Man of Tai Chi

I didn't really know anything about Man of Tai Chi when I watched it. I was in a mood for something; I just didn't know what. I was stunned to discover Keanu Reeves in the film and even more stunned to learn it was his directorial debut.

I've always liked Keanu Reeves films, because I was almost always entertained. Everyone has a few flubs here and there; so his few are easily forgiven.

I, myself, am a big fan of foreign films. In many cases, it's because the story lines are fresher and morals are deeper.

That being said, if you're looking for an award winning film this isn't it and it's not meant to be. I was looking to be entertained, in that aspect, Reeves delivered.

I've seen the complaints about the performances, choreography, etc. As a director he had a full plate, especially for a debut. The language barrier alone would have been difficult enough to adapt to.

I'm not going to give any details about the film. I will say that this is a film you have to have a taste for. I do like the message behind the film though, which is for you to decide on your own. Everyone can come to their own conclusion, because we can find different meanings in everything.

HK Police detective Sun Jingshi (Karen Mok) obsessively investigates ruthless wealthy powerful Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves) who runs an underground fight club. Tiger Chen (Tiger Hu Chen) studies under Tai Chi Master Yang. He is a meek delivery guy in his normal life. Donaka offers him fights for money which he refuses at first. When the 600 year old Temple is under threat from developers, he needs money to fix it up.

The great thing in this movie is the fight choreography. The fights are beautiful dances. It is extremely well done. There is a good character relationship between the teacher and student. It's a descend into the dark side that Darth Vader should have had. That's the good part of the movie. The bad parts are all the affectless acting led by the king Keanu Reeves. His directing debut is competent but shows a monotonous doggedness. He doesn't show much excitement other than the fights. The last fight does have some problems. It's not set up properly. Keanu Reeves needs to show his power before. There isn't much drama here but it's still worth a watch.

This is a martial arts film directed by Keanu Reeves about delivery man Chen Lin-Hu (Tiger Hu Chen) who is skillful in Tai Chi that was led to join an illegal fight club, headed by Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves). Chen needs the money from the club to save his master's ancient temple from being razed, but Mark eventually wants Chen to start fighting battles that only ends in the death of the opponent, which is something that goes against the Tai Chi philosophy that Chen was taught.

While a good message delivered about the meditation and philosophy of the Tai Chi skill, with plenty of martial arts action mixed in, this movie lacks a compelling story and good acting. Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen each gave a very mediocre and wooden performance - no emotion and substance. Mark's video cameraman tried too hard to be the hipster of the movie, attempting to sound cool and ghetto at the same time, which was really irritating; I think it rubs salt in the wound to the already sub-par acting. The subplot about police detective Sun Jingshi (Karen Mok) pursuing Mark was pretty entertaining, but not emphasized enough. The story could have been more captivating if more focus was placed on the police investigating the fight club; however, it was overshadowed by the excessive fight scenes. This made the movie pretty predictable and lacking suspense.

The fight sequences though, especially with Chen and his master, were pretty awesome to watch. It does make the movie go a little faster, which is sometimes dragged by the slow-moving plot.

Overall, if you enjoy nothing but martial arts action, this film is for you. But, if you like a good balance of martial arts and drama, than this film falls just short of that.

Grade C

MAN OF TAI CHI marks a collaboration between Hollywood and China as the studios join forces to make a traditional tournament-based martial arts flick. The film is directed by and stars Keanu Reeves as an evil millionaire who mounts violent fight tournaments and broadcasts them to internet viewers in a bid for fame and fortune.

What MAN OF TAI CHI has going for it are the plentiful fight sequences, all of them expertly choreographed by Yuen-Woo Ping. It's hard to go wrong with tournament-style films - they're a staple of B-movies, after all - and the almost constant stream of hard-hitting fights makes this great fun to sit through.

There's little more to it than the action, however, seeing as the film is deeply flawed. Reeves's debut direction is applaudable, but they could have picked a better person than a composer to write the trite, predictable storyline. Elsewhere, Tiger Hu Chen proves to be a charisma-free leading man, despite his impressive tai chi skills, while Karen Mok overacts for all her worth. Simon Yam is barely in it despite being prominently billed. Worst of all, Iko Uwais makes a cameo appearance and doesn't even get to fight - the dumbest decision in the entire movie. My recommendation is to watch it for the fights but don't go in expecting much else, because you won't get it.

I saw the trailer and had my expectations set pretty high. In many ways I felt like this movie was more of a test run for Keanu. The story line was very generic but I love the big name Hong Kong actors. I wish he utilized them more but I guess for a kung fu movie cops can only have a minor sub- plot.

The movie's greatest strength was the amazing cinematography of each action sequence. I love how I can identify each style of fighting and enjoyed the clarity of each strike, grab and throw. Too bad Keanu can't pull out his matrix-self and show us he still got it.

I enjoyed this movie very much even with its flaws it is a solid kung fu movie. Kung fu movies are released fewer and fewer each year, and I hope Keanu can turn into a great kung-fu movie director and still continue his acting.