MCU: All 7 Marvel Phase 4 movies ranked from worst to best

5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Film synopsis: “Martial-arts master Shang-Chi confronts the past he thought he left behind when he’s drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.” – IMDb

Cast: Simu Liu as Shang-Chi/Shaun, Tony Leung as Xu Wenwu/The Mandarin, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist, Benedict Wong as Wong, Yuen Wah as Master Guang Bo, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan.

While our overall experience of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was enjoyable, deciding its placement on our list proved to be a challenge. After careful consideration, we ultimately ranked the movie in the fifth position within the spectrum of the MCU’s worst to best movies.

The main reason for this ranking lies in our perception that the film heavily relied on the formulaic superhero origin story trope, leaving little room for surprises or groundbreaking narrative twists.

Additionally, we found certain action sequences to be poorly lit and over-edited, making them difficult to follow, and, at times, hindering our full immersion in the film’s action moments. Furthermore, the movie seemed to feature superficial markers of Asian culture and filmmaking without fully exploring or comprehending their significance, which was somewhat disappointing.

Despite these concerns, we must highlight the movie’s exceptional representation and the outstanding performances by Simu Liu, Tony Leung, and Awkwafina. Their portrayals brought depth and authenticity to their respective characters and enriched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with compelling diversity.