Tai ji 2: Ying xiong jue qi

I had such a blast with Tai Chi Zero, that I was really looking forward to the follow up for more of the zany presentation style adopted by Stephen Fung, to tell a Zero to Hero story of a martial arts protagonist. The first film had protagonist Yang Lu Chan (Jayden Yuan) finally being accepted into the Chen clan through a proxy marriage to Yu Niang (Angelababy), daughter of village chief Master Chen (Tony Leung Kar Fai), since he had assisted in the defeat of their common nemesis Fang Zijing (Eddie Peng), and saved Yu Niang's life, earning admiration and general gratefulness from the villagers.

But Tai Chi Hero didn't quite live up to expectations on many fronts, and became somewhat of a pale shadow that the first film had set up. Sure, the elements are there in Yang Lu Chan's ascension to become a martial arts great, having the fortune to understudy both his wife and father-in-law's renowned kung fu, learning both the physical aspects as well as the philosophy behind the techniques. But it seemed that Stephen Fung had probably gone all out with the first installment, that the second one ran out of steam and suffered from a total burn out. I felt if this had been a trilogy then it wouldn't have to rely on an ending that was obviously so rushed that it ended at the drop of a hat, with story arcs miraculously closed with plenty of convenience poured in.

The fights, as choreographed by Sammo Hung, weren't as many nor as varied as the earlier film, given that Lu Chan is now battling using Tai Chi, and most of the mass battle sequences turned out to be a real blur, which is something of a cheat sheet escape from racking one's brains to come up with something innovative to wow an audience. One on one fights also became an impatient montage eager to get things over with, so the build up to the finale where Lu Chan has to battle against a few masters to get to the boss, became totally short- changed. Probably the only battle worth one's time and money here, is the test of skills between Lu Chan and a Bagua Zhang master (Yuen Biao) atop a series of kitchen panels reminiscence of the tabletop fight in Ip Man 2.

Perhaps the focus here was really more on the relationship between father and son, in Master Chen's estranged relationship with his prodigal oldest child Zai Yang (Feng Shaofeng), who made a quick cameo appearance toward the end of Tai Chi Zero as some martial arts expert. As it turns out, Zai Yang was more of a character than Lu Chan was in this installment, playing up on his martial arts prowess and his engineering smarts that allowed for more of the fantastical steampunk elements, gadgets and vehicles to grace the screen once again. Zai Yang and his wife seem to be on a mission to usurp leadership of the village for some dastardly reason, and much of the film's more emotional portions come from this father-son relationship, rather than from Lu Chan-Yu Niang as newlyweds trying to make sense of their marriage of convenience.

Villain wise, Eddie Peng returns to snarl a lot more on screen as Zijing, this time relying on the backing of the British East India Company's backing for him to assume a minor governor's role so that he has access to cannons and troops to lead the annihilation of the Chen village. But isn't this something we've already seen, and repeating it just isn't quite worthwhile, especially the unceremonious manner in dealing with this character. There's no clear cut, strong villain that's in Tai Chi Hero, which in turn makes Lu Chan's ascension quite hollow.

So I guess the sum of both films put together, only unfortunately averages it out, which is a pity, given the very light hearted fashion the narrative got presented, and the many fun elements and comedy being peppered around. It could have been a lot more should the story here be more focused, just as how Lu Chan is consistently reminded to be when dealing with formidable exponents, and balanced its more philosophical, dramatic moments with its action sequences.

(1.) Great location - the type of natural carved canyon that makes the film a visual pleasure just on that alone. (2.) Great sets/props - the usual beautiful, authentic intricate carving and crafting found in Chinese epic films; often at full (and I mean full) scale. (3.) Great story line - bringing us a bit of the history of Tai Chi as it relates to Kung fu. (4.) Great contemporary tie ins - some classical pop music; then some metal or rock; then some computer game animations. A good spoofing, at times, of the martial arts genre e.g. with the fruits and veggies or when the moves were following the cooking style of each meal. Great steampunk tie in - why not. Great da Vinci tie in with regards to his design and innovations e.g. the flying machine. (5.) Great wire acts and martial arts - imaginative wire routines with Tai chi juxtaposed to Kung fu movements; nothing ridiculous just to fill space but instead used to educate as to the philosophy and aesthetic of the movements. (6.) Great acting -yet nuanced, understated performances in keeping with Tai chi philosophy.

