The long-awaited new characters of Phase Four started last week as Shang-Chi burst onto the MCU scene. Phase Four actually started with WandaVision, but it and Black Widow’s movie weren’t new to the MCU. However, Shang-Chi and his acrobatic martial arts and ten rings exploded onto the big screen last week.

Shang-Chi doesn’t disappoint as far as action movies go. This film is full of jaw-dropping martial arts that take place from a city bus to mythical towns. Simu Liu kicks and punches his way into Marvel fans’ hearts, all while dealing with family issues with a father who has a questionable character, to say the least. This film not only has swift kicks, but also unbelievable special effects. Mythical creatures are a very important part of the plot and no one would know that the film uses CGI to create such fantastic beasts. The visual aspects of this film are eye popping and pleasing even to the most novice Marvel fan.

As far as setting up films to come, Shang-Chi shines. First and foremost, Shang-Chi cements himself as a main player in Phase Four. He is even welcomed to the circus by a main Avenger in an end credit scene. He is now the martial arts guru of the Avengers. Avoiding spoilers is not easy here, but let’s try. The Ten Rings organization will return as an evil entity in the future. When and where is still a mystery. Shang-Chi and the ten rings will play a huge role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This was made clear by the appearance of Wong in the actual film and also again in an end credit scene. Yeah, it’s a certainty that Shang-Chi will play a role in Multiverse. How about that Ten Rings beacon? What or whom is it calling? There is speculation that perhaps the beacon is what calls the deviants back to Earth. Of course, the deviants are the evil force in the upcoming Eternals. Those are three big setups and there are many more minor ones that Shang-Chi garnishes throughout the film. However, I need to leave you some reason to see the film!

The action is fantastic, the special effects are great, what it does for the MCU as a whole is super exciting; however, it does fall a little short in the plot department. It appears as though Marvel was so focused on these other things that the story itself fell a bit short. Now don’t get me wrong…this is a good movie and you will be entertained, but generally speaking when a Marvel hero has his own movie, the story line is pretty good and the character development, which helps drive the plot, is always good. If you’re wondering about this, think Winter Soldier or Black Panther and you’ll wonder no more. So it really isn’t five stars because of this, but I would give it a solid four stars and tell you that you should see it!