Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proved to be a massive success for phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This can be considered to be the very first movie in the set movies that we are going to get as an introduction of new characters to the MCU. Each of these movies will introduce us to newer worlds and universes that were previously hinted at but left unexplored. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings were able to add a lot of new characters to the list of new heroes and this is a major hint at what we might get to see in the next Avengers like team-up. While the movie had major moments, it also had moments that we feel could have been avoided in order to make it look less like a superhero movie. So here are the errors that Shang-Chi could have avoided but did not:
Redeeming The Villain By Killing Him Off
MCU has a trope of redeeming the villains in their movies by using their demises as a vehicle. This has become too predictive with characters like Thanos, Killmonger, and even Yondu. This is rather predictable now as these characters try to change their motives at the very last moment by doing a good deed of helping the hero before dying or simply dying with dignity. Wenwu follows the same path by handing the Ten Rings to Shang-Chi before getting his soul sucked by the Mega Soul Sucker.
The Weight Of The Post-Credit Scenes
Often the end-credit sequences end up giving us crucial details about the next big feature. Marvel movies have always had the tendency to add end-credit scenes to all their movies. This has always been an interesting part of the viewing experience for the fans of the movies. But often these also tend to take away the attention of the fans from the story that was being followed in the movie. The end credits for Shang-Chi consisted of the appearance of two of the major MCU characters. This included Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner and eventually ended up taking the focus of the audience from the movie to the appearance of these two heavyweights.
Over The Top CGI Battle
The final antagonist in the movie was the monster Mega Soul Sucker itself. This monster had so much potential since it had the ability to suck off the souls using mind control. Instead of using this as a means to make the ending battle a bit more challenging the movie went for a much CGI infested ending with the two large creatures, Mega Soul Sucker and the Great Protector having a battle similar to the one’s that we have seen recently with the Kaiju movies.
Leaving Fans In Dark About Sequels
The movie was able to introduce us to a lot of new and interesting characters. At the same time, it left us with a lot of questions regarding how these characters will be utilized going ahead in the MCU. Some of these things include the weird partnership between Wong and Abomination, Xialing’s position as the head of the Ten Rings, and the origin of the Ten Rings. While the last one seems like something that will play out a major role in the MCU but the other two questions could have been easily answered in the movie.
No Mention Of Timeline
One of the major issues with the movie is about the time where the events of the movie must have taken place in MCU’s timeline. With other projects set up based on this and even characters appearing in cameos, the movie could have simply used some means to let us know about this. Leaving us in the dark regarding this will continue to be a major confusion for fans unless some future movie lets us know somehow.
Sudden Entry Of A Powerful Character
The entry of the Great Protector in the movie was a clear Deus Ex Machina. Shang-Chi is punched into the sea and he sinks deep down. Nobody had given up on him and yet he meets the Great Protector and comes out like a warrior from the sea and battles with the enemies. This character could have been given a better introduction and used a little better instead of a last-minute addition.
The Balance Of Fun And Serious
MCU movies are known for using humor in their movies in a fashion that really entices the fans. The balance of fun and serious is often ruined though, with the jokes being placed at the wrong time in the movie. One typical example of this would be when Shang-Chi was telling Katy about his childhood and the flight attendant interjects them about the meal. This could have been avoided as it affected the emotional weight the scene carried for the character of Shang-Chi.
The Primary Antagonist
Throughout the trailers and from what we know about the movie from comic books, Wenwu was considered to be the prime villain. This led us to connect to him a lot more and trying to understand his motives only to realize he was not the villain and he had some good in him that ended up killing him. Funnily this is also true for Iron Man 3, which was referenced a lot in the movie as there too we try to perceive the character of Mandarin as the prime villain only to realize that Aldrich Killian was the one with the strings.
Antagonist Motivated By Death
The MCU movies have a tendency of making the death of a certain character being the driving motive of another major character. This was true for Cap when he didn’t sign the Sokovia Accords after the passing of Peggy Carter. Similarly, Wenwu is driven by the death of his wife and is ready to go to any heights in order to bring her soul back from the cave of Ta Lo. The problem here is that this moves the attention of the viewer from the character that died to their death itself.
Driven By The MacGuffin
Every MCU movie has some item or the other that has a long-lasting effect throughout the movie with almost every character wondering about it. This could be the Infinity Stones in the Infinity Saga or the E.D.I.T.H. glasses in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Shang-Chi has a similar time with the Ten Rings as they play a major role in the movie and the movie even ends with the wonderment of their origin. Often the characters are tied into these times and it leads to less light being shed on the Ten Rings as a whole and how they are being used.
These were the errors that Shang-Chi could have avoided making but just did not.
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