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Post by BackinBlack on Jun 26, 2021 9:20:08 GMT -5
Didn't expect to see Abomination in there! That got me excited. I hope he fits in with Marvel's Thunderbolts plans.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 15, 2021 16:06:42 GMT -5
I'm so excited for this new movie. I believe Marvel's Phase 4 is more likely than not to reignite the average fan's excitement for the MCU. While the MCU has always had its demographic, Phase 3 took it to another level where people associated the MCU with quality. It was similar to how Pixar at one point was a safe bet, people could count on them to produce an A grade movie for the whole family every time. Regarding Marvel Studios, the TV shows have been fun viewing at home, and the fandom experience is every bit as fun to be a part of as the movies. However, after 3 shows I can see that they still haven't figured out the story telling to the level of their best movies. Black Widow is the definitive and clear outlier in many ways for Marvel Studios Phase 4, not the least of which is the fact that it could and should have come out any time between 2014 and 2018.
If they pull this off, Shang Chi opens the MCU to yet another mythical land on planet earth with its own rich history and culture. The action in the trailers looks like it's going to be awesome. I can only hope they've shot and edited this movie to display the skills these martial artists have dedicated so many years of their life toward perfecting. Here's hoping for a strong showing for this project, I hope it's great.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 17, 2021 1:13:50 GMT -5
John Campea Shang Chi Reaction
One of John Campea's claims to fame is that he was the first movie blogger. I don't know how you could possibly verify that, but he was a Pioneer on YouTube for AMC Theaters, which took his program to Collider before he left and built the John Campea Show. He's worked as a producer and other behind the scenes roles for over a decade I believe. Anyway, he's someone whose opinions I rely on even when I don't agree with him. This bodes well, and gets me so excited!
I watched the Red Carpet premiere and was so happy to see that we're finally getting to this point. I hope this movie crushes the box office, but doesn't contribute to any surges in COVID. Whatever the theaters gotta do, I hope they do it.
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Post by mr. excellent on Aug 20, 2021 14:44:52 GMT -5
Does He Look Like He Can Fight? (Clip)
Yes, this! This is what I want to see. I'm hearing that the movie itself over performs in the story telling department as well while others are saying we could have a top 5 on our hands. Of course, the listings are subjective, but I suppose the movie could be recognized by most within the fandom as a top 5 in the same way that Captain America The Winter Soldier is acknowledged as such.
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Post by mr. excellent on Sept 4, 2021 13:35:53 GMT -5
Going to see Shang Chi today. So excited!!! I'll let you guys know what I think and hope you guys get a chance to see it and share as well.
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Post by BackinBlack on Sept 5, 2021 5:15:04 GMT -5
Saw it last night. It was awesome. Definitely in the MCU's top ten for me.
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Post by mr. excellent on Oct 17, 2021 13:21:43 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that I shared my thoughts on this movie in the Rate the Last Movie You Saw thread, but I can share again here. I saw the movie 3 times, and for me it got better with every viewing. The martial arts were great in the movie. For me, the intention of the fights in each respective fight was different, and they each took on a life of their own. I do wish that the fight at Xialing's fight club had been more intense, a real display of her pain and feeling of abandonment, but it was still effective. The same goes for Shang's fight against Death Dealer before Wen Wu arrives. Less so for Shang's fight with Death Dealer, since that was a bit more intense. It's just that he was fighting to get his necklace charm back 90% of that fight and was only pushed over the edge upon the memory of his brutal training. I think a few more seconds of that fight without the knives would've been a nice touch before Shang gains the upper hand and is stopped from killing DD. At any rate, I can't wait for this to hit Disney+. I'll be buying the hard copy too.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jan 13, 2023 21:41:47 GMT -5
It's funny how perspectives change with time. When this movie first came out I remember it being very favorably reviewed by both the critic and fan community as well as the general audience. In more recent months, I've seen a variety of articles written that praise only Spider-Man No Way Home as the MCU's sole, bonafied great movie of Phase 4. While we all met each other through Sony's Spider-Man forums and he is my favorite character, I have to disagree. I'll go further and say Shang Chi was the better movie. While it is comparing apples to oranges in some sense, I think Shang Chi does a better job of standing on its own and is equally as ambitious. The movie introduced a pocket dimension of sorts, introduced a different kind of magic and also the Ten Rings (changed from the source material though they may be), and even had a freaken dragon. It's a super ambitious movie.
Recently a few clips dropped into my YouTube feed and I clicked for a watch. I got chills rewatching the scene where Wen Wu first met Ying Li (Shang's mom) in the forrest. She had that insanely beautiful and detailed bamboo mask and fought using the wind. Then again when Ying Nan (Shang's aunt) taught Shang how to unlock his latent potential to fight using the wind in Ta Lo. I got chills rewatching Wen Wu approach an enemy army and completely wrecked them with the rings. This movie completely rocks and I'm almost a little disappointed that Deston Daniel Cretton is going to be directing the sequel to Shang Chi so close to Kang Dynasty... that is, until rumors started circulating that Marvel is going to push Avengers Kang Dynasty and Åvengers Secret Wars back again. If that gives Destin more time to make a killer sequel and do Kang Dynasty, then I'm all in. These movies need time to bake, and even if the Marvel machine has proved in the past that they can turn out 2-3 solid movies a year, they need to get themselves back on track to make sure the interest is still there from the wider audience. At the present time, it's not quite what it was between 2017 and 2019, pandemic or not.
Off topic, but rumors are also going around that Scott Derrickson will be coming back to do Dr. Strange 3. If true, and if Marvel can find a way to let him do what he wants to do while still moving the overall Multiverse Saga narrative forward, then I'm all for it. I love how he handled the overall look and feel of Strange's magic in the first movie. Outside of Shang Chi and Captain America 2 and 3, I think Dr. Strange had the best fight choreography and action visuals of the whole lot of MCU franchises.
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Post by BackinBlack on Jan 14, 2023 9:46:32 GMT -5
Yeah, it seems like the hype and reception for No Way Home overshadowed Shang-Chi. It was still great though and I feel it's the second best film of Phase Four.
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Post by mr. excellent on Jan 14, 2023 20:32:08 GMT -5
I reread some of my posts from higher on this page and talk about shifting perspectives. At the time of that posting, Black Widow was the outlier film and the MCU shows on Disney+ hadn't yet lost the GA's attention. Sheesh.
My top 3 for Phase 4 are easily No Way Home, Shang Chi, and Wakanda Forever. For those looking for a stand alone story they can jump into without having to see any other films, Shang Chi benefits for being the first of its franchise. However, the nostalgia payoffs and strengthening of themes that No Way Home benefits from make it a uniquely powerful experience for Spider-man fans. Wakanda Forever as a elegy and depiction of grief, processing pain and healing makes it just as unique in a totally different way though. I doubt the MCU ever does a movie like that again, or the genre for that matter. It has my favorite cinematography of all the MCU films too, just gorgeous to look at.
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