"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" - SPOILER ALERT

Marvel is really pouring out the movies these last few months of 2021, most likely to make up for lost time during the pandemic. That lost time gave me a chance to catch up and now I can watch each movie the day they are released on Disney Plus.

Like "Black Widow", "Shang-Chi" shows us the history of another superhero, except this time our superhero gets his time in the spotlight before we lose him. He is the first superhero in the MCU movies who is of Asian decent. I like that Marvel is becoming more diverse.

Early on in the movie we are taught how to pronounce "Shang-Chi" and I am thankful for that light-hearted and informative scene because prior to that, I had been mispronouncing it. What a clever way to set the record straight. I doubt I'll ever get it wrong again.

While "Shang-Chi" is nothing extraordinary, it is everything one would expect from a Marvel movie - a decent plot, lots of action without being too terribly gory (that bus scene was brilliant), deep emotion, outstanding cinematography, and just enough humor to lighten the mood. One of my favorite characters who does lighten the mood throughout the movie is Katy, played by the lovely and talented Awkwafina. The first time I saw Awkwafina in a movie was when she played Ming Fleetfoot in "Jumanji: The Next Level". I adored her in that movie and I felt the same way about her in "Shang-Chi". She had the same type of personality in both movies and I imagine that is how she is in real life. The end of the movie hints that she may be present in future Marvel movies. Yay!

Grief is the dominant force that drives this movie. And what is grief? As Vision so perfectly expressed it in "WandaVision", "But what is grief, if not love persevering?" When Wenwu loses the love of his life, everything changes. Perhaps because I have experienced grief myself, I felt his pain. Although he became "the bad guy", I understood him. I don't endorse the actions he carried out, but that kind of pain is real.

As for the superhero himself, I am curious to see how the character of Shang-Chi develops in future Marvel movies. The end of the movie clearly shows us that there is room for his story to grow and I am excited for that.