Shang-Chi coming to a theater near you 5 5

[AGGIEZ]

Just got back…awesome! Loved it! Granted, there were 2-3 “comedy” scenes where I had an eye or two roll, particularly the last scene with Wong, but it was awesome. Way exceeded my expectations

[lou_fine]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:08 AM, ExNihilo said:

Fantastic acting by the veteran Asian cast (like Tony Leung, Fala Chen, and Michelle Yeoh). 

 

I think it did a great job taking the Asian mythology aesthetic and merging it with western filmmaking.  Lastly, as an Asian American, I've never cared about under-representation of Asians in film.  But I can't help but admit, it is pretty cool to see an almost all Asian cast in a blockbuster Marvel movie.

You definitely can't go wrong when you've got veteran and very excellent actors in there like Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh who have both been around honing their craft for decades.  

Leung definitely showed his versatility when he was cast as the male lead in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution which is probably as close to an Asian mainstream porno movie as you are ever going to see.  He really got to "horn" his skills  in that one there with that absolutely beautiful Chinese actress who ended up getting banned in China and losing all of her endorsements for a few years after taking on that female lead role in the movie.  

I guess she really outdid herself in that role there, even though it was nothing like Madonna au naturel who really went above and beyond in her role for Body of Evidence which from my point of view was cleary a soft core porno movie with a storyline in there.  Hard to argue when it had Madonna in her much younger days showing her lusty and agile bedroom skills and just giving it to her lawyer not only in the bedroom, but also in the parking lot and everywhere else possible.    

Definitely nice and rather shocking to see an Asian based and Asian cast movie like Shang-Chi do so unexpectedly well from both an audience rating and box office point of view though.    

Edited September 8, 2021 by lou_fine

[lou_fine]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:17 PM, piper said:

TTA 13

Well, of course there's an exception to every rule and TTA 13 would clearly fit the bill here.  

Especially when you consider the fact that this book is actually super rare in grade with only 2 copies graded into the 9's to this current point in time. 

Very much the opposite situation from SME 15 which I believe might have even be part of a large warehouse find way back in the day.  I remember seeing so many copies of this book in the LCS's for years that it seem like you had to fight your way through them in order to get into the store and then fight your way through them in order to get back out of the store.  

[@therealsilvermane]

With the trickle effect it's already having on Venom 2 and possibly Eternals' release date and strategy, it looks like it's Shang-Chi who ended up saving the movie theater industry.

[batmiesta]

On 9/7/2021 at 8:02 PM, Straw-Man said:

saw it yesterday; knew nothing about the character going in.  liked it.  the wife, who goes with me to most of these flicks, but isn't the least bit invested in any of them, LOVED it.   

What I have seen from the trailers, you probably still don't, I get the impression from hearing peoples reviews the character is far from the one I know and loved, which is a shame, I might give it a watch when it comes on SKY, but only if nothing else is on.  I just wish they had cast a actor who resembled Shang Chi.

[@therealsilvermane]

On 9/8/2021 at 11:09 AM, batmiesta said:

What I have seen from the trailers, you probably still don't, I get the impression from hearing peoples reviews the character is far from the one I know and loved, which is a shame, I might give it a watch when it comes on SKY, but only if nothing else is on.  I just wish they had cast a actor who resembled Shang Chi.

The comic book Shang Chi was basically based on the Bruce Lee of "Enter the Dragon" with a little 70's TV "Kung Fu" thrown in. That "character" has also been done over and over and over again in American and Chinese cinemas. The stoic kung-fu master of popular movies is a little stale. This MCU Shang Chi has the personality and presence of a modern every day Asian-American dude aka he's a normal guy until you find out he's the prodigal son of a Chinese warlord. The movie was written and directed by a Japanese-American from Hawaii so I think that representation is by design.

