and resurrect her. But his wifes spirit is gone, Wu Wei is being exploited by a demonic entity who is using him to break free of its prison. Shang Ch confronts him and they fight, and Shang has the power to kill his father, but instead he pleads with him to renounce this vain quest to resurrect his lost wife, and focus on helping the children he neglected in his quest for lost love. The moral of the story is not to become lost in tragedy and make a bad situation worse, but to focus on helping the survivors of tragedy to endure their ordeal, and find healing in a familys love.