My daughter and I, who both love movies, haven’t been to a theater during the entire pandemic. However, for an MCU theater-only release, and because we’re both vaccinated, we decided to make our triumphant return in order to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

I won’t lie – it wasn’t a totally comfortable situation at the theater. Even with that being said, though, we’re SO glad we went.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is absolutely an action comedy with moments of fairly poignant emotional drama. I know Marvel often goes for that concept, but they resoundingly connect on Shang-Chi. Furthermore, the special effects are phenomenal, but it’s the hand-to-hand martial arts that will mesmerize you. Best of all? The story isn’t too bad, either.

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t very familiar with Shang-Chi despite the fact that I grew up reading Marvel Comics. Shang-Chi has been a comic book character since 1973, after all. Even so, I knew every thing I needed to know about the MCU Shang-Chi within moments of his introduction on screen. He puts his dishes in the sink after joining Katy’s family for breakfast. He kisses Katy’s grandmother on the head before taking his leave. Bam. There it is. He’s not just a hero, he’s nice.

However, when the fighting starts, and you won’t have to wait long, prepare to see Shang-Chi unleased. You’ve seen parts of the bus fight in the previews – you haven’t seen anything yet. It is a thrilling moment and firmly establishes that Simu Liu has both the charisma and the physicality to headline an MCU martial arts action movie.

Speaking of which, the heart and soul of this film is Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi, and Awkwafina, who plays Katy. Their comedic chemistry is a blast and I honestly believed they were the best of friends. I look forward to seeing these two for many years to come.

Tony Chiu-Wai Leung plays Shang-Chi’s father, the true leader of The Ten Rings. Marvel has given us heroes with daddy issues before, but Leung might be the first one who actually elicited sympathy from me – maybe even a bit of empathy. His story is vital to the overall plot, and though father/son conflicts are something of a fantasy trope, this one still felt uniquely fresh.

I promise not to spoil anything, but there are many, many delightful surprises in this film. There are several actors I want to commend, but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. Just know that I’ve only touched upon the three you’ve seen in previews. This film is full of performances that will both catch you off guard and make perfect sense to you.

In the end, I found the story fairly captivating. The comedic friendship between Shang-Chi and Katy were my favorite parts, the backstory with Shang-Chi’s father proved interesting enough, other elements of Shang-Chi’s family also held my attention, but the last act’s “big battle” was problematic. These giant end-of-movie-fights are escalating to an impossible degree. It was visually magnificent, but the stakes seemed way too high for such a predictable outcome. Believe it or not, Shang-Chi struck me as oddly intimate throughout most of the film – the ending contradicted that more tightly-woven approach. But, the ending got the Shang-Chi character where he needed to go, and now his future is wide open.

If you’re vaccinated and comfortable going to the theater, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is certainly worth the trip. My daughter and I immensely enjoyed it from start to finish. Loveable characters, big laughs, thrilling action, cool story – you can’t ask for much more than that of an MCU movie, right?