i think, and hope, the rings were deliberately left underdeveloped because if whats done in the film is all they do then theyve left a lot on the table. but i def think we'll get deeper into them over time. magic is clearly going to expand in the coming phase and id imagine the 10 rings will be a part of that.
and i do agree about the climax. i touched on it briefly in my 2nd post but I'll go more into it:
the films climax is obviously father vs son and once we've resolved that we as the audience are good to end the film.
however they still have to solve the chaos vs order issue...which we as an audience have no stake in. the mythical premise may be universal in the metaphysical aspect but the tangible representations...we don't have a reason to care.
they don't establish that this chaotic entity is a threat to the world only that its a threat to these forest people. a forest that isnt implicitly clear that its even on this plain of existence. moreover we dont care about theae forest people. we only just met them and theyre xenophobes. if they die so what?
so here we are. we've blown out loads. but they cant just wrap the film because this chaos plotline needs to be given screen time otherwise it will feel even more like a waste of time. if it doesnt take anytime then it has less value...but we're bored so we want it to end.
its a paradox where you cant win. the better solution would have been to simply not open the gate at all.
Shang-Chi is knocked into the water. the Mardarin is trying to open the gate. baptism/resurrection occurs. the great hero emerges on the back of his dragon. defeats the authoritarian father with the strength given to him by the devine god of order. claims the rings.
if you need to explore the chaos god do it in another film.