For fans of wushu flicks — or action movies in general — Man Of Tai Chi presents a rare appreciation for the art of conveying movement on screen, while also serving as an impressive physical showcase for its star, stuntman Tiger Chen.
It may not be groundbreaking, but Man of Tai Chi represents an agreeably old-fashioned picture for martial arts fans and a solid debut for first-time director Keanu Reeves. The music is sizzling and Tiger Chen doesn't need wires, it's spectacular. Man Of Tai Chi is one of the best martial arts films after Gareth Evans's The Raid.
If you have a yen for martial-arts action, Man of Tai Chi could do the trick depending on how seriously you take Reeves’ performance. At the film’s worst, it’s empty yet still attractive (much, it can be argued, like Reeves).
Basically the anti-"Kill Bill." Both movies are quilted together from their auteurs' favorite Asian action flicks, but where Tarantino's was overheated, Reeves' is elegantly iced.
Suffice to realize that Reeves’ opening salvo is an ambitious and heady mix of the glorious (if overtold) past, the tense present, and the imperfectly perfect realm of Chen’s fighter, his conscience, and blow upon blow upon blow. The concoction works, despite – or maybe because of – its unjaded, fantastical familiarity
There’s little in the way of drama, character depth or mise-en-scene to distract from Tiger Chen’s technically dazzling display of human combat in Keanu Reeves’ helming debut.
The film is very good but I wanted it to be great. The martial arts in this film are amazing and shot quite well not from up close (Hollywood trick that I hate to make seem action seem more intense) but from a wider angle to show case the amazing choreography. The action doesn't need help to be intense and starts early and is frequent and varied until just after halfway where the movie goes a touch too slow through the dramatic story line before an ending that was almost great. Keanu is great as a director and for first-time out has made a very watchable film with incredible action sequences while showcasing us the incredible artist Tiger Hu Chen whose skills I look forward to seeing more of.
If you enjoy this genre don't miss this film.
This movie is so close to being amazing. It shows some really good direction by Keanu Reeves and good acting by Tiger Chen. There's not an excessive amount of fighting and the fights seem fast and furious or dramatic. Most of Keanu's acting is terrible in this movie but not all of it. He's just too stiff but he pulled the voice off nicely. More than anything, this movie has a great story, although it might not be obvious to everyone who sees the movie. It really is a great script, with the journey of a man through so many discoveries---corruption, power, virtue, selfishness, purpose, and more. The villain challenges the hero into becoming the hero in multiple instances, which is very rare and awesome. When Hollywood inevitably has to do another remake, I think they would be smart to remake this film.
While other reviews would suggest that the film's story is quite generic it manages to put a 3rd act twist in the makes you re evaluate the film taking it in a different and more personal direction to similar martial arts tournament films.
The fighting is very high calibur and fans of the matrix will be most at home here with reeve's directing and Tiger Chen's choreography eliciting that same feel. Man of Tai Chi does for tai chi what Only the Strong did for Kopiera but is also very engaging.
Great to see Keanu as an antogonist in this flick, an adequate twist on a trickster devil plot. Rather enjoyed the frequent fighting during the movie, with an unlikely hero, Tiger Chen. Worth watching, especially if you're a guy ;)
Nice movie, amazing fight choreography, a bit of a cliche` story but quite nice and appropriate music soundtrack. Script leaves something to be desired at times and Keanu Reeves' acting is below par in certain scenes but overall nice.