OVP: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Film: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Stars: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

I'll be real-coming out of Spider-Man: Far From Home, I was a bit over the obligation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I knew that I wouldn't entirely be able to escape it-projects like the OVP and just general osmosis were going to keep me coming back even if I decided to skip some installments, but I wasn't thrilled about what a post-Thanos world would look like for the organization.  Something happened, though, during the pandemic when I couldn't see any major blockbusters-I developed a hunger for them.  In retrospect, for me the MCU became a place of nostalgia that it couldn't have been in its ubiquity.  Most of the product since Avengers: Endgame, though, has been lacking.  Spider-Man and Black Widow were too dry, Falcon & Winter Soldier and Loki were a snooze, and What If has yet to live up to the fun of its potential.  Only WandaVision, a complete departure from the MCU's traditional formatting, has shown itself to be truly worthy.  That is, until Shang-Chi, currently lighting up the box office & totally defying convention, potentially changing some of the "evolution to streaming" conversations (supposedly Shang-Chi has convinced Disney that they should release Eternals exclusively in theaters as well).  Shang-Chi is doing this not just through exclusivity-it's also one of the best films in the MCU, showing that even if it's sticking to the formula, it can find ways to drive a fun action-adventure that doesn't need a name-brand to keep it afloat.

(Spoilers Ahead) Taking place in the years after Avengers: Endgame (though weirdly it's never explained which characters were blipped or not), the movie is about Sean (Liu), a valet driver who speaks multiple languages but doesn't aspire to much more in his life other than hanging with his friend Katy (Awkwafina).  Things change, though, when a man on a bus tries to steal Sean's necklace, and rather than giving it up, Sean fights the man in a blistering whirl of martial arts, to Katy's shock.  It turns out that Sean is actually Shang-Chi, the son of a ruthless crime boss named Xu Wenwu (Leung) master of the mystical "ten rings," who is attempting to steal these magical necklaces from both Shang-Chi and his sister Xu Xialing (Zhang) in order to take on the home village of their mother, whom he believes is trying to keep her captive, despite them understanding that she was killed when they were children.  They initially are captured by their father, then escape and go to the village, lead by their aunt Ying Nan (Yeoh).  Nan leads them in battle against their father, who in turn awakens the Dweller-in-Darkness, whom Shang-Chi and Katy ultimately kill.  The film ends on something of a cliffhanger, with Shang-Chi and Katy joining up with Captain Marvel, the Hulk, and Wong, presumably joining the Avengers in the process.

Shang-Chi suffers in some regard from some of the problems you get from the Marvel franchises.  The third act is a bit sloppy (they really are not great with ending their films), throwing too much CGI into the battle with the dragons (it made it a bit blurry & washed out, which is the case for a lot of the Marvel films where they simply have too much CGI to make it look realistic), and I will admit that there is maybe not enough information in the pre-Shang-Chi period of our main character's life (I would've liked at least one scene of him as "Sean" without Katy there so we could understand what he was like while he was alone).

But these are small complaints, as Shang-Chi is the best MCU film since Black Panther.  Casting Simu Liu in the lead turned out to be a stroke of genius, as he is totally prepared to play the slacker qualities of this figure, while also believably rising to his destiny as the film continues (also, it must be said, Liu is the hottest addition to Marvel's universe since Thor took off his shirt).  Awkwafina's character might need a bit more explaining in a future film (like, does she have a superpower other than being good at shooting arrows...and isn't that Hawkeye's thing?), but she proves to be one of the most reliable comic reliefs currently in movies, totally nailing the the "comic" part of this and giving us a playfulness that has been lacking in a lot of recent Marvel product.  The remainder of the cast is superb, particularly Leung & Yeoh, both icons of Asian cinema for decades, proving their movie star chops in a big-screen American product.  About the only thing I wanted out was Ben Kingsley's unnecessary connection to the larger Marvel universe (was anyone really clamoring for him reviving his work as "the Mandarin?").  Combined with some terrific stunt work & fight scenes (the fight on the bus is epic, as is the sequence where we first meet Xialing), Shang-Chi is a spry shot-in-the-arm for the MCU films headed into a consequential fall, where both Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home come with sky high expectations...it's proof that Marvel can believably achieve such levels still.

