Tai ji quan

In the grand scheme of martial arts movies,"Tai Chi II" (not a sequel) is junk. However, for martial arts enthusiasts it might qualify as a B-flick. A sort of dramady about a young Chinese puritan student who wants to win the affections of a hottie while ridding his land of the evils of opium, this flick breaks no new ground as it finds one excuse after another for Wu to do all the same old tired Kung Fu moves we seen a gazillion times before...with the exception using his braid like a whip (yeah, right). Save some pretty scenery including Chung and identifying some of the Tai Chi position used during the fight (eg: leaping lizard, holy cow, etc.), this flick is pure cornball Kung Fu with the same sound effect used for every punch, missed-by-a-mile choreography, and lame wire fu. Lacking the grit of Bruce Lee, the inventiveness and personality of Jackie Chan, and the elegance of "Crouching Tiger...", "Tai Chi II" is just more junk food for martial art film freaks. (C)

Since I have been practicing Tai Chi for a little while, I like to watch movies that have Tai Chi in them. This one has some cool wire work, but also some great Tai Chi. It's also got a cute story. I think anybody who likes martial arts films would enjoy this movie.

Once again, Yuen Woo-Ping has directed another highly entertaining period kung fu movie. He seems to be very good at that. The story is fairly typical, revolutionaries and opium smugglers in turn-of-the-century China. The action is what counts. There is a lot of martial arts in this movie. Jackie Wu, who I believe studied at the Beijing wushu institute, is impressive. He does a lot of good wushu and tai chi. Yu Hai and Billy Chow also show up and do some impressive moves. The bad guy from Fong Sai Yuk 2 and New Legend of Shaolin makes an appearance and copies "Iron Head Rat" from the original Drunken Master film. There are a lot of wires as well as authentic wushu and tai chi so be warned. I also liked the fact that there is actually a relationship in this movie that goes somewhere, something I rarely see in a kung fu movie. Sibelle Hu and Christy Chung are also pretty. Overall an entertaining kung fu flick.

I saw this movie hoping it would run along the lines of "tai-chi master". After seeing the movie I'm not even sure it this is the sequel to it. There was very little, if any, reference to tai-chi. The acting was below average on almost all the actors. The story was very superficial with a simple plot. But then again, I don't watch hong-kong movies for their amazing storylines, I watch them for the fighting. And that's exactly what is this movie's strong point, the fighting is pretty nice, and inventive(pig-tail whip). Coolest fighting-scene was the one against the dad. Still, I can't reccomend this movie. Hopefully, a sequel worthy of being associated with tai-chi master will come along. Until then, I suggest you all dig out the original.

Wow, this film was much better than i expected! (maybe even better than Tai Chi Master!) Jackie Wu is Excellent as the lead and Darren Shahlavi(Smith) is very good as the british villain in this his first hong kong movie. Great supporting cast including Sibelle Hu (Jackie's mum) , Yue Hoi (Jackie's dad), Christy Chung (jackie's love interest), Billy Chau (Opponent, Great Nothern kicker), Ji Chun Hua (Smith's Thug) and Taam Chui (Jackie's Cousin). All give good performances especially Ji Chun Hua (Falling down a flight of concrete stairs, no pads!) Darren Shahlavi (Great stunts all round!), Jackie Wu (great fighting, despite the fact he has really bad eyesight!) but the best guy in the film has to be Taam Chui! Not only does he have his own character ( Ah Sung, jackie's cousin) he also doubles for almost everyone in the movie!! He is so physically talented (i think he studied Wu Shu at the same academy as Jet Li and Jackie) that he was obviously hired by Yuen Woo Ping to do the lightning fast jumping kicks and spins that other people simply can't do! He doubles for Billy Chau, Mark Cheng, Yue Hoi and even Jackie Wu at one stage! As Darren Shahavi once said in an interview "that guys the best kicker i've ever seen!" and that's coming from someone as physically talented as Darren! Taam is by far the most talented martial artist in the film (even with a cast like Billy Chau , Jackie Wu and Yue Hoi!) He is even assistant action director too! This film is a top five favourite of mine and is quite simply a classic of the genre! It's full of great acting, superb fights and as always good direction by Yuen Woo Ping. Should be enjoyable to just about anyone and a Kung Fu must see for fight fans everywhere!If you haven't seen it, go see it now!