What Shang-Chi Teaches us About Marvel Third Acts

One of the most memorable movie moments of my life occurred in a tiny theatre in 2014.

The rings are easily the new coolest Marvel weapon.

I hadn’t yet gotten really into movies, and even the idea of a regular theatre-going experience was pretty new to me. The movie was Captain America: The Winter Soldier. All of the MCU hype from The Avengers was still pretty fresh, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was picking up a lot of steam. In the midst of all of that, Winter Soldier made huge waves. It was the movie that made Captain America “cool,” it brought a new level to Marvel choreography, and at the time it had a feeling of sophistication that a lot of the franchise didn’t really grasp towards. It gestured at themes of the abuse of social media and national security, of government power and injustice, all through the lens of a genuinely compelling character dynamic between Steve and Bucky. It’s still one of my favourite Marvel movies. More than that, at the moment it felt like a movie that upended everything in the franchise. By the film’s end, SHIELD was in ashes, and we learned that HYDRA had been operating behind the organization’s shadow the entire time. Surely, this affected everything we knew about SHIELD. In the aforementioned show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we got to watch this death and rebirth in real-time. It felt like the franchise could be genuinely shaken and transformed, that it was malleable over time, and that was exciting. Nobody knew that a few movies later the whole HYDRA thing would be swept under the rug and that all the twists and turns that The Winter Soldier took us on would be effectively ignored. For the moment, anything felt possible.

Trying to find a wide shot of the carnage at the end of Winter Soldier that seemed visually distinguishable and not just a CGI mess was borderline impossible, which is pretty telling.

Shortly after watching the movie, I was on the phone with a friend of mine. He didn’t care much about spoilers at the time and insisted I tell him everything that happened. So, I worked through the major beats. I talked meticulously about all the setup, the way Steve was introduced, and the build-up for the arc he would take. The interesting ways he was contrasted with Natasha. The feeling halfway through where it was as if there was nobody to trust. The crazy twists as HYDRA’s plot was unraveled, the re-introduction to Bucky, all of it. The intricate plotting and pacing of the whole thing. And then I got to the third act. The way I remember describing it was essentially, “and then it’s a Marvel climax, and a lot of things blow up, and the heroes win.” All the dominoes are set up, and we simply let them fall, as we would any other movie. In fairness, I do think this is somewhat of an exaggeration – the entire third act is supported by the central conflict between Steve and Bucky, giving the whole fight a level of emotional stakes that would be lacking in a typical Marvel movie. And yet, it’s a valid critique – one that the franchise has had a hard time getting away from. Two hours of character work, of set-up and build-up, and then a lot of things blow up and the heroes win. Endgame has this down to a science – the second act is purely character building, while the last act is sheer action without any genuine payoff to those arcs. And it’s fun! It’s a fun formula. But it’s one that’s stuck out to me. The third act is supposed to be a moment of catharsis, where all the threads come woven together. But so often, it feels like we get to the third act, and then… we check out and just enjoy the action.

As someone who rides a lot of transit, this scene was very cathartic.

Enter Shang-Chi. In a lot of ways, it’s a very similar movie to Winter Soldier. Both were widely praised for their choreography, both well-developed character pieces – and both have a third act that is great when it focuses on a central character dynamic, but falls mostly into generic action otherwise. In Shang-Chi this is especially jarring. It’s been over a month since the movie came out, and while the feeling has died down over time, on first release I was very taken aback by the way the film ends. For the first hour, it is a stunningly poignant exploration of this complicated family dynamic, with Shang-Chi caught in the middle trying to reconcile his seemingly opposed lineages. This tension all comes to a head in the finale. Spoilers from here on (there is a reason I’ve waited like a month for this one. It’s a good movie, you should see it if you haven’t). Wenwu, Shang-Chi’s dogmatic relapsed terrorist of a father, is hellbent on chasing the ghost of his dead wife. We learn that the voice he thinks is his passed wife is actually the whispers of the (checks notes) “Dweller-in-Darkness,” a giant evil dragon sealed by a Dark Gate and wants to break free and eat everyone’s souls. Okay. In order to do so, the Dweller has seduced Wenwu, who, with the power of the Ten Rings, has the strength to break it out. The village guarding the gate goes to war with Wenwu’s army as Shang-Chi takes on his father. Their battle is genuinely compelling; Shang-Chi merges the aggressive style of fighting he learned from years of training with his father and joins it with the more open-handed style from his mother’s village, symbolizing his inner cohesion. It’s even reflected in the music – Shang-Chi’s theme becomes a tying together of leitmotifs that represented his mother and his father. Through this cohesion, Shang-Chi is able to take the rings from his father and come near to defeating him. But, he refuses to follow in the steps of Wenwu and does not take his father’s life. It’s a strong moment and feels like a perfect place to begin wrapping up the movie and its core themes.