OVP: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Film: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Stars: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh

Director: Don Hall & Carlos Lopez Estrada

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Animated Feature Film)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

The long drought is over.  While this was over a week ago (and I have since been to another movie in theaters), Raya and the Last Dragon was the movie that got me back into theaters.  I sat, ate my chicken fingers (I had just had popcorn the night before, and honestly I cannot stress enough how much fun it is to eat chicken fingers in a movie theater), and watched in awe (and yes, I cried during the opening credits of the movie just as I realized that I felt at home for the first time in months).  I have said for a long while that it was going to be difficult to rate the first movie I watched when I got back into the theaters, and it was made particularly challenging because it was a film that checks a lot of boxes for me.  I generally like Disney's animated fare (in the past decade, more so than Pixar's output), and this is a gorgeous, colorful movie (though not a musical).  However, I'm not blind, and do see that while Raya has its moments, it does suffer from a simplified plot & a repetitive story structure.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is about Raya (Tran), a young warrior princess whose father Chief Benja (Kim) protects a sacred orb that supposedly keeps an evil called the Druun at bay.  When Benja invites the four leaders of the neighboring kingdoms, who assume that Benja's Heart kingdom is prosperous because of the orb, the daughter of one of the chiefs, Namaari (Chan) tries to steal the orb, but instead breaks it & the result is that the Druun is released, turning Chief Benja into stone.  Years later, Raya uses her orb to free Sisu (Awkafina), the last dragon, to help her in her quest to best the Druun.  Sisu is kind of the runt-of-the-litter in terms of her dragon siblings, but they go on a quest to steal the pieces of the orb & put them back together with Namaari, trying to steal the orb pieces for herself & the protection of her kingdom, following in pursuit.

It's a Disney movie, so you can guess how things turn out (hint-everyone is happy & harmonious), but Raya for a while does tread some new territory that Disney hasn't always trod in the past.  It's hard not to see the indictment in people's greed in the way the orb is broken as people want it to be theirs even if it means no one can have it (everything from climate change to democracy is under the microscope there, and though it was made before, it's hard not to see the spread-of-the-pandemic & people needlessly skipping masks & vaccines at the sacrifice of others, in that sequence).  Disney isn't usually so obliquely political (save for Zootopia), and I liked it.

But the rest of the movie doesn't have this kind of tenacity, and is bogged down in a script that basically has Raya go to a kingdom, find a piece of the orb, find a new sidekick, and learn the same lesson.  Raya isn't an interesting leading princess, her single-minded determination never letting her get out of her shell, and while she has a complicated relationship with Namaari (with clear queer overtunes if your antennae are up), it doesn't work for me.  Awkafina's Sisu is the highlight of the movie, as her comedic skills are aces with the dragon character, but the script isn't quite funny enough to make this a Genie or Dory situation, where a film is brought to another level by a comedian capable of such things.  Instead, it's beautiful but kind of blah, a movie that is great to see in theaters...mostly because it's always great to see a movie in theaters.

The Farewell (2019)

Film: The Farewell (2019)
Stars: Awkafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen
Director: Lulu Wang
Oscar History: Awkafina scored a Golden Globe, but couldn't translate that into any love from Oscar.
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

In 2019, I have to admit, we've been hard-pressed for proper breakout hits that don't feature a Disney logo somewhere on their bottom line.  While the year continues to have record box offices, smaller films, or even mid-level films, have struggled to find a foothold in the zeitgeist or to feel like the sorts of movies that will gain Oscar traction (it's definitely one of those years where you can believe that December movies will be more present on awards show red carpets than usual).  So when a film actually peaks out from behind the curtain like The Farewell, a predominantly foreign-language film with an unproven (though admittedly increasingly well-known) star that manages to crack $10 million at the box office, it's time to sit-up and pay attention, as these are the sorts of things that spell out a Best Picture nomination and a major Oscar contender.  But the question remains-is it any good?

(Spoilers Ahead) The film focuses on Billi (Awkafina), a Chinese-American woman who is an aspiring writer, but mostly flits from job-to-job in New York City, struggling to make rent while trying to be an artist.  She has a complicated relationship with her immigrant parents (Ma & Lin), particularly her mother, but seems to have a strong bond with her grandmother (Shuzhen), whom she calls consistently and seems to be the most encouraging to her dreams.  One day, her parents tell her that her grandmother Nai Nai is dying of cancer, but that they aren't going to tell her that she has cancer, as that isn't the custom in China.  Billi struggles to understand this wish, and initially isn't invited to a "fake" wedding between Billi's cousin and a woman he's only known for a few months, but she flies over anyway and tries to connect with her family in a way she hasn't since she was a little girl.  The film opens up old and new wounds, but ultimately shows the tight bond that families, even separated by thousands of miles, inevitably share thanks to their combined history.

Much has been made about the universality of the film's message, which I find a bit pedantic (are we still really at a point where we can't have a discussion of another culture's experiences without making sure to include the "I'm like that too!" message as an asterisk?), but there is a point to it.  The film has moments that seem alien to western culture (the karaoke at the wedding, the series of engagement photos with a staged backdrop, etc), and of course it would be illegal in the United States to perpetrate such a ruse-here, Nai Nai would be the first person to receive her medical diagnosis.  But the reality is that the diagnosis itself is more of a red herring than anything else (in fact, the "real life" Nai Nai is still alive six years after her "terminal" diagnosis, in some ways proving the film's point).  The movie is more about showing the deep bonds between people who love each other, even if they were kind of forced to do so by birth or marriage.

