Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) are enjoying their slacker lives parking cars and singing karaoke when Shang-Chi is forced to face his past. His father Xu Wenwu (Tony Chui-Wai Leung) is the leader of the The Ten Rings organisation and has held the mysterious ten rings for a thousand years. He believes his estranged son and daughter (Meng’er Zhang) should now take their place in his criminal organisation. 

After the fairly low key Black Widow, the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Four feels like it really explodes out of the blocks with Shang-Chi. There are actually a few key similarities with Black Widow, this is an origin story that focuses on family and has some fantastic humour. But its uniqueness lays in the fact that it is based in martial arts and the mystical. 

The story revolves around the mysterious land Ta Lo and Wenwu’s desire to find his way there with the plot hewing towards the magical and mystical corner of the Marvel Universe populated by Doctor Strange and Wong. Needless to say that the CGI teams engaged here get to let their imaginations run wild when depicting Ta Lo and its denizens. 

The most compelling part of the plot though is in its focus on families. Those you are born into and those you make. Wenwu is not a clear cut villain, having many layers to his character and reasons for his actions. Whilst the relationships between him and his children are complex and interesting. The chemistry of Shang Chi and Katy’s friendship is also lots of fun. Co-writer and director Destin Daniel Cretton is perhaps most famous for the intimate Short Term 12 and it is clear that his ability to portray these types of relationships has come through in this film. 

Most importantly for a film with martial arts fighting though, the film has fabulous set pieces. The fight sequence set on a bus near the opening of the film is so good that the only draw back is that the film struggles to live up to its brilliance later on. The action sequences are well shot, easy to follow and sometimes jaw dropping. 

Elsewhere the film is very funny. Awkwafina plays off Simu Liu well whilst a couple of cameo performances had me in stitches. And performances are universally fantastic with Tony Leung standing above them all and Simu Liu announcing himself as a future star of the MCU. 

Drawbacks? Well, the more invested in the MCU you are the more you will get from it but otherwise this is a fantastic comic movie package. 

As ever, wait all the way to the end for a mid and end credits sequence!