Tai Chi

This movie is breathtaking!! If you like martial arts, and even a little comedy, watch this Yuen Woo Ping classic.

The opening Tai Chi training scene is so well done (see how everyone's movements are in sync) and sets the standard for the film. Yuen Woo's gift for choreography is evident throughout as weapons used include swords, spears, staffs, and tables too! The Shaolin "Luo Han Pole" formation scene must be watched in slo-mo to really appreciate it.

Jet does an awesome job as Junbao and his martial arts is amazing. More surprising is Michelle Yeoh who's incredible in every scene she's in. Her movements are so fluid, yet also graceful. From the spinning table scene fight to battling an army of soldiers, Yeoh really demonstrates her fighting prowess and acting ability as well.

Being that this was the first Jet Li film I've seen, it's one of my all-time favorites. It made me realize that incredible movies like this do exist!

It's not Drunken Master, (not the Legend of Drunken Master, the original, noodge), but what is? It is a well made tale of an ousted Shaolin monk who through hardship and madness, learns the ultimately taoist T'ai Chi Chuan.

The thing I love about this film, (and you'd have to be a geek to go with this} but I love the fact that he learns T'ai Chi through his own hardships, not from a sifu (teacher), and the typical sifu or friend who dies is his friend, who, instead of dying, turns evil with power.

The entire movie is a great representation of Taosism (yin, yang, good and evil}. I don't agree that Michelle Yeoh (or Michelle Kahn at she time in the film) was not well used. She provided the idea of the easy path, drinking in this case, that is so lacking in gong fu movies. She and he both redeem themselves against the head bad guy (His character name escapes me at the time}, but there is no love interest between themselves. She's tough and troubled, he's tough and troubled and they actually help each other (read: she stops drinking to save him, he learns from her care and she helps cure his madness).

By the way, the head bad guy, (again, sorry about the name} was still played brilliantly even in dubbing. My friends and I still say "Hmmmmm" in his fey evil voice when thinking bad thoughts. It can be said it's typical Hong Kong fare... Good guy gets defeated, learns a new style of Gong Fu and defeats the bad guy, but then again, isn't that what Star Wars took 3 films to accomplish?

Anyway, my opinion of this film is tainted by the fact that I'm a taoist, but the action is top notch, nobody flies for no reason, all the characters (even the comic relief) are fleshed out. great film. not the greatest, but, it's a hell of a lot better than "Shaolin Drunken Monk" (aka, Plan 9 from the Shaolin Temple) lol.

Twin Warriors succeeds as a martial arts film because it keeps us entertained with almost a constant stream of highflying action sequences. However, due in part to poor dubbing; the drama scenes between the fights are laughable.

The story follows that of two friends, Chin Bo and Juanbo (Siu-hou Chin and Jet Li), two monks that becomes friends at, and later get thrown out of a Shaolin Temple. After this, they meet up with the leader of a group of rebels (Michele Yeoh), and Juanbo joins them, while Chin Bo goes off to join the emperor's army. Naturally, they meet up again along the way and their friendship is basically the main plot point of the film. As I mentioned, though; the dubbing is awful, and the script is no better. The characters talk as if they're from an upmarket part of London, and when they're both of Asian origin; it makes it very hard to take seriously. It's hard to tell whether the script is bad, or if it's just that it has been lost in translation. Because some of the lines of dialogue are cringe worthy, but that could be due to English translation; I don't know. It's the same story with the acting; none of the cast excels in the drama sections of the film, but their performance is masked by awful dubbing. Everyone deserves credit for their martial arts, however. The action sequences are generally imaginative, well crafted and entertaining; although they do have a tendency to go over the top at times; the prime example of this being when two characters are fighting in a dining hall, and a table falls apart and somehow manages to become stilts for one of the characters to stand on while fighting. I admit that it's entertaining...but come on.

Credit to the cinematography department; this film does look very nice. And it does keep the audience entertained for it's duration, but that's all this film is; a crowd pleaser. It's just too silly to really be taken seriously.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to watch this movie, but I am very glad I did. The fighting sequences in this movie are top-notch, and are some of the best choreographed scenes I've seen in a long time. The plot is not overly original, but it IS done in a very fresh and interesting way. If you even remotely enjoy movies that star the likes of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, etc., you will be VERY pleased with this movie.

One of my favorite Hong Kong actors, Jet Li, does what I call his best film in "Tai Chi Master." Starring alongside Michelle Yeoh and a dozen other folks whose name I forgot, Li plays Junbao, a monk whose best friend betrays him and becomes a ruthless whacko. This leaves him only one option: grab a pole and start clubbin' baddies. While some parts are just too cheesy to mention, i.e. people flying around and some ridiculously hokey-looking effects (you can see the cable attached to a guy's back at one point), the best fights take place with just good ol' Jet Li, a pole, and an army of bad guys, where there is no room to fly around or do the ultra-powerful Buddhist Palms. Give Tai Chi Master a try. It's a love-hate thing for most people, and in my case, it's a love thing. This movie is one of the five best kung-fu flicks ever made, in my opinion.