This gives us the best moments of the film, like when Billi has to navigate a mother who clearly doesn't understand her (and vice versa).  It also might be a bit of the film's Achilles' heel.  We have side characters that don't feel as fleshed out as they need to for our emotional connection.  I was fascinated by Billi's cousin Hao Hao, who barely speaks a word in the movie even though he's at its center-what does he think?  Does he approve of this marriage, or is he even interested in his new bride?  I wanted more answers.  The film has these gaps, and there are moments toward the end where instead of answering them and having more hard questions about the questions that they've opened, they fill it with sentimentality and out-of-character calls for apology.

But the movie is still worth seeing.  Awkafina is good, though like many comedians making a play into drama for the first time, she occasionally confuses flatness-of-character for drama, rather than infusing the film with the same charisma she'd bring to her comedy.  Shuzhen is the film's standout as the grandmother, making her American film debut (she's a veteran of Chinese soap operas).  In a different year she'd be a slam dunk for a nomination, possibly even a win, but I wonder if Oscar will latch on, as (as I mentioned above) they don't oftentimes nominate Asian actors (it's arguably one of the most under-discussed aspects of AMPAS's history) and they really don't care for supporting performances that are largely in a foreign language (Marina de Tavira & Valentina Cortese are the only two women who have been nominated for supporting roles in foreign language films).  It's the sort of role you gravitate toward, even if it's occasionally underwritten, but it's deeply-felt and the final moments she's onscreen, potentially understanding what her body is saying (or just understanding the fleeting nature of life, where this always might be the last time you see some of the few people you've allowed yourself to love), is poignant and worth the ticket.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Film: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Stars: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong
Director: Jon M. Chu
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

It is shocking to me, truly shocking, that we have waited 25 years since The Joy Luck Club for Hollywood to create a film that has a majority-Asian cast in a modern setting.  As a young gay man who grew up in an era where the only gay people I frequently was able to see were gay characters (played by straight actors on television) like Will Truman or Jack McPhee, I think it's worth saying right up-front, before I get into the merits of this movie, that I'm glad that this was a success.  Too often we dismiss how important films and being viewed in pop culture are, particularly for young people, and so this being a hit that resonated with audiences, and hopefully will result in more movies with diverse casts being greenlit in the future.  Now, onto my review!

(Spoilers Ahead) The film centers on Rachel Chu (Wu) an economics professor at NYU who is in love with her boyfriend of a year Nick Young (Golding), who wants to take her to his best friend's wedding in Singapore.  Rachel, who apparently has no intellectual curiosity about her smoking hot, charming boyfriend (seriously-the man candy in this film is on-point, and I would think it's inappropriate to say that, but this film is a lot about objectification so I think it's worth point out), doesn't know that he's totally loaded, flying in a private lounge on their flight to Singapore, and soon learns that he's a member of one of the wealthiest families in Asia, and comes with a motley crew of family members, as well as a terrifying mother, Eleanor (Yeoh), who is intent on breaking them up.  The film follows as Rachel tries to acclimate to this alien world of wealth, and seeing if she is willing to take on the responsbilities of this world and the pressures that come from a relationship with Nick.

The film's diversity is the only part of the film where we see the picture breaking the mold, as otherwise this feels like a relatively simple romantic comedy that, unfortunately, too-often forgets the comedy part of the equation, and even subtracts too much of the plot to focus on the CRAZY RICH part of the plot.  Indeed, the movie is a feast for the eyes as we move through a cascade of parties that feel too opulent to be real (they likely are, but considering what is currently in my checking account, I'll need to find a Nick Young to ever find out), and increasingly silly-seeming ways of showing obscene wealth (the wedding, in particular, feels absurd).  The wealth-porn, honestly, gets to the point where I'm like "okay, let's be done," as while Rachel doesn't put a lot of stock into this world, everyone else does, including the screenwriters and director, who only once show the downfalls of such intense, disgusting displays of wealth-porn, and even then make it seem more like the characters' faults rather than the money's.

But this would be easier to dismiss if there was more going on in the picture.  The two leads, while beautiful, don't have movie star charisma and aren't able to lift the dryness of their relationship up enough.  I honestly felt so short-changed by them, as it's clear why he likes her (she's smart, successful, self-made), but it's never clear why she likes him other than obvious aesthetic reasons.  He's lied for most of their relationship, is so dull that he's completely dismissed everything that happened before meeting Rachel, and doesn't seem to have anything to lend himself to an economics professor other than abs.  For a movie that wants so desperately for Rachel to be the one who isn't suckered by wealth, the only one who isn't, it might have a problem because Nick Young as played in this film is just a manic-pixie-dream-boy, and Rachel might be shallow in ways other than cash.