Then the evil dragon breaks out, eats Wenwu’s soul, and fights the good dragon that has been protecting the village.

I love the distinct "energy" coming from the different users of the rings, it says a lot.

In about ten seconds flat, the movie pivots dramatically from deep, intimate character drama, to a CGI dragon fight. It feels like all emotional stakes fly out the window. And I can’t pretend like this bit is wholly without meaning – it’s here that Shang-Chi’s aforementioned theme blares to life as he champions the full power of the rings, not through aggression, but serenity of self. It’s in this bit that Shang-Chi and his sister seem to have fully redeemed their relationship, choosing not to abandon each other. It’s even here where Katy… fulfills her arc? I think? She shoots an arrow that helps kill the evil dragon, which is definitely a pay-off, but I’m not entirely sure what it means for her character. All that to say, things are definitely happening in these five-ten minutes, but it still manages to feel deeply hollow after all the masterful stuff between Shang-Chi and Wenwu.

In a way, I think the creators wrote themselves into a corner. The Dweller-in-Darkness is (apparently) a comic book character, albeit an obscure one with little if any connection to Shang-Chi. We pass by a beautiful mural earlier in the movie that depicts it in all that dragon goodness. You can’t rightfully get away with setting up a dragon for the entire movie and then not having a dragon. And when you have two dragons in a movie, and you need to shift in gear for a Marvel climax – sure, let them fight. But I think the decision to hard-pivot to dragon fight not only feels out of place for the aforementioned reasons, but it robs us of a borderline-necessary solidifying of Shang-Chi’s character.

I also find it interesting how Shang-Chi "guides" the rings while Wenwu "uses" them? There's a whole separate article here.

I really like Shang-Chi. I said all this in the review I posted a few weeks ago, but I think he’s a really neat addition to the MCU. He’s friendly, likable, but has a very real anxiety underneath all of him. He’s a character sorting through his place in the world, trying to figure out who he is. I love that sort of character! It’s a big reason I’m very attached to the Rey presented in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. And it’s maybe because of that attachment that I feel like there was just a little something missing to make Shang-Chi fully click for me. See, Shang-Chi spends the entire movie figuring out how to deal with his father’s legacy. At first, he runs from it, flees it, tries to spend his life pursuing joy outside of the tight grip of Wenwu, but also beyond any responsibility to his mother’s village. Both eventually find him out. In the village, Shang-Chi is told that he must accept both his lineages in order to accept his true self. We see him transitioning from the aggressive tendencies represented by his father towards the more peaceful ones of his mother, but I’m not convinced we get full synthesis. He chooses not to kill his father, even though that’s what his father trained him to do. While there’s a clear attempt to combine the two styles, his fighting by the end definitely feels more open-palmed than closed-fisted. In general, there doesn’t seem to be a lot from his father that he’d want to inherit. Wenwu gets a sort of redemption at the end, seeming to show Shang-Chi respect once he realizes he’s been duped by the evil dragon all along (right before his soul gets then eaten by the evil dragon) and it feels insufficient? Especially because, again, he immediately gets eaten by an evil dragon. Wenwu is definitely sympathetic, but he’s still an abusive father who forced his son to be a living weapon and alienated his daughter. That doesn’t go away overnight, and there should be some genuine work towards healing between the two of them.

I hope Razor Fist comes back. That is all.

There’s a lot of subtlety in the complex family dynamics Shang-Chi is caught in, and so I don’t blame the movie for struggling to find a single thing for him to land on. I’m not sure there’s a singular beat that really clearly defines his character. For example, in The First Avenger, that would be the scene where skinny Steve jumps on the grenade. In the first Thor movie, it’s where Thor offers himself to the Destroyer and becomes worthy. In Iron Man, it’s Tony Stark building his suit in a cave, with a box of scraps. Or possibly just the declaration, “I am Iron Man” – both kind of hold that weight. Captain Marvel has the “I don’t need to prove myself to you” scene, etc. I don’t think Shang-Chi has that. I could see arguments for it; maybe him choosing not to take his father’s life. Maybe him using the rings to defeat the Dweller, but I don’t think that tells us anything about him as a character. And this is kind of shocking to me because I feel like the movie sets up all the pieces to have a truly cathartic moment, one that would make Shang-Chi feel like a fully defined character.

When I first started this blog, I created a category for “Movie Edits,” because I really liked Nando V Movies’ YouTube channel and I figured I would have a few edits of my own I would put to writing. Anyways, I never did that beyond the one I posted with the launch of the blog, but here we go, we’re finally putting that category to use!

Look, if I have an excuse to talk about the cave scene, I am *going* to talk about the cave scene.

