At this point in its life cycle, movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe appear to be just another cog in Disney’s corporate entertainment machine to introduce the next big thing. A lot of times these entries feel somewhat homogenous, conforming to a certain filmmaking formula to appease as wide an audience as they can for maximum box office gains. Once in a while, however, we get films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that, while isn’t entirely free of the MCU’s blueprint, cover new cultural ground with a whole lot of heart. It’s one of the studio’s better origin stories with a deeply human undertaking, resulting in a martial arts spectacle that surprisingly feels fresh, and a rare instance where the villain is more compelling than its hero.

Shang-Chi, our titular hero played by MCU newcomer Simu Liu, is the runaway son of a power-hungry warlord Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung), who’s lived a thousand years and the leader of a powerful criminal organization called the Ten Rings (the real one and not the copycat in the Iron Man movies, apparently). Thanks to his powerful mystical rings, his empire conquered kingdoms and has continuously tipped the scale of power worldwide as they see fit for centuries. But when Wenwu found love with Jiang Li (Fala Chen), he gave everything up to be a family man. This first meeting between the two of them is one of the best fight sequences in the film, just around six minutes in, featuring the graceful ethereal fighting often found in Chinese wuxia films. Once Jiang Li dies, Wenwu finds himself going back to his warlord ways. This time, he trains his son Shang-Chi to be a killer as a way to grieve Jiang Li’s death and mature him in the process. Shang-Chi decides to run away from his family instead, leaving behind Wenwu and his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang).

Finding new life in America as an adult, Shang-Chi changes his name to Shaun and makes a living as a parking valet along with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) in an adorably platonic relationship. A less epic life than what Wenwu wanted for him, Shang-Chi is happy and content with his standard day job and karaoke night, far from the reaches of his father’s power, or so he thought. During a bus ride with Katy, a group of henchmen attack Shang-Chi for his jade pendant necklace, and without missing a beat, he quickly turns in a martial arts action hero to Katy’s surprise. What comes next is an incredible hand-to-hand combat with long camera shots following the mesmerizing action from both ends of the bus.

It’s no surprise that a kung-fu focused movie features some of the best fight sequences in the whole of MCU. Director Destin Daniel Cretton employed fight choreographers of differing martial arts backgrounds, including the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, to deliver the various styles of several characters in Shang-Chi. He and his team also take inspiration from Hong Kong martial arts cinema in terms of framing the action, lighting, and how to orchestrate a fight set-piece overall, allowing the cast to display their various fighting styles with clear precision, whether it’s an elegant open-hand style or hard-hitting kinetic kung-fu.

Although Shang-Chi is featured in the title, the power of the film comes from the expressive eyes of his father Wenwu. Casting the legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung is one of the best choices this movie has made, because he just pulls in the audience like an irresistible gravitational magnet every time he’s on screen. Leung brings in a conflicted but imposing presence to Wenwu, as shown by the juxtaposition of his passionate love for Jiang Li and the destructive force of his ten magical rings. A father-son relationship has been a central theme to several MCU movies since the start: Loki and Odin, Tony and Howard Stark, and Peter Quill and his planet sized father Ego. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may seem like Shang-Chi’s origin story, and it kind of is, but it heavily relies on Wenwu’s tragic backstory as an anti-hero that it feels like it’s his movie – the story of a man willing to open the gates of hell to be reunited with his love.

This backfires to Simu Liu, however, as his performance seem passable for a lead, but ultimately crumbles in scenes with Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh. Even when the script gives Liu a moment to showcase a more dramatic side to his character, it still appears to be lacking in weight. Perhaps this is a testament to the more veteran actors’ skills rather than Liu’s, and a more compelling performance can come up once he’s more comfortable in the role.

This is an MCU movie after all, so a big CGI fight is inevitable in the end. I won’t spoil it, but so far I find it more interesting than the usual world-ending scenarios this genre commonly offers. Ultimately, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is another big win for Marvel, bringing forth Asian-American culture at the forefront and embracing family values, big or small, in an enjoyable kung-fu romp, despite its formulaic trappings.

Rating: ★★★½