While you may have wished for an actor who looks more like Bruce Lee, I think Simu Liu kind of falls into that "casting against type" that Marvel Studios does with a lot of its heroes. With the exception of Chris Hemsworth, Marvel seems to gravitate more towards actors who are a little more normal and everyday to play their heroes (maybe even nerdy at times) as opposed to actors who could represent Greek gods or beauty pageant winners. Robert Downey Jr, ScarJo, Chris Pratt, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, and even Chadwick Boseman fall into this actor type. Simu Liu is also that kind of actor, known more for an Asian-Canadian comedy before becoming a super-hero. This seems to be Kevin Feige's preference, casting people who "clearly aren't the hero type," to quote one of the founding fathers of the MCU.

"Unlikely heroes" is kinda the secret sauce of the MCU.

Edited September 8, 2021 by @therealsilvermane

[@therealsilvermane]

"Moviegoers in China have described their government's decision to indefinitely delay the release of Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as a "tragedy" in light of the film's star-studded Asian cast. On Weibo, China's largest social media service, users who have seen the movie while living abroad have sought to dispel concerns that Shang-Chi is in any way "insulting" to China or Chinese culture—a narrative that continues to grip the country's nationalistic circles that believe the government is censoring the film for a good reason."

 

[@therealsilvermane]

Shang-Chi crossed $100million domestic today!

[ExNihilo]

On 9/8/2021 at 2:24 PM, @therealsilvermane said:

"Moviegoers in China have described their government's decision to indefinitely delay the release of Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as a "tragedy" in light of the film's star-studded Asian cast. On Weibo, China's largest social media service, users who have seen the movie while living abroad have sought to dispel concerns that Shang-Chi is in any way "insulting" to China or Chinese culture—a narrative that continues to grip the country's nationalistic circles that believe the government is censoring the film for a good reason."

 

I honestly left the movie theater thinking they catered heavily to the Chinese market and was surprised to see online that China has thus far banned a release.

For starters, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the use of Mandarin throughout the film.  And not the type where an American actor butchers their way through Mandarin with a horrific accent.  Nor was it used just in the beginning and then tossed aside in the first 5 minutes for simplicity/avoiding captions.  When Asian characters did speak English, there was an actual in story reason for it (for example, Shang Chi speaking English because his father wanted him to learn it, likely as a way of blending in when on missions).  (SIDE NOTE: I couldn't help but translate some of the Mandarin in my head and comparing against the captioned translations.  Either my Mandarin is Americanized, or the tone of the translations was slightly modified to fit the film.   )

Secondly, the appearances of the mystical creatures were clearly based on Asian cultures.  The way the lions resemble the statues you might find in Chinatowns around the world.  The serpentine dragon traditionally found amongst eastern cultures as opposed to the four legged winged versions from western medieval stories.  To me that speaks to the hybrid nature of the film looking to bridge eastern and western cultures.

All in all, the film felt like it pulled a lot from Eastern cultures in a way that is respectful and distinct from other recent films.  I know Hollywood bends the knee to the Chinese market, but more often than not it comes in the form of blatantly filming scenes in China (see: The Dark Knight with the Hong Kong scene, Transformers when they fought in China, James Bond traveling to Macau, etc.).  Note, the irony isn't lost on me that Shang Chi travels to Macau, but the difference is it makes sense within the context of the story.  In the other films mentioned, they easily could have picked any other exotic location, but they didn't.  They chose China because...reasons...

[Bosco685]

On 9/9/2021 at 8:23 AM, ExNihilo said:

I know Hollywood bends the knee to the Chinese market, but more often than not it comes in the form of blatantly filming scenes in China (see: The Dark Knight with the Hong Kong scene, Transformers when they fought in China, James Bond traveling to Macau, etc.).  Note, the irony isn't lost on me that Shang Chi travels to Macau, but the difference is it makes sense within the context of the story.  In the other films mentioned, they easily could have picked any other exotic location, but they didn't.  They chose China because...reasons...

You forgot one, which was quite obvious.

The first MCU Chinese market experiment where Marvel Studios partnered with a local marketing company to film these extra scenes to appease regional demand. Although there were complaints how it played to Chinese movie-goers (this coming from Chinese reviewers and moviegoers), it also went over even bigger than Marvel's Avengers regionally.

Once the Disney team realized the gold mine it had developed, the Mouse was hooked! And even when you consider a movie like Venom going over strongly there, it convinced Sony there were additional CBM caves to be dug.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Bosco685

[ExNihilo]

On 9/9/2021 at 6:04 AM, Bosco685 said:

You forgot one, which was quite obvious.

