Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

I was really happy to have the chance see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at a Thursday preview last night because it is so good!  Over a thousand years ago a man named Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) discovers ten rings, which grant the wearer immortality and the ability to wield incredible power, and he uses them to form a secret society of deadly assassins called the Ten Rings.  Many years later he learns of a village called Ta Lo, filled with magical creatures and inhabitants who practice a mystical form of martial arts, which he wants to control.  When he finds the entrance to the village he is beaten by Ying Li (Fala Chen), one of the guardians, and is stopped from entering.  They eventually fall in love so Wenwu gives up his power and Li leaves her village so they can marry.  They are happy with their two children, Xu Shang-Chi and Xu Xialing, for a time but eventually Wenwu's past catches up to him and a rival gang kills Li.  Wenwu returns to the Ten Rings and trains the young Shang-Chi to become an assassin to avenge his mother's death.  Shang-Chi becomes disillusioned and flees to the United States where he attempts to hide his identity.  In the present day, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), now known as Shaun, is working as a parking valet with his best friend Katy (Awkwafina) when he is attacked by members of the Ten Rings who are looking for a pendant given to him by his mother.  He fears for his estranged sister Xialing (Meng'er Zhang), now living in Macau, because she also has a pendant so he travels there to warn her with Katy.  The two siblings eventually reunite with Wenwu, who wants the pendants to locate Ta Lo once again.  Shang-Chi, Xialing, and Katy escape (with the help of a character from the MCU that is simply too good to spoil here) and learn the secret of Ta Lo from Li's sister Ying Nan (Michelle Yeoh).  Nan shows Shang-Chi that he must embrace the traits given to him by both parents in order to save the village in an epic showdown.  I loved this movie so much and I think it is one of the best in the MCU.  I am not a martial arts expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but I think the action sequences are absolutely exhilarating, particularly the fights on a bus and on a bamboo scaffolding, and I could definitely see the two very distinct types of fighting employed by Wenwu and the Ten Rings and by Li and the rest of the villagers, respectively.  I loved the message about the importance of family and knowing who you are and I also loved the meaningful character arcs for not only Shang-Chi but also for Xialing and Katy.  It has a lot more heart than I was expecting with an incredibly powerful scene in the third act (Leung is absolutely fantastic).  I enjoyed the chemistry between Liu and Awkwafina and all of the back and forth banter between their characters (I laughed out loud so many times, especially in a mid-credits scene) because they have such a fun relationship.  Marvel did so many things right with this movie and I think it is one that most people will enjoy.