I mentioned Rey earlier, and she also has a pretty definitive character beat in The Last Jedi that I’m more or less stealing here. Yeah, you didn’t expect this to turn into a Last Jedi essay, did you? At the exact midpoint of the movie, she finds herself thrown into a mysterious evil cave, seeking answers about her parentage. About her place in the universe. But she doesn’t find her parents – instead, she just finds a mirror, reflecting endless copies of herself. Her place does not come from her lineage or her mentors, rather, her belonging and her strength is to be found within. That image is the expression of her entire arc.

Now, Shang-Chi follows a very different direction than Rey, despite their similarities. But it is legitimately baffling to me that he isn’t given a similar set-up. I mean, the movie introduces an evil dragon that whispers in the minds of men, promising them their deepest desires in order to sway them to its will. The Dweller is the main villain behind everything, the thing influencing Wenwu. Are you telling me that the protagonist isn’t going to have to conflict that very force? That the Dweller never even attempts to sway Shang-Chi? That Shang-Chi never has to come face-to-face with that which he wants the most? Like, this should write itself!

The Dweller, much like the Winter Soldier finale, is a visually interesting design, but is so busy that I immediately forget everything about what it looks like.

You have Shang-Chi defeat Wenwu. He spares him, and either restrains him with the rings or, even better, Xialing appears and ties him up. Wenwu and his daughter never have a real moment in this movie, and that seems like a mistake. All the fighting has left a hole in the Dark Gate, and Shang-Chi knows that for the village (and the world!) to live in peace, he will have to put a stop to the Dweller. Shang-Chi walks through the gate. Inside is a surreal black void. Shapes appear and disappear at random, images of Shang-Chi, his family, and their complicated history. His mother’s death. His father’s rage. All of it melds together. Voices call to him, asking him who he is, where he came from. Voices of his aunt, his sister, etc., all calling for him to prove himself. He also sees the life he chose for himself in San Francisco, a life that ultimately meant nothing for him. At the end of the void is one final image. Maybe it’s his mother, just as he remembers her from his childhood. Maybe it’s his father, the loving father he never really had. Maybe it’s his whole family, united as Wenwu dreamed, eating a meal together. To be honest, I’m not sure it matters (Like, obviously it does matter, but I’m not the scriptwriter so I’m not going to dictate what is the one, definitive temptation Shang-Chi needs to confront. Any of these work for the general vibe I think they needed to aim for). He sees the past he never got, offered to him after all these years. His mother reaches out, offering her hand to him. Shang-Chi looks to the hand, looks her in the eye. He reaches out… and then sends a flash of the Ten Rings. The image of his family dissipates, giving way to the Dweller-in-Darkness laying beyond.

This move. He does this move.

Shang-Chi rises to his full height. He is no longer haunted by the past. He’s accepted what happened, and what that’s made him. There is no need to flee it, to try to redefine it. His family is flawed, complicated, broken. But he accepts it, warts and all. The sister he abandoned, the father who betrayed him – they are both waiting outside, and perhaps they can build something new. More than all of that, he accepts himself. He is confidently himself, the product of all the chaos that came before him. Shang-Chi finally achieves his synthesis. The Dweller roars at him, trying to strike fear in his heart, but Shang-Chi will not be intimidated. Serenely, calmly, he powers up the Ten Rings, proclaiming his lineage. The son of Ying Li, the son of Xu Wenwu. The Dweller charges, reaching towards the rings. Before it can reach him, Shang-Chi fires. The full force of the rings is sent through the torso of the Dweller, splitting it in two. Shang-Chi maintains his spirit, and the Dweller is defeated.

It’s a much simpler ending, but I don’t think simpler is worse. In all the chaos of the dragon fight, the core journey gets lost. And I don’t think the beats we would miss out on are really worth keeping the CGI mess for. The heart of this whole movie is the family, and we forget about all that while we’re fighting dragons. A simpler ending tends to be all the more poignant; in Winter Soldier no one cares about the Triskelion falling apart or all the helicarriers exploding. People just care about what’s happening between Steve and Bucky – and the movie rightly focuses on that. It’s why the stripped-back, operatic duels in Star Wars’ Original Trilogy shine more than any of the flashy, exciting duels of the Prequel Trilogy do. While we’re tempted towards big, huge climaxes, I’m far more interested in an emotional finale that ties all the arcs together than an explosive one. For the most part, Shang-Chi is a simpler movie, with more grounded combat and more grounded arcs. I get the need to bring it into the MCU formula for the ending, but it seems to me that the movie would have felt more satisfying with an ending that mirrored the tone of the rest of the movie. And, maybe a “Marvel formula ending” isn’t such a necessity, anyways. We don’t need to break the budget with every movie.

If we don't at least get Tony Leung flashbacks in Shang-Chi 2, I will be severely disappointed.

Also, Wenwu lives at the end of my pitch, which is good because Tony Leung is the best actor in this franchise and we need him to come back, please.