Fall 2021
Issue 01
W27
The New Revival in
Cinema
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS | NO TIME TO DIE WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY STEPHEN CAMPANELLA
A year and a half at home, with each and everyone of us constantly looking back at the past. As we sat home, trying to pass the time as the days went by, watching old films became a more dominant pastime of many of us. I found myself watching character-packed scenes, becoming weary as to why so many people were together, forgetting that those films were from a different time and not the current 2020 situation we were living in. Cinephiles, such as myself, were constantly in search of a new story to encapsulate ourselves in, with the films we anticipated repeatedly being pushed further and further into the future. Television became our outlet, with smaller scale stories being played out. For me, although enjoyable, it just wasn’t the same amount of anticipation that films gave me. That feeling of speculation, wonder and extravagance of going to a theater was a longing constantly being put on the backburner.
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arsenal of films. Simu Liu, already well-known from CBC Television’s (and even more so from Netflix’s) comedy Kim’s Convenience, truly showcases his star power as this revived, modern version of the 1973 character. Filmed completely during the earlier stages of the 2020 pandemic, “Shang Chi”’s decade-spanning adventure takes the audiences from the city streets of San Francisco, to the bright lights of Macau and eventually into a dazzling hidden Chinese forest created solely through the high-end technology of Marvel’s CGI. The world building of this film creates a blueprint for many more stories to branch from, with suspenseful after-credits creating speculation for Shang-Chi’s further arc. Although Marvel’s year of cinematic television shows like “WandaVision,” “The Falcon and Winter Soldier,” and “Loki” showcased a new level of translating comic stories to the small-screen, “ShangChi” proves the demand for the big-screen treatment, as well as a place where everyone can enjoy the film-going experience together.
As we slowly returned to normalcy, summer films began with a rocky start, with long-awaited blockbusters dividing up their releases amongst theaters and online services, but Hollywood has been proven confident in its current state, and the films on the horizon are expected to be groundbreaking. Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, broke boundaries with it’s release on Sept. 3, 2021. The anticipated return of consistent box-office destroyer Marvel Studios proved itself once more with the first onscreen arrival of Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung-Fu, in his thrilling origin story. Earning $75.5 million in North America, Shang-Chi quickly became the all-time leading Labor Day film. The film, starring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, with an outstanding ensemble cast including legendary Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, and Meng’er Zhang setting the stage for a new era in Asian-American cinema representation. With realistic performances showcasing the relationships between parents and their children, friends to their friends, this brings human depth to Marvel’s visually stunning addition to their
But the Fall 2021 film lineup doesn’t just stop at “Shang-Chi.” Daniel Craig’s return as 007 in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s “No Time to Die” after 6 years has been one of the biggest and most expensive films to be delayed due to COVID. Its release date was delayed 3 times, with the 25th James Bond film finally hitting American screens on Oct. 8, 2021. Daniel Craig’s final performance as Bond after his 15 year run as the iconic British MI6 agent is an emotional one – his journey coming to a close with one last adventure. The 15 month-long wait for the film was truly worth it, premiering at Royal Albert Hall in London, with guests of all forms of British royalty in attendance for Craig’s outing. The film also stars Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes and Lashanna Lynch. Lavish fashion amongst the cast, stunning locations spanning from Jamaica, Italy, Norway, and of course, London gives a classy feel, taking this Bond finale to its nostalgic roots of those 25 films that came before. Craig’s goodbye to the character that made his career comes to an emotional close, with an arc completed and a hello to new beginnings. During its London opening weekend, the film ranked the highest performing Bond film to 17