Shang-Chi and The Legend of Ten Rings (2021)
For that matter, even the Russians and German were made to look like headless chickens running aimlessly in espionage sagas and combat movies.
In concordance to Marvel and Hollywood's agenda to pander to screams of the woke generation and offer so-called 'olive branch' to the minority and marginalised groups, the filmmakers have decided to make a Chinese superhero. However, the legend of Fu-Manchu reminds the world of the bygone idea of Sax Rohmer and writers of his era with the awful idea of 'Yellow Peril'. East Asia was portrayed as a threat to the western world, and Fu-Manchu was singled out as a caricature of a one-man mission to kill all white men and women to bring China back to its ancient glory. In 1932, the Chinese Embassy had expressed its objection to MGM's 'The Mask of Fu Manchu'.
China is such a big market for movies that Hollywood can ill afford to offend. The reminder of an offensive villain would not augur well with the Chinese market and for Chinese diplomacy.
In different versions of the comic series, Shang-Chi's father had been others - Zheng Zu and Mandarin. In this 2021 film version, the screenwriters have cleverly downtoned the evil quotient of these villains to create a composite character called Wen Wu. This works just well for Marvel had not obtained rights over the characters of Fu-Manchu and his nemeses. Incidentally, Mandarin was seen as Iron Man's arch-enemy. His 'Ten Ring' was an alien finding.
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| The earlier ten rings were finger worn. Tony Leung as WenWu |
Shaun, a parking valet, leads a quiet life with his colleague Katy in San Francisco. All that comes to a halt when some bad dudes turn up on a bus he was travelling and create a hell ride on the undulating streets of San Francisco, reminiscent of the movie 'Speed'. The baddies are out for his pendant. Fearing that they would go for his sister, Xialing, Shaun (@Shang-Chi) speeds to Macau to meet her.
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| Malaysian input |
That starts the dark family secret, the truth about his missing father, the story behind his mother's death and the legendary fight to stop the forces of evil from reigning Earth. In their own way, the film tries to apologise to the Chinese diaspora about Mandarin's past in Iron Man 3. An impersonator, Trevor Slattery, admits to having portrayed Mandarin and bad stereotyping behind him.
The final outcome is a story rich with ancient Chinese wisdom pregnant with much oriental mysticism. With the advancement of computer graphics and digital enhancement, what churns out is a tale that puts China and Chinese culture back on the map of its ancient glory. It is much like what Admiral Zheng Ho did to the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century when he sailed the high seas to explore till the New World, maybe.
(P.S. Malaysia has two representatives in the movie, Ronny Chieng and Michelle Yeoh)