The first MCU Chinese market experiment where Marvel Studios partnered with a local marketing company to film these extra scenes to appease regional demand. Although there were complaints how it played to Chinese movie-goers (this coming from Chinese reviewers and moviegoers), it also went over even bigger than Marvel's Avengers regionally.

Once the Disney team realized the gold mine it had developed, the Mouse was hooked! And even when you consider a movie like Venom going over strongly there, it convinced Sony there were additional CBM caves to be dug.

I had no idea this scene existed.  That blatant pandering is just...bad.

[paperheart]

‘Shang-Chi’ China Release Unlikely In Wake Of Unearthed Comments By Star Simu Liu; ‘The Eternals’ Hopes In Question

https://deadline.com/2021/09/shang-chi-china-release-simu-liu-marvel-1234830474/

[paperheart]

S-C BO been trailing BW by $1MM a day during school week, should be rectified this weekend w/ estimated $34-39MM 2nd weekend

[@therealsilvermane]

On 9/10/2021 at 5:54 PM, paperheart said:

S-C BO been trailing BW by $1MM a day during school week, should be rectified this weekend w/ estimated $34-39MM 2nd weekend

I think Shang-Chi might even touch the $40 mils its second weekend. We'll see. I plan to see it again this weekend in IMAX this time anyway.

Either way, the pundits' projection of a Shang-Chi flop at $35 million opening weekend seem as far away as China now.

[paperheart]

good, not great 2nd weekend- still on track for >$200MM US

@GiteshPandya

 

$9.7M second FRI for #ShangChi on track for about $34M second wknd. 10 day #boxoffice cume shd rise to roughly $143M after 2nd wknd with 55% drop - good for coming off a holiday wknd.

Edited September 11, 2021 by paperheart

[@therealsilvermane]

On 9/11/2021 at 11:16 AM, paperheart said:

good, not great 2nd weekend- still on track for >$200MM US

@GiteshPandya

 

$9.7M second FRI for #ShangChi on track for about $34M second wknd. 10 day #boxoffice cume shd rise to roughly $143M after 2nd wknd with 55% drop - good for coming off a holiday wknd.

America remembering 9/11 today and the start of the 2021 NFL season tomorrow will cut into overall movie ticket sales this weekend, so a $34MM weekend for Shang-Chi would be impressive I think.

[kav]

Cant believe people are going ga-ga over this pile of dung.  Predictable -script, kung fu fights we've seen a million times, everyone uses clever dialogue obviosuly scripted not how real people talk at all, the female lead trying to be cutesy and funny-just a hot mess.  ugh.  I guarantee if some dude on an out of control bus was watching red hot sword flying around and slicing thru metal he would not be quipping one-liners and act like he's waiting in line for his latte.

[lou_fine]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:09 AM, batmiesta said:

I just wish they had cast a actor who resembled Shang Chi.

You mean this Shang-Chi that we all know and love from one of his best covers by Paul Gulacy:  

 

to look more like this former actor here:  

[batmiesta]

Exactly,  I was a big Bruce Lee fan in my youth, he would have made a brilliant Shang Chi, but then I read somewhere that Chi was kind of based on Lee, not sure how true rhat is though.

[@therealsilvermane]

Mild spoilers here. Saw Shang-Chi again last night in IMAX. I liked it even more the second viewing. It really is a good movie, though I do question Shang-Chi's scaffolding escape decision in Hong Kong. This second time around, I noticed the small details that director Cretton puts into the movie, like the Asian-American custom of taking your shoes off at the front door. I noticed the subtle character builds like establishing that Katy is the "Asian Jeff Gordon" which plays into the story later as our heroes seek out Ta Lo. I noticed a lot of "coda" type shots/scenes that really add to the artistry of this movie. Shang-Chi is definitely top tier Marvel regardless whether or not you're mad that Simu Liu isn't a Bruce Lee clone.

Of the two special theatrical formats I've seen the movie in so far, 3D and IMAX, I preferred IMAX. The movie with its epic scenery and action shots plays very well in the large format.