Another winner from Marvel! Apparently, this is the 29th movie in the Marvel Universe; and it compares with all of the best ones. The premise is that 1,000 years ago, a man named Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), nicknamed The Mandarin, found ten magical rings that gave him immortality and unmatched power. He then starts the Ten Rings, a terrorist organization that has spread to every country. The movie follows the son of Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) who must comes to terms with his father’s evil regime, and the underlying dynamics that hardened the Mandarin’s evil will. The writing is crisp, the sets are great, and the special effects are dazzling. However the best parts of a Marvel movie are the complex characters and witty humor which you will find and appreciate in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. If you enjoyed Dr. Strange, you will love this one, and will certainly enjoy a cameo by a Dr. Strange character. My favorite supporting character was Awkwafina as Katy, Shang-Chi’s hilarious friend, who finds her real self and is by his side in all of his adventures. Other stellar actors were Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, and Florian Munteanu who plays the menacing Razor Fist. Of course, don’t forget to stay to the very end of the credits. All in all, you will not regret taking the whole family to this one!
Operation Finale
This movie is a rather low-key political thriller based on a true story. In this compelling tale, set in 1960, the Mossad, Israel’s nascent intelligence agency, has gotten information that the notorious Adolph Eichmann, the architect of the “Final Solution,” is alive and living under an assumed name in Argentina along with his wife and sons. Many Nazi’s escaped Germany at the end of World War II, but Eichmann was one of the higher level SS escapees avoiding justice, and one that had an especially central role in the adminstrative machinery of the Holocaust. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley plays Eichmann in a stellar performance, showing the facets of a man who sought to escape the responsibility for what he’d done, but was still haughty and arrogant while maintaining a familial gentility with his own people. The philosopher Hannah Arendt coined the term “the banality of evil” referring to Eichmann, and Sir Ben’s performance demonstrates how apt the characterization is. Oscar Isaac ably performs the role of Peter Malkin, one of the Israeli agents tasked with bringing him in, with subdued passion and intensity. After the Israeli government decides to kidnap Eichmann and take him to Israel to stand trial for his extensive war crimes, a tense cat and mouse game ensues between the Mossad agents and the ex-patriate Nazis and their sympathizers among the Argentinian politicians trying to find them and end their mission. Why they must do this and how it is accomplished makes for an engaging movie. If you are interested in WWII history and how this Nazi war criminal was brought to justice, you will definitely enjoy this film.