The film has too many side plots, not knowing entirely what to do with characters like Astrid (Gemma Chan, under-emoting, gives the film's best performance but the screenwriters clearly assume you read the books as she feels like we need more back story).  This isn't an isolated problem, as the screenwriters frequently assume you read the books, giving too many characters short shift or relying upon 2-dimensional portrayals of people to get their point across.  Michelle Yeoh is not an actor who you'd accuse of phoning it in, and indeed there are moments where we see the fire of a proper movie star here, but even she falls a bit when it comes to playing the dragon mother.  The movie takes on too many ideas, clearly not knowing what to cut (what was with the deeply violent fish in bed/"gold digging bitch" scene where Nick didn't have a proper reaction to it at all?!?), and didn't seem to have the confidence of knowing there'd be a big enough audience of people who'd never read the books.  As a result, this is frothy, but there's no feeling, not enough humor, and not compelling enough leads to warrant much celebration outside its important conversation regarding diversity.

Ocean's 8 (2018)

Film: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, James Corden
Director: Gary Ross
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

While I don't have the free weekend I was expecting, I do want to get a few reviews that have been sitting around my "To Do" list out in the next few days, so expect a couple of peaks at movies you've probably already discussed, but I still want to put on the record.  The first of these reviews is Ocean's 8, the recent spinoff of the Clooney/Pitt/Damon revival of the Rat Pack pictures (man, originality is dead, ain't it?) which gives the franchise an entirely female remake as Sandra Bullock (playing Debbie Ocean, sister to George Clooney's Danny Ocean) takes over as the heist ringleader, this time attempting to steal a diamond necklace from the Met Gala.

(Spoilers Ahead) There are only a few genres I'd genuinely say that I like pretty much every time, but heist pictures are probably toward the top of the list (for the record, film noir, westerns, and anything where Vincent Price plays a villain would be the rest).  There's something wonderful about seeing the intricacies of a con being perpetrated, and indeed that's the best part of this film.  These are talented actresses, and even the ones that aren't known as great actors (specifically Awkwafina and Rihanna) are compelling enough presences offscreen that they're fascinating to watch, and as a result seeing them sashay around pickpocketing, wearing crazy-awesome couture...it's a dream.  Plus, it helps that everyone here is genuinely funny-the Ocean's pictures are about the comedy, and that was why in my opinion the remakes genuinely were better films than the originals with Sinatra & Martin, a clear case of the original not being that great (it was just cool).

This is to say that I'm usually pretty forgiving with heist pictures, but Ocean's 8 can only stretch that love so far by casting actors I admire and being in a genre I am susceptible to before I have to admit-it's not very good.  I know there was a lot of conversation about this coming from the stars of the film (Mindy Kaling and Cate Blanchett, specifically), decrying male critics for not understanding the audience want for a film like this, and while I am a male critic, I will say that I'm pretty much the target for this as a gay man; I get far more excited seeing Cate Blanchett or Anne Hathaway's name on a call sheet than George Clooney or Matt Damon's.  The problem here isn't the actors, it's that the script is too soggy, routine, and bereft of intimacy to really have us care about any of these characters.

That feels like the only way to really explain how, say, Bullock, who is consistently one of our most charismatic modern movie stars, seems to be on auto pilot most of the film.  Perhaps they should have figured out a way to get Clooney to cameo (I was so sure that'd happen), because she tows the line pretty hard between mourning and revenge, and as a result her Debbie is kind of a downer, and it makes the film heavier than it needs to be.  The comic relief is supposed to come from her motley crew of performers, but they're a mixed bag.  While some are fun (I loved Rihanna's energy as Nine-Ball, even if she's given virtually nothing to do except be Rihanna), Helena Bonham Carter doesn't feel like a person that could exist in reality.  Of all of the characters, her Rose is the one that should be WAY more fun (kooky designer completely out-of-her-element), but in order for her to be this successful, she'd surely have to know how to deal with diva actresses.  That every time she speaks it feels like there's a tick-tick-tick going on in her head, as if HBC herself is wondering whether or not she should be surprised or pretend to be surprised by what is happening, is staggeringly bad, particularly from an actress who is more-than-capable of landing a strange character.  The only supporting player that's truly fun is Anne Hathaway, who is doing a marvelous sendup of the Hatha-hater character people invented around her, and pretty much steals the movie as a spoiled, air-headed actress.

Without more commitment to the characters from the writers or actors, the film falls apart.  It's still fun in doses, and there are some great lines here-and-there, and these stars are too big of STARS for this to be a complete slog, but honestly you leave almost instantly forgetting this existed, and if you remember it all you just recall the lost potential.  Ocean's 8 is a paint-by-numbers heist movie with a world-class cast, which is a damn pity in a summer that has been too generic at the movies.