The One Scene In Shang-Chi That Had Fans Scratching Their Heads
No matter which way you slice it, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is both a massive success and a worthy addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After premiering on September 3, "Shang-Chi" dominated the Labor Day box office and set new records, taking in over $90 million domestically and another $56.2 internationally (via Variety). The film is also a critical darling, with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 92% fresh among the professional movie watchers, and a nearly perfect 98% among the audience.
Of course, even the most popular and successful movies still aren't perfect — no movie is. Look closely enough at any flick and you'll find something that's unrealistic or illogical. For some fans, one way to bond over their shared love of a particular title is by combing through the smallest details and pointing out the inaccuracies. To an outsider, this might look like nitpicking. To these fans, though, it's a way of engaging with a movie on a level deeper than most are willing to go.
And even though the release of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is still quite recent — and fans have been discussing the movie nonstop on Reddit and other public forums, as one would expect — some viewers have already agreed that there's one detail in the film that doesn't make total sense.
The mortician who worked on Shang-Chi's mother really earned their money
Warning: mild spoilers for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" ahead
First, some context. Before he moved to San Francisco to live an unassuming life as a valet named Shaun, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) was the son of the legendary immortal warlord Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) and a magical village guardian named Ying Li (Fala Chen). After falling in love with Li and having two children (Shang-Chi and Xialing) Wenwu tries to leave his past as a magic-enhanced warlord behind. However, not all of his enemies are quite so willing to let bygones be bygones, and in one tragic flashback scene, Ying Li pays the price for Wenwu's past indiscretions.
In the official "Shang-Chi" discussion thread posted on Reddit, one Redditor had an issue with how this sequence is portrayed — namely, how after Ying-Li's death, her body shows few ill-effects of the beating: "[Shang-Chi's] mom gets beaten to death by a group of 50 dudes and she ends up looking like she died peacefully in her sleep." Fair point.
Alternatively, as fellow Redditor ronearc pointed out, the scene in which Ying Li's body is shown occurs in Shang-Chi's memories, not in the present-day. Memories are often idealized versions of actual events, and it's understandable why someone might want to remember their mother that way.
There are also practical reasons why the movie might have opted to show Li not so brutalized. "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is a tentpole film designed to appeal to as many people as possible. It is PG-13, after all. Showing Ying Li beaten to a pulp might have felt more factually accurate, but with a movie that involves magic rings and flying dragons, accuracy isn't exactly a priority.