Movie Review: Man of Tai Chi/太極俠

I watched a China screening of this film recently.

On DVD.

That was bought in Shenzen for about 10 yuan.

So maybe I missed the opening of the film.

It sure seems that way.

And maybe Keanu Reeves intended the movie to sound like it was being played in a theatre even on DVD.

And maybe the film has no end credits.

Or maybe it was a pirate DVD.

I can’t be sure.

But it probably is.

Whaddayou want from me?

I was on a bus, nursing a hangover and wondering if I’d have to go to the free clinic by the end of the week.

Again.

I’m kidding.

I only play Russian Roulette in Macau.

But never mind that.

Man of Tai Chi/太極俠 is Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut.

“What does this button do?”

It stars Chen Hu as Tiger Chen, a Tai Chi practitioner who faces a moral crisis not only orchestrated but manipulated by Western taint.

“闻我的手指…”

Interestingly*, this movie fulfills quite a few cringe-inducing Orientalist tropes, yet also fits into China by having all the criminal activity take place  in Hong Kong and having the major bad guy be a Westerner.

Yuen Woo Ping choreographs the action, and the people executing the choreography are, with a couple of exceptions (read: Keanu Reeves) stellar.

It is a shame, therefore, that the cinematography during the fight scenes is so bad.

武术舞蹈!!!

It takes a lot of skill to perform martial arts, and a lot of skill to choreograph them, but it also takes a lot of skill to film it so that it is not only cinematically impressive but visually logical.

The sound design in the fights also detracts from them. I’m not saying fights should be set to music, but when the music creates counter-rhythms, it is jarring and makes it impossible to forget you’re watching a movie and just watch it.

The narrative is  claustrophobic.

It’s not sparse, it’s inadequate.

And illogical; at one point, Tiger Chen sneaks into Hong Kong to speak to the police, who then sneak him back to Beijing so that he can be snuck back into Hong Kong to fight again.

It’s really more an outline than a story; I kept waiting for the ideas and emotions to get fleshed out but they never did.

The story is also leaden.

When Keanu’s character escapes the police, they show him swimming away from Hong Kong.

Slowly.

To be honest and fair, and perhaps more than slightly generous, MAN OF TAI CHI isn’t really all that bad if you take it as a pretty generic action film.

And  knock your expectations down into the dirt.

It’s a typical straight-to-video-esque action movie, with a by the numbers plot.

It’s pedestrian and formulaic, but the action scenes are good, the martial arts are convincing, and it’s entertaining in its own way.

嘘呀!

24 Herbs’ JBS deserves a mention for really nailing the ‘amusing sidekick’ role. He provides some much-needed (and uncharacteristically) intentional comic relief for this movie.

And it needs it,because while you can pretty much put up with most of the film’s shortcomings, the last 15