Tony Leung's Class

Wenwu is a multifaceted, complex character who, despite being cruel, still receives sympathy from the audience.

Long anticipated by the movie-loving community, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first blockbuster in the MCU to feature an Asian superhero.

Not only does it promise to bring the audience an oriental atmosphere with unique kungfu fights, the film also brings together a cast of powerful Asian stars such as Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Yuen Wah, Awkwafina...

Journey to face the dark past

The blockbuster Shang-Chi revolves around the young man of the same name played by actor Liu Simu.

Although he chooses to live in seclusion as a lowly hotel maid, Shang-Chi has a special background. As the son of Wenwu (played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), the immortal boss who runs the notorious terrorist organization Ten Rings, Shang-Chi was trained by his father from a young age. He possesses fighting and survival skills that are no less than those of a real assassin.

Fearing Wenwu's patriarchal personality and not wanting to become a cold-blooded killer, he decided to flee to America, changing his name in the hope of starting a new life. However, after many years of enjoying peace, Shang-Chi was forced to come forward to stop his father's "crazy plan" while trying to escape the guilt of his past.

Created by the Marvel Studios team, Shang-Chi brings eye-catching camera angles and a series of grand action and explosion scenes. However, it is not the magical oriental painting or the Kungfu martial arts element, but the "villain" Wenwu played by Tony Leung and the relationship between him and the main character that is the highlight that attracts and keeps the audience.

Tony Leung's Eye Acting Technique

Unlike most of the supervillains in the MCU, Wenwu's goal is not related to the ambition to become the ruler of the world, the determination to take revenge, or the ideal of saving the universe from the brink of destruction. On the contrary, the boss's motivation stems from a "very human" emotion. That is love, the pain of losing the person he loves the most.

Once engrossed in the battlefield, the "immortal warrior" has completely changed after meeting Ying Li (played by Fala Chen), the beautiful woman guarding the gate leading to the mysterious land of Ta Lo. To live with her, he accepts to give up his dream of conquest and the immortal power granted by the magical weapon Thap Nhan.

However, the old grudge did not spare Wenwu, and even took Ying Li's life. Because of his great pride, he refused to accept that this tragedy was the result of his past mistakes. After his return, he used the Ten Rings to build up his power and then sought to invade Ta Lo, hoping to revive his wife through magic there.

Reminiscent of the genre of ghost stories, the above story proves that Wenwu is a multifaceted, cruel character but still attracts sympathy from the audience. Although Wenwu appears mainly in a simple shirt throughout the 2-hour running time, he still impresses with the calm demeanor of an experienced person and the authority of someone with unparalleled power.

Without the need for philosophical speeches or massive armor, with just a glare and a few short sentences, he easily overwhelmed the spirit of his son and those who dared to confront him.

Besides the character's psychological storyline, Wenwu's appearance on the big screen would not be perfect without Tony Leung's performance.

Having conquered countless different genres of roles from comedy, action to romance, it was not until Shang-Chi that the film-loving community witnessed the actor take on a super villain. Of course, this challenge was not difficult for the top star of Hong Kong.

Possessing superb acting skills, Golden Statue Film Emperor has excellently portrayed the two opposite extremes of the boss of the Ten Rings. When facing enemies, subordinates and two children, Wenwu is a cold and tough man, but when standing in front of Ying Li, he reveals an incredibly warm and gentle side. By fully portraying the pain and psychological depth of the character, star Tony Leung Chiu Wai successfully turned the "immortal warrior" into the biggest highlight of the entire work.

In addition to fully portraying the depth of the character, Tony Leung also helps viewers clearly feel the pain that always torments Wenwu's spirit through extremely subtle changes in facial expressions, combined with deep eyes that "contain thousands of stories".

The sad, thoughtful look as the tycoon recalls the happy times with his late wife will surely make many movie fans shudder when reminded of In the Mood for Love (2000), the masterpiece that helped the star win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Not to mention, it seems that the actor surnamed Luong also brought his own life experiences into the blockbuster Shang-Chi. With a past of being abandoned by his father, he understands very well what it is like to be a failed father and the serious consequences that their children have to bear. Therefore, the image of the super villain Wenwu in the film appears very close, becoming the biggest highlight, the most Asian of the entire work.

He is a typical husband and father we often see in Asian families. His conflict with Shang-Chi is actually nothing more than a family conflict.

The father-son conflict is full of torment.

Father-son love and father-son conflict are not new themes in MCU blockbusters. However, unlike Iron Man 2 (2010), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016) or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)... the relationship between the three main father and son characters in Shang-Chi is exploited in many ways, somewhat closer to Asian audiences in general and Vietnamese audiences in particular.

As a typical Eastern father, Wenwu was quite reserved, patriarchal, and paid little attention to his children's feelings. Since his wife's death, he became even more strict, trying to force Shang-Chi and Xialing into the framework he wanted.

However, the boss of the Ten Rings never considered his children as tools, or intended to turn them into killing machines to serve his own personal agenda. Specifically, when conversing in Chinese, he always called Shang-Chi "son" and "baba" (papa) - the affectionate, intimate way of addressing father and son in Chinese families.

Not to mention, the reason he decided to train Shang-Chi in assassination skills since he was young was because his son said he wanted to hunt down the killer of his mother and father. Xialing wanted to follow in her father's footsteps, but Wenwu ignored her because he didn't want his daughter to meet the same sad end as his wife before.

Wenwu was well aware of his responsibilities as a father, and he truly loved his children. Ironically, he did not know how to express this love. Knowing that he had failed miserably in raising his two children, the Ten Rings boss clung even more to his efforts to revive his wife, hoping that Ying Li's return from the dead would restore the family to its former peace.

Like his father, Shang-Chi is in denial, desperately running away from his dark past. Shang-Chi deeply respects Wenwu, but has trouble expressing his views and opinions in front of him.

Thus, Wenwu and Shang-Chi continued to hurt each other, and their conflicts grew more and more. In the end, the two had no choice but to confront each other directly, using combat to express their feelings.

Disappointing minus points

Despite possessing two valuable highlights, the brainchild created by Destin Daniel Cretton also has many limitations.

First, Liu Simu, the actor who plays Shang-Chi, has not been able to meet the audience's expectations in terms of acting. Liu Simu scored points in the public's eyes by performing many difficult action scenes himself, but he also showed his immaturity when transforming into a character with a complex past and psychology.

With poor expression, all the emotions of Shang-Chi's joy, anger, love, and hate are conveyed by Liu Simu through a stiff, awkward face throughout the film. As a result, the actor is completely outclassed when standing in the same frame with acting icons like Tony Leung or Michelle Yeoh.

Besides, although European and American critics have rated it as a "blockbuster with strong Eastern martial arts identity", in the eyes of the Asian cinema fan community, the action element of Shang-Chi is only at the "okay" level.

It can be seen that director Destin Daniel Cretton borrowed many martial arts elements from Chinese films for Shang-Chi: from the graceful, artistic fighting style in the masterpieces of Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai to the humorous, unmistakable acrobatic action style of Jackie Chan.

Unfortunately, when mixing those quintessence with a series of CGI effects and non-physical fighting styles similar to Fast & Furious, they become a mess, although not too bad, but still make the difficult audience feel disappointed.

According to Zing