 Welcome back to Silver Screen Recaps. Today we are going to explain the movie Shang Chi. The story follows a martial arts master Shang Chi who was forced to confront the past he thought he left behind when he's drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. In ancient times, a man named Su Wenwu discovered ten mystical rings. These artifacts blessed him with immortality and unmatched power, allowing him to become a dominating conqueror. Wenwu amasses an army of warriors called the Ten Rings and named the organization after them, the Ten Rings organization. The terrorist syndicate would spread to nearly every corner of the world over the millennia. He conquers many kingdoms and topples governments throughout history. Still, Wenwu was not satisfied. In 1996, Wenwu begins searching for the village of Talou which is said to harbor various mythical beasts and creatures in order to expand his power. He finds the entrance of the village but is stopped from entering by the village's guardian, Yingli, who decrees that he is unwelcome in their village. Wenwu refuses to back down, leading them to fight where she displays her own impressive combat skills. The two lock eyes on multiple instances and while he manages to defeat him, they quickly fell for each other. We retells this story to her young son Shang Chi while also giving him a green pendant to find his way back home. In the present day, Shang Chi, now going by Shang and his best friend Katie Work is hotel valets in San Francisco. This comes as a minor annoyance to their friends Su and John along with Katie's parents as Katie and Sean are overqualified for their job. The two are content with their lives but their friends make them feel like they're wasting their lives and their potential. Shang Chi and Katie continue to hang out on their own and get drunk at a karaoke bar. Meanwhile, he receives a mysterious postcard with an image of a dragon on it. The next day, Shang Chi and Katie board a bus when they are approached by a man demanding that Shang Chi give him the pendant that he still wears around his neck. Other goons led by a hulking one-handed man named Razor Fist start to attack and Shang Chi's earlier combat training kicks in so he proceeds to fight the men and wipe the floor with them. As he manages to hold his own against them, Katie is forced to take over the wheel after the bus driver is knocked unconscious. After Sean throws his attackers off the bus, Razor Fist emerges and attempts to kill him with his machete limb. While Sean escapes unharmed, the assassin working for the 10 rings has seized his pendant. Recalling a postcard supposedly sent by his sister, Su Xiaoling, Sean prepares to depart from a cow. Katie insists on tagging along with him, determined to learn who Sean truly is. On the flight, Sean reveals his true name to Katie in his life before meeting her after his mother died while he was seven when we began to train his son to become an assassin. Under the cold supervision of his mentor, the death dealer, Shang Chi learned the many ways to kill a man. Finally, after seven years of training, he was sent on a hit, but he is unable to carry out his mission. A traumatized Shang Chi escapes to San Francisco where he adopts the name Sean. After landing in Macau, Sean Chi and Katie locate the address of the postcard, finding the Golden Daggers Club. They witness Wong battling the abomination. Wong beats his opponent by creating a portal that causes abomination to punch himself in the face and knock himself out. However, as Sean Chi had signed a form when he first entered the building, he unknowingly had placed his name in for a fight on the grand stage. As Katie spectates, Sean Chi faces a new opponent, a woman whom he immediately recognizes as Shaoling. Sean Chi refuses to fight and attempts to inform her about their father's impending arrival, but he is knocked out. Shaoling, embittered at her brother for abandoning her after their mother's death, he fled for San Francisco. Later, it reveals that she was not the one who set the postcard. The 10 rings infiltrate the club searching for Shaoling's pendant. Sean Chi and Katie are left by themselves when Shaoling deserts them for the elevator. They attempt to scale the scaffolding outside to reach another elevator, but the terrorists attack them there. Sean Chi fails to catch Katie when she begins to fall, but Shaoling saves her. Death dealer appears to snatch Shaoling's pendant, prompting Sean Chi to give chase and fight him. Sean Chi prepares to kill his mentor, recalling his harsh treatment during his childhood training. However, Sean Chi is stopped by Wenwu, who has already captured Shaoling and Katie. They are taken back to the 10 rings headquarters where Wenwu provides his children and Katie with dinner. He wants Sean Chi to take his place as his successor to lead the 10 rings, but Sean Chi wants nothing to do with his father's legacy. Wenwu also mentions the fake Mandarin character from America that falsely represented him in his organization. He talks about Lee and how everything in his life changed for him after they met, and how lost he felt when she died. Later, Wenwu reveals that his late wife has been calling out for him to come and save her, recounting that she had left her village to be with him. He believes that the people of Talou have imprisoned her for that decision. Wenwu takes Sean Chi and Shaoling's pendants and places them in the eyes of a dragon statue, activating some kind of water map for him to enter Talou. The map illustrates a clear path through the bamboo forest