On its own terms, this is a pretty good action flick. It features all the requisite elements of such a piece of work: appealing leads (even Awkwafina, who till now has seemed mostly annoying), some truly audacious action and/or fight sequences (a staple of actual Chinese cinema for a long time), and a visual style that ranges from eye-catching in parts to down right gorgeous, even ethereal at times. I'm not nearly qualified to comment on its ethnic bona fides, but I doubt that's really the point of this movie anyway. (The point is to expand the MCU in new, money-making directions. Duh.) Simu Liu is good in the title role, everyone around him provides fine support (except perhaps Ben Kingsley, who takes his reprised role and runs with it...mostly into walls), and the effects provide some equally impressive creature partners. The ultimate judgement here lies in one simple aspect: does it work as an entertaining film? Sure does. At this point, this might be the best of the recent vintage Marvel movies--a low bar to leap, admittedly; it remains to be seen if there's enough life and freshness here to keep the ball rolling beyond today.
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