Bruce Steele: Ten rings to rule them all? As a Lord of the Rings fan, I was curious to see Marvel's rings story, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Turns out it does involve dragons and mountains, but not hobbits. Were you familiar with the comic book hero and his bracelets before the film?

Edwin Arnaudin: Not even slightly, which had me excited to experience a film with a wholly (well, almost) new set of characters — but not quite to the level of giddiness I usually feel at the prospect of another rendezvous with my favorite MCU folks. Still, from early scenes of ring-wearer Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung, In the Mood for Love) violently building his empire and engaging in a Crouching Tiger-style battle with soon-to-be love interest Li (Fala Chen, HBO’s The Undoing), I was hooked. Did you likewise become entranced by the first foray into big-budget filmmaking from co-writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12; Just Mercy)?

Bruce: I had no expectations but found the storytelling immediately captivating — and daring, for Disney, to start with an extended prologue in Mandarin with subtitles. Marvel movies are usually well told, but this one resembles a good novel, with characters succinctly developed and a crystal clear narrative structure, including the flashbacks salted throughout. It's a family saga, as Xu's estranged son, our hero Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), goes in search of his sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), after a band of thugs attacks him on a bus (a great fight sequence) and he suspects Xialing is their next target. And then there's Katy, Shang-Chi's unsuspecting hipster sidekick, played by Awkwafina. I doubt Katy comes from the comics.

Edwin: From what I’ve read, she’s a screenwriter creation — and what a welcome addition! Her humor instantly transforms what until then had been a fairly serious film into the kind of entertaining tonal balancing act we’ve come to expect from the MCU. Katy remains a charming presence as she accompanies Shang-Chi to China for his inevitable reunion with Xu, who — with help from some nifty CGI water — reveals his ill-informed plan to rescue his long-lost wife, whom he believes is not actually dead. Naturally, a series of action sequences ensue. Do you have a favorite?

Bruce: The bus fight is a good one, but the battle on the high-rise scaffolding is pretty intense as well. (It would be even better in 3-D, which is an option.) There's a Wakanda-worthy finale, but it wisely focuses less on choreographing the competing armies than on the confidence levels of individual participants. The action is all superbly staged, but what I liked about Shang-Chi is that it seemed less a plot contrived to justify fight scenes than a character-driven narrative that develops through combat. It's also got a great cast. In addition to those already mentioned, there's the ubiquitous and always welcome Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians) and, reprising his marvelous Iron Man 3 role, Ben Kingsley. Now there's a character who needs a Disney+ sitcom.

Edwin: Be careful what you wish for! I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more brief adventures with Kingsley’s goofball thespian Trevor Slattery and his friend Morris — a faceless, magical being who resembles a dog-sized, four-legged Cousin It, down to the squeaky, non-verbal communication — but their screen time here is just enough to showcase their silliness without wearing growing stale. Kingsley and Yeoh spice up the film at just the right moments, but as much as I enjoy seeing them, they’re part of a script that can’t stop introducing new elements. Such onslaughts usually don’t bother me, but in Shang-Chi, it felt like new rules and challenges were folded in every few minutes, resulting in a grand finale that’s plenty entertaining, but occasionally too busy.

Bruce: I actually rather liked the freeform fantasy, which seemed to me less of a cascade of new rules than an escape from the usual reliance on stolen thumb drives and ticking bombs and seething supervillains. Like the origins and powers of the Ten Rings, much of the magic here is never fully explained, and you just have to go with the flow. I'm sure Google could fill in a lot of details, but I prefer the ambiguity. If I had screenplay reservations, it was with some of the plot holes, the biggest of which was why Li — a beautiful, magical woman — would ever want to raise a family with megacriminal Xu. Their love is what humanizes Xu, but it leaves her weirdly neutered. The bad-boy crush is the movie's one major concession to cliché.

Edwin: Their relationship is definitely a hurdle — one of those that we’re probably meant to brush off with “oh, it’s just a comic book” logic. But it’s pretty glaring with the strong characterization and defined relationships that otherwise fill the film: Shang-Chi and Katy; Shang-Chi and Xialing; Trevor and Morris. Still, there’s so much wonder in the grand battle with two (count ‘em, two!) dragons, all sorts of sorcery, and non-magic archery that it’s a true feast for the eyes. I’d rather have too much going on than not enough.

Bruce: Agreed! It's quite an accomplishment for director Cretton, whose little indie breakthrough Short Term 12 was just eight years ago. I wasn't a fan of The Glass Castle (2017); while Just Mercy (2019) was just fine. Who knew he could direct snappy Marvel action sequences and keep that delicate balance of humor and emotion that powers this movie? I'll definitely be tuning in to see his Tokyo Vice series when it reaches HBO Max. Meanwhile, I highly recommend his Ten Rings, even without the hobbits. I'll give it an A-minus.

Edwin: Thankfully, there were no Sonic the Hedgehog appearances either, though I was a little disappointed that none of the Ant-Man crew popped up to help — or even ignore or accidentally miss — our heroes in the downtown San Francisco action sequence. Regardless, I’ve now thoroughly enjoyed four consecutive Cretton films and will prioritize seeing his feature debut, I Am Not a Hipster, his lone full-length effort that doesn’t involve Brie Larson. Several weeks ago, I predicted that her Captain Marvel would appear in one of Shang-Chi’s tag scenes, and was elated to see that educated guess pan out — especially since it hints at further adventures for Shang-Chi and Katy. With their origin stories out of the way, I’m confident that Round Two with this delightful duo will smooth out the occasional rough edges of their introduction, which gets a B-plus from me.

Overall grade: A-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Marvel Studios/Disney)