"Man of Tai Chi," the directorial debut of "The Matrix" star Keanu Reeves, is more like a compilation of quality on-screen fights than a film.
Man of Tai Chi is a movie that is easy to understand.
It really is.
Chinese stuntman Tiger Chen plays the role of Chen Lin Hu, a good-natured Taiji expert who leads a mundane life and works as a courier.
At one point, the villain Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves) decides to corrupt Chen and unleash the killer hidden within him, luring Chen into a world of money, violence and underground fighting. Meanwhile, Donaka is being pursued by police detective Suen Jing Si (Karen Mok).
To find himself again, Chen must get rid of his inner darkness.
That's the whole story in a nutshell, the rest consists of irrelevant plot holes and logical inconsistencies.
The good news is that everything is presented with energetic fights, and Chen's credit for that. His knowledge of combat is a definite plus of the film, and choreographer Yuen Wuping did an excellent job.
There's a lot of close combat and subtle violence that will appeal to most action fans, although Tai Chi is rarely used in the fights themselves.
The bad news is that the rest can't be called a movie.
Strictly for fans of action movies.
The acting is shockingly low quality. Chen is a screen fighter, not an actor, and this is obvious.
He limited himself to a total of three different facial expressions and failed to make the audience feel for his character.
Reeves' level is no higher - he barely conveys emotions and most of the time speaks in hackneyed and ridiculous phrases (aren't the words "Finish him!" stolen from Mortal Kombat?), while maintaining the most serious expression on his face.
This may be the only thing, other than the impressive fights, that can be attributed to the positives of the film.
With every appearance of Reeves on the screen, you hope that the moment is about to come when you can have a good laugh.
The storyline is not memorable, although some parts stand out because they consist entirely of clichés.
Chen, as the leading actor, can hardly be called an actor, and Reeves overdid it in giving his character depth and philosophy.
That's why Reeves' directorial debut is a film exclusively for fight movie fans.
Also worth mentioningI'm sure fans of Iko Uwais from "The Raid" will also be very disappointed.
The Indonesian action star appears on screen for about fifteen minutes at most and barely fights.
Author: Han Wei Chou
Author's rating: 2,5 / 5
Source: channelnewsasia.com
Translation: EvilDollaR
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Tags: Man Of Tai Chi, Brahim Achabbake, Iko Uwais, Keanu Reeves, Simon Yam, Sam Lee, Tiger Chen, Yuen Wu-Ping
Tags: Man Of Tai Chi, Brahim Achabbake, Iko Uwais, Keanu Reeves, Simon Yam, Sam Lee, Tiger Chen, Yuen Wu-Ping
Chen Hu may star in Crimson Pulse Entertainment's Impulse (RUMORS).
Appeared online.
youtube.com/watch?v=LvW2acOb2Xw
No.
Well, wait for EvilDollaR, it just started recently....by the way, do you know when it will reach us?
But the “Hollywood flavor” and budget did little to help the film at the box office.
But here the budget will be higher, and it will be done with a Hollywood touch.
Urban fighter is very weak in terms of plot, but there are amazing fights, some of the best of all time, and therefore you don’t pay much attention to the plot, and by the way, there are no cables, but here the cables are very noticeable.
I hope it will still be better than Urban Fighter by Mike Möller... because apart from the battles, there is nothing to see there...