Kung Fu Hustle (2005)

Marvel’s first Asian superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, hit theatres this labor day weekend and has been a box office success so far. Deserving of high praise, this film balances epic superhero action, a heartfelt family-centric plot, and prioritizes positive Asian representation. Spoilers ahead! 

The cast for this film are all extremely talented. Simu Liu’s superhero debut is nothing short of marvelous (pun-intended). Liu has been advocating so much for this film across social media, and it’s been worth it. He is a strong lead in the film, delivering fast and complicated martial arts moves and making it look easy. He’s also solidified his place in many viewers hearts (including this one) as a brand new hero heartthrob after not only his shirtless scene in the fight ring, but also his delivery of little lines throughout the film in which he cares for those around him, particularly Katy (Awkwafina.) 

Liu and Awkwafina have amazing chemistry that make them a fun pair to watch. Whether or not they will become a romantic couple remains to be seen, but their friendship is one of the most believable and realistic ones portrayed in the MCU so far. Awkwafina has perfect comedic timing throughout the film. While it’s wonderful to see a female partner stick along for the entire movie (Katy has lots of screentime), it is somewhat disappointing given the controversy surrounding Awkwafina’s “blaccent.” 

However, there are other amazing actresses in this film, too. Meng’er Zhang as Xialing is a standout. It’s almost unbelievable that this is her first acting credit! She steals every scene she’s in, holding her own against Shang-Chi both as a fighter and as a presence onscreen. And Michelle Yeoh appears as Ying Nan, Shang-Chi’s aunt. Unfortunately, Yeoh is given little to do, but she shines in her few scenes when she’s giving Shang-Chi advice. 

As the three young children (also known as The Three Tigers) trained by Sifu Cheung (Roger Yuan) reach their adulthood, they become the best kung fu fighters in the States. Nevertheless, when they are in their 40s, they wish they had the strength and power from twenty years ago.

The Paper Tigers, Quoc Bao Tran's uninhibited feature debut, focuses on The Three Tigers and the challenges of aging. They don’t talk to each other anymore, they are in bad shape, and they have real-life problems: Danny (Alain Uy) is a divorced father with a high demanding job, who argues with his ex-wife for their child’s custody; Hing (Ron Yuan) is really out of shape and has an injured knee, and Jim (Mykel Shannon Jenkins) is now a jiu-jitsu fighter in search for a sense of purpose. Sifu Cheung’s death alters everything because it will reunite the friends to investigate what really happened to their master.

One of Bao Tran’s virtues is having the ability to laugh at kung fu without being disrespectful to it. All the martial arts’ traditional features are mocked but at the same time it exists a little bit of spirituality in every action performed by the characters. Somehow, this atmosphere reminds me of Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003), where the Knoxville director presents Uma Thurman as an extremely badass, comic superheroine from the 80’s look-alike, whose witty dialogues make the film a crack-up on several occasions. Additionally, the film's ambiance evokes other martial arts action-comedy films, such as Kung Fu Hustle (2004) or Shaolin Soccer (2001), but with more restraint in its fantastic elements.

Tran uses the same voice to talk about Asian-American culture from a funny and light-hearted perspective. The Chinese-American community is represented by the kung fu fighters. Although this representation is stereotypical and full of clichés, the jokes made by the characters are cheerful and funny, and there is not a single time where I found it harmful or excluding. Rather the opposite, in fact. This topic is brilliantly exemplified by the figure of Carter (Matthew Page), an American white man who is constantly repeating Chinese proverbs in a philosophical way, but Danny and Hing don’t speak Chinese, so they look at each other wondering what just he said.