The highly-anticipated TAI CHI ZERO -- a classic martial-art movie with a steampunk twist, was supposed to be a turning point in the well-worn genre. Instead it's a huge disappointment in all level. So here we are again -- an immediate sequel titled as TAI CHI HERO which is shot back-to-back with the first movie. The biggest question is: does this second installment improves considerably? Well, the answer is a big "NO". Even though TAI CHI HERO has lowered down its geek culture references and focusing more on character-driven drama, this disappointing sequel remains lackluster from start till the end.

Picking up where the last movie left off, we learn that Yang Luchan (Jayden Yuan) is now preparing to marry Yuniang (Angelababy). During the wedding ceremony, Yuniang's elder brother Zaiyang (Feng Shaofeng) and his wife (Nikki Hsieh) make their sudden appearance. Zaiyang doesn't particularly agrees with her decision to marry Yang Luchan just because he saves her life in the previous movie. He also reminds everyone why their Chen-style martial arts cannot be taught to outsiders like Yang Luchan. In a brief flashback scene dating way back at one hundred years ago, we learn that Chen-style martial arts was made legendary by the 10th Grandmaster (Patrick Tse, in a heavy makeup) who had many students from all over the regions. One day, a formidable Monk (Daniel Wu, also in a heavy makeup) made an appearance to the Chen village, and subsequently revealed that he has apprehended one of 10th Grandmaster's students who had ran amok in the region. The monk who had an incredible martial-art skill, warned the 10th Grandmaster never ever teaching outsiders again or else he would return and destroy the village.

Meanwhile, the badly-injured Fang Zijing (Eddie Peng) is determined for payback time and wants to hatch an evil plan with the corrupt Duke Fleming (Peter Stormare) of the East India Company, to avenge the death of his British girlfriend, Claire (Mandy Lieu). With the help of Duke Fleming, Zijing is appointed as the new deputy governor. With a large army and heavy artillery at his disposal, he strives to destroy Chen village once and for all so he can continue to make the railroad where he last left off.

At 103 minutes, TAI CHI HERO wastes too much time establishing a lot of new characters, new agenda as well as extensive backstory that doesn't really drives the movie forward. Don't get me wrong. It's good that the sequel tries hard to expand its universe but expansion alone don't mean a thing if the execution feels hollow, yet uninvolving. Not surprisingly, the story fails to build any sort of compelling tension. Even the so-called characters development in this sequel feels perfunctory.

All the returning actors here are more or less the same disappointment. Newcomer Jayden Yuan continues to be the biggest disappointment of all. His so-called "from zero to hero" character is hardly convincing at all. Again, his performance is as wooden as a piece of plank. Angelababy is basically repeating herself from the first movie without any further development to her character. Her chemistry with Jayden Yuan is close to zero, while there's hardly a conflict or struggle between their characters throughout the movie that could have been worthwhile to watch them for. Other supporting actors including Eddie Peng and Feng Shaofeng are nothing more than strict caricatures.

Where all else fails, one would expect that Fung and martial-art choreographer Sammo Hung could at least redeem this sorry sequel with rousing set pieces. Alas, the movie even fails in that level -- again. All the fighting sequences here are all style but little sense of excitement. Even the would-be classic showdown between Luchan and Master Li (Yuen Biao) in the climactic finale doesn't really generates the necessary "wow" factor.

If that's not insulting enough, TAI CHI HERO ends with another sequel (where Fung has planned to make his movie into a trilogy) which hardly generates any sense of excitement at all. With two back-to-back movies already failed to make a lasting impact, what's the use of anticipating a third movie?

The Chinese Steam Punk Western is back with the same primitivist stance. What I find amusing is how a huge place like China can develop the same fairy tale as North Korea (and hundreds of other countries) of the victim of the "great powers".

It is the type of film, which although good, in less than 30 minutes I no longer know where it is going, or where I am, because I've completely dispersed myself, and let it roll by myself until I finish and leave for another more interesting one...