Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actors Simu Liu and Florian Munteanu break down how they filmed the impressive bus fight action sequence.
Actors Simu Liu and Florian Munteanu have broken down Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ bus fight scene. Marvel Studios has made its exclusive theatrical return in Destin Daniel Cretton’s first MCU project. Both critic and audience reviews are generally positive for the new blockbuster, praising its performances, storyline, and impressive action set pieces.
As with all MCU films, Shang-Chi features several battle sequences varying in size and intensity. However, the action in the film has been met with particularly high levels of anticipation from fans, since the titular hero is also known as the Master of Kung Fu in the original Marvel comics. Fortunately, Shang-Chi exceeded expectations, managing to accomplish countless impressive stunts and action sequences despite a difficult working environment due to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the most memorable fight scenes in the movie is one that occurs on a bus, which sees Shang-Chi showing off his skills for the first time against a group of assailants sent by Wenwu (Tony Leung) and led by Razor Fist (Munteanu).
In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, Liu and Munteanu were asked about how the fight scene was filmed. Liu revealed that Marvel Studios had to ship two San Francisco buses to their soundstage in Sydney, Australia, where the movie was being shot. The star said that the limited space on set made it very tricky to execute the fight choreography. Munteanu echoed his co-star’s sentiments, adding that they suffered multiple injuries working on this particular Shang-Chi scene. Read the actors’ full comments below:
Liu: “It was such a tight space, thank you for bringing that up … We shot the movie in Sydney, Australia. We actually shipped two full-size San Francisco buses over to our soundstage and put them up on gimbals and airbags so that they could move around, and basically threw Florian and myself and [Awkwafina] in there. And they’re like, ‘All right, follow the choreography … It’s one thing to follow choreography in a tight space that’s not moving. But it’s another thing altogether when the gimbals are rocking you left and right and there’s wind blowing … I injured myself grievously on almost every appendage that stuck out in that bus. And I’m like four inches shorter than Florian, and probably like, I don’t know, 400 pounds lighter. So I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him.”
Munteanu: “The space in that bus was so tight, both of us, we were sent to … the hospital multiple times … It was just meant to be a tight place like that, [so] we injure ourselves. But that’s the commitment you have to bring to the table in order to create fight scenes like that, and I’m very happy that you mentioned that bus scene because I know Simu and myself were working our asses off to create something incredible, so I appreciate it.”
The actors’ efforts weren’t for nothing, however. Shang-Chi is said to have some of the best-executed fight scenes in the MCU, and a big part of that is due of the involvement of the late legendary stunt coordinator Brad Allan. Known as Jackie Chan’s protege, Allan oversaw the martial arts performances in the movie. Unfortunately, he passed away in August at the age of 48, and so Shang-Chi pays special tribute to Allan at the end of the film’s credits. While there are several other impressive action set pieces in the movie, such as the Macau building fight involving the Death Dealer (Andy Le) and the cage fight between Shang-Chi and Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), the bus sequence is arguably the most iconic.
Considering the fact that both Shang-Chi and Razor Fist survived the events of the film, it’s likely that their roads will cross in the future. The question is whether they will meet again as allies or enemies, after what they went through in Ta-Lo. Then again, it’s safe to say that Shang-Chi won’t be happy to discover Xialing’s plans to rebrand the Ten Rings with Razor Fist at her side. If the two do face off against each other again, however, no doubt the battle will be as epic as the bus sequence in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Source: screenrant.com