'Shang-Chi' Tries to Conquer the Labor Day Box Office

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings debuts in this theaters this weekend. As box-office ticket sales continue to be slow amid the persistent pandemic, the new Marvel hero is likely to win a muted holiday competition. In the meantime, some new movies are popping up on streaming services over the weekend, too. Read on for details.


Via USA Today.

It's Labor Day weekend and you know what that means: an extra day off to watch a new movie. There are plenty of places to see them with theaters up and running and new films still streaming at home to entertain you and your family heading into the fall season.

This weekend, Simu Liu is Marvel's newest superhero in a martial-arts fantasy extravaganza; pop star Camila Cabello headlines an all-star musical redo of a familiar fairy tale; Michael Keaton has an unthinkable job in a 9/11 drama; and former Nickelodeon kid Victoria Justice is trying to right wrongs from the afterlife in a Netflix comedy.

Here's a guide to new movies that'll satisfy every cinematic taste:

Shang-Chi (Simu Liu, center) witnesses a new magical new landscape along with sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) and best friend Katy (Awkwafina) in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."

If you want to watch a new star being born: 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'

Like Marvel dudes Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans before him, Liu has such innate likability that you'll go on any adventure with him – even one that involves crazy dragons, magical martial arts and international terrorist dads. Liu's Shang-Chi and his best friend, Katy (Awkwafina), go from parking cars in San Francisco to keeping Shang-Chi's troubled father (Tony Leung) from invading a mystical village in a solid superhero effort that starts off great yet loses some of its mojo digging into an epic mythology.

Where to watch: In theaters

Camila Cabello stars as a singing fashionista who dreams of selling her own dresses in Kay Cannon's musical "Cinderella."

If you yearn for a different take on a classic: 'Cinderella'

Bizarre, haphazard but not without its odd charms, the jukebox musical casts Cabello as Ella, an fashionista orphan who just wants to sell dresses but gets caught up in drama involving balls, glass slippers, a fairy godmother (a scene-stealing Billy Porter) and a wife-seeking prince (Nicholas Galitzine). The tweaks to the usual Cinderella script are hit-and-miss, and the mix of cover songs and a couple of originals is often baffling – though Idina Menzel (as Ella's not-that-wicked stepmother) singing Madonna is everything.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

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