How MCU Fans Really Feel About The Fighting In Shang-Chi
One of the major selling points of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest film, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," is its dynamic fight sequences. Inspired heavily by classic martial arts films, the movements of Hong Kong cinema bring real weight and style to the actions of "Shang-Chi." This is in no small part due to the work of its veteran stunt team, several of which earned their stripes working with martial arts/stunt legend Jackie Chan (via Den of Geek). Along with its almost-equally experienced cast, "Shang-Chi" did a bang-up job melding martial arts movies with Marvel's massive, multi-film franchise — even paying homage to some of the genre's most famous examples.
It's surprising then, that the film's star wasn't actually all that versed in martial arts upon casting. Simu Liu, who plays the eponymous Shang-Chi, had to undergo some training in preparation for the role. Despite this, it seems as if fans have hardly noticed. In fact, "Shang-Chi" is getting pretty widely praised by fans for the quality of its action. It wasn't long after the film's release that they flocked to the internet to express how they really feel about the fighting in Shang-Chi.
Shang-Chi's Kung-Fu is top-notch according to fans
You don't have to search very far to find praise for the fight choreography in "Shang-Chi." In fact, you don't even have to search through a Marvel or kung-fu-specific fan page to find praise. MCU and kung-fu fans alike delivered praise openly in the more generic digital space of Reddit's r/Movies.
"Something I love about Shang-Chi is how they really go all at it with the spectacle in the fight scenes," wrote Reddit user u/Whovian45810. "They feel so anime-like and it's just awesome to see on screen let alone live-action."
Even the fans who are a hair more critical of the film find themselves enjoying "Shang-Chi."
"The action in this movie feels great," wrote another user. "Some of it is Crouching Tiger style dancing and some of it is hard hitting Kung Fu. The set pieces were really cool, I think the scaffolding fight on the exterior of the skyscraper is one of the cooler action scenes I've seen in a while. And there were some impressive long take-moments that even if goosed by CGI were still pretty amazing."
It seems as if Marvel made the right choice hiring the right stunt choreographers for the job. In that way, they were truly able to pay homage to decades of kung-fu cinema by folding it into the MCU's growing lexicon of film genres. Here's hoping they can share a bit of that love with "Iron Fist" in the future.