As a longtime Marvel fan and someone of Chinese descent, I was beyond proud seeing that the next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a story about Xu Shang-Chi and his journey as a hero. The character Shang-Chi was born in China and was raised by his parents until he  ran away to live in America at age fourteen. His father is the wielder of the fabled Ten Rings, which have granted him immense power and immortality for the past one-thousand years. His mother was the protector of the mystic city of Tao Lo, deep in the forests of China. The movie  shows the life of Shang-Chi–how he was raised, how life changed after his mother was killed, and how he tried to prove that he was not defined by his past and the pain his father had caused in the generations prior. 

The basic storyline follows the life of Xu Shang-Chi after he ran away from home. He and his lifelong friend, Katy, get involved with Shang-Chi’s father and his mission to find the hidden city of Tao Lo, where Shang-Chi’s mother was from. His father was the keeper of the Ten Rings and held an immense amount of power, and he did not use it to better the world. He instead used it to conquer every possible empire in the past thousand years, and he was going to use it again to conquer Tao Lo unless Shang-Chi and his sister, Xia-Ling, stopped him. Together Shang-Chi, Xia-Ling, Katy, and the people of Tao Lo fight the army of the Ten Rings before they can unleash the dark forces hiding within the gates of Tao Lo, and they defeat Shang-Chi’s father before he burns the city of Tao Lo to the ground. In the end, Shang-Chi’s father gives Shang-Chi the rings, and he uses them to kill the dark, soul-sucking spirits that were imprisoned behind the Dark Gates in Tao Lo before they devour the world. 

Overall, I think this film was absolutely astonishing–the special effects were realistic, but still had the trademark supernatural element of a Marvel movie; the acting and the casting was incredible,and the storyline had the typical happy-ending of most movies, while still having enough plot twists to make it unpredictable. They also set up the end of the movie perfectly for a sequel, or for the characters to make appearances in other upcoming Marvel movies. 

Personally, I think Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a wonderful film that is definitely worth watching. Not only was the plot seamless, but the actors performed amazingly, and the message, “You are not defined by your past, but you should instead learn from it” is a very powerful message for people, especially now.