I didn't know what to expect - it seems to have had a limited release in the UK. Which turns out to be a shame because it's brilliant and fun and very well done! In a nice touch, this movie makes you work hard being in both Mandarin (with subtitles) and English - it is predominantly Asian actors and actresses at the forefront of the action, with Ben Kingsley as a lost Liverpudlian Shakespearean actor providing some sidekick comic relief! and a winged, faceless, fluffy unroasted chicken - but we'll come to that later....
A warlord obtains the ten rings and uses them to seek power and money, and more power and more money through the ages until he meets his match in a woman and there is love... She gives up her powers and village, and he sets aside his rings (arm bands rather than Thanos style).... They have a family, but something goes wrong - she dies... and we jump into the 21st century to meet Sean and Katy, car valets with the most-est. They have the worst journey to work by bus ever! as does everyone on the bus, apart from the scything Romanian who really wants Sean's pendant (given to Sean by his deceased mother). Sean dashes off to rescue his sister in Macao, who doesn't need any rescuing having established her own underground fight club! After a really bad time on some scaffolding being chased by their father's henchmen, they are taken 'home' and find out why their father wants the pendants - to gain access to an exquisite water map illustrating a maze leading to their mother who, he believes, is trapped behind a gate in her beautiful home village. He plans to go get her and destroy the village if needed! But she's dead.....
To access the village, they must follow a forest maze which only appears, (Brigadoon style), at a certain time - but behold! the faceless, fluffy unroasted chicken can help. It very much reminds me of a fluffy version of Terry Pratchett's luggage! It knows the way and they don't need to wait - they steal a car and go! As with the scaffolding, this is a bad time for sidekicks! Plunging into a forest maze, they make their way to the village, which is filled with beautiful, cute things. Just as well because the forest was less so and caused outbreaks of dramatic driving, not to mention the need for speed.
Initially hostile in the you're not welcome to our village, their aunty intervenes, sorts the situation out and welcomes them in a less aggressive fashion; also revealing that their father is being deceived by a soul-eater trapped behind a wall of dragon scales - it wants to come out and rampage around the world, not their mother, who is most definitely dead. Their aunty is also the splendid Michelle Yeoh! Reminding me of a friend's hen do, there is archery - but Katy, Sean's friend is not allowed to join in and then not allowed to fight; but when she does.....there are results! Like Wakanda, this mysterious village is protecting the world from the soul-eater, using left-over dragon products such as scale shields.
The father arrives and there is a massive battle, involving Chinese lions! Sean realises that he's going to have to kill his own dad, and seeks to stop him opening the cave to let out....In a plot twist, Sean's dad appears to kill his own son, plunging him into a lake. Only at the bottom of the lake is the Great Protector, a friendly dragon and deadly to the soul-eater. In his desperation, Sean's dad doesn't seem to see the mini-soul eaters he's letting out as he loosens the scales sealing the cave entrance. These mini-beasts are deadly as they feed on souls and then feed the soul-eater in the cave, giving it more and more power - even that potentially of the friendly dragon. Sean has the opportunity to kill his dad and doesn't, demonstrating his mastery of the ten rings, before choosing life instead.
Father and son are united as the father saves the son (at the cost of his own life); and brother refuses to let his sister be eaten. It's all a bit Pacific Rim, frankly! The dragon survives, does something tactical with the water and Sean does something cool with the rings (basically blowing up the belly of the beast!) The village survives, the dragon lives and all is cool with the world, apart from the friends, who are frankly baffled until 'Wong' arrives to link Sean and Katy in the wider Marvel world....
So much to like about this film - firstly, lots of Crazy Rich Asians! Awkwafina is delightful as Katy - it's so brilliant to see a normal sized woman on the screen, and she is a fun character - the driver, the one who asks the questions, supportive and the one who shoots the arrow successfully into the throat of the soul-eater, having been told that 'she's not ready' to fight. It is a family friendly film - although suitable for older children due to the amount of fighting involving sharp pointy things: and if the few smaller swear words were removed, (unnecessary really in this drama), utterly clean! The violence is deeply stylised involving martial arts, and defensive rather than aggressive - there isn't the pounding and brain mushing from recent DC/Marvel movies, and at times the fighting is playful, like a dance. Both Michelle Yeoh's aunty character and Fala Chen as Sean and Xu Xialing's mother make men dance to their own tune! in graceful and strong ways.
Vitally, it discusses racism; what it means to be a woman and the importance of women's voices being heard (and what happens when women aren't seen and heard); mothers and their children, and fathers and sons (and in all of these things, it doesn't go where you expect it to!)
Spiritually, there's a whole analysis/discussion party waiting to happen here - with a graphic battle between good and evil; a soul-eater who steals, destroys and consumes people spiritually (their souls), until the Great Protector intervenes and leaves them tools to survive and restrain the beast. Although, I can't go too far in this as the Great Protector is a dragon, a 'she' and there is no indwelling or salvation, nor do people get to be with the Great Protector forever.... but all in all, a nice pointer to deeper things, in that people couldn't fight against the soul-eater themselves; they needed a helper! and it's a spiritual battle.
Additionally, there are themes of shame (i.e. not following in your father's murky footsteps; being ignored by your father because you remind him too much of his dead wife; not getting a serious job and settling down, but parking fast cars, eventually and enjoying karaoke); family duty; sacrifice and courage (in the case of the mother defending her family, although she is paying the price for her husband's former misdeeds) and what it means to be a good/bad parent. I loved the romance too - between war lord and village guardian, and then Sean and Katy - friendship between men and women is shown to be really important, and it was fun that it didn't go into full-on snogging, but was respectful and tender. I enjoyed this change from the face chewing norm - romance equals picnics! Sibling relationships were also explored as a very broken brother-sister bond was restored.
Tony Leung was quite marvellous in his evil warlord/father role bringing a lot of emotion, nuance and complexity to the character, as well as dynamism. Or Wenwu as I should call him because names are important! (and this is a huge irony in the film as this character began life as the deeply racist 'yellow peril' Fu Manchu and then was renamed to avoid copyright issues).
Moreover, there are jokes! This movie is a lot of fun - from the bendy bus fight looping along what looks like a San Francisco hill; to the romance between the dad and mum (pre-their mum and dad days); to Sean's name change, to the guy filming the whole fight on the bus and Sean being named 'bus guy' in the underground fight club, and more subtle jokes, that not all Asian are the same - i.e. Sean is most definitely not Korean. Not to mention the fighting Romanians who very quickly conclude that they should work together with the villagers against the soul-eaters.
Overall, this film makes you work hard - there is actual dialogue! as well as fight scenes. At times it feels like it's all gone a bit Thanos, then Narnia, then Pacific Rim - but then the movie goes where you didn't expect it to, causing these comparisons to fade into insignificance.
Especially noteworthy is the water - it forms a map. I don't know how they do it, but it is quite wonderful - not only in the map/maze sequence, but also in the revival of Sean by dragon breath bubbles and in the dragon dealing with the soul-eater by creating a kind of typhoon. The soul-eater it appears is not keen on these!
I should also mention Simu Liu - he does a nicely rounded performance on a understated character, someone who is not self-aware at the beginning and has many secrets, including a sister!
Strong story, great characters and not too much icky fighting (but action, action, action) plus fluffy things and Chinese lions - what is not to like?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And for me, heaven will perhaps be a mixture of Wakanda and Ta Lo....
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