to Talou, which only opens before the Qingming Festival. Wenwu reveals his intention to burn the village of Talou down after rescuing his wife, a plan which alienates his children and Katie into raising their objections. For this, they are thrown into a cell. In their captivity, the trio meet Trevor Slattery, the former fake Mandarin who has since been captured for his impersonation, and his furry faceless Dijian Pet Morris, who reveals there's a way to pass through Talou's forest maze without waiting for the clear path to be revealed. Using an escape route discovered by Shaoling, the party infiltrates the garage. After hijacking Razor Fist's car, they fight off the 10 rings and flee from the compound. Approaching the forest maze, Katie is guided by Morris and Slattery as she maneuvers through the shifting bamboo to reach Talou. They manage to make it through and scavenged. Among the inhabitants are other mythical beasts like Shersher Lions, and it is also where Morris originates from as he is known as a Hun Dun. As they drive into Talou's village, they are confronted by the locals who urge them to turn back. However, Lee's sister and Nan intervenes, finally meeting her niece and nephew. Nan takes them through the history of the realm that they guard the dark gate where the Dweller in Darkness lives. Once a prospering civilization, the emergence of the Dweller in Darkness and its army of soul eaters devastated Talou to near destruction. Before they could make their way into the outside world, the warriors of Talou fought back alongside the Dragon Guardian, the Great Protector, and the Dweller was sealed off in a cavern where it would begin to lure people to it by imitating the voices of their loved ones. The Dweller is manipulating Wenwu into believing that Lee's voice is calling out to him. Nan takes Shang-Chi and Shaolin to view suits that their mother crafted for them. She takes Shang-Chi to a location to help hone his fighting skills. She trains Shang-Chi in aerokinetic martial arts the way his mother learned how to fight as she was the only one who could ever defeat Wenwu. Meanwhile, Shaolin also practices with a new rope dart and Katie learns archery skills all in preparation for Wenwu's arrival. As Wenwu continues going over his research of Talou, a flashback is shown where Wenwu abandons the 10 rings in his organization to be with his family. However, old adversaries of the 10 rings, the Iron Gang, attacked the compound and while he fought them off, she was killed by them. In his fury, Wenwu took the young Shang-Chi with him and made him witness as he used the 10 rings to slaughter the Iron Gang and little Shang-Chi first witnesses the brutality of his father. One night, Shang-Chi sits alone at the lake and he reveals to Katie that he lied about not carrying out the hit against the gang's leader on his first mission. Shang-Chi later confides to Katie that he worries he is no different from his father and resolves that he must kill Wenwu to stop him from hurting others. The following day, Wenwu leads the 10 rings as they make their way into Talou and the heroes and villagers all gather for battle. As the fight rages on, Shang-Chi confronts Wenwu with a bow staff. The two fight, but Wenwu overpowers him and casts Shang-Chi into the lake. He proceeds to go and open the dark gate, unleashing several soul-leading demons. Death Dealer is immediately killed when his soul is taken, prompting Razor Fist to ally the 10 rings with Talou's Guardians to confront the new threat. The demons suck out more souls as fuel to release the Dweller. In the lake, the great protector, Sage Shang-Chi, who arrives at the barrier to confront his father once more. Shang-Chi overpowers Wenwu with his new aerokinetic martial arts skills. Wenwu loses control of his rings to Shang-Chi in the fight, but is spared. He chooses to not kill Wenwu to prove he is nothing like him. Shang-Chi declares that his family needs him. Soon after, the Dweller in Darkness emerges from the weakened barrier. Realizing that his sister-in-law was telling the truth, Wenwu saves his son and passes his rings to him before the Dweller fully steals his soul. The great protector is nearly killed by soul-eaters in the Dweller, but is fortunately saved by Shaoling and Katie. With the help of his sister and the great protector, Shang-Chi hurls the rings into the Dweller's chest and lands one final powerful move to tear the Dweller into pieces, ending the battle. Although victorious, both the people of Talou and the Ten Rings suffer heavy losses. The surviving combatants, including Nan, the Ten Rings, and Slattery hold a vigil to honor the dead. Shang-Chi bids goodbye to his father. He and Katie return to San Francisco and tell the story of their adventure to Su and John, who do not believe them. Wang emerges from a portal and brings Shang-Chi and Katie to Kamartaj to discuss the origin of his father's rings, making Su and John realize that they were telling the truth. In a mid-credits scene, Wang introduces Shang-Chi and Katie to Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers while researching about the rings' origin. Upon further examination, the mystical relics are shown to have a beacon transmitting a mysterious message. In a post-credits scene, Shaoling returns to the Ten Rings headquarters and becomes the new leader with razor fist now working under her as the surviving members of the Ten Rings, despite telling her brother that she would disband the organization. You change your name from Shang to Sean? Yeah, I don't. I wonder how your father found you.