‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ movie review: Marvel’s most enjoyable comfort watch yet

Simu Liu and Awkwafina star in the latest MCU instalment, that is balm for our big screen-spectacle-starved eyes

For its 25th instalment, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), looks to Asia. While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings might not inspire the raw awe and wonder of Black Panther for its nuanced take on African and African-American culture, it is quite good fun. The costumes, sets, effects, fights, dragons, music and cast are all uniformly good and maybe that is the problem; good but not gob-smacking or helmet-inducing mind-blowing. . An origin story, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings tells of Wenwu (Tony Leung) who in his millennium-long search for eternal power, commands the 10 rings and becomes a fearsome, unbeatable warrior. When he falls in love with Jiang Li, (Fala Chen) the guardian of the magical land of Ta Lo, he gives up the rings and settles down to be a family man, taking pride and joy in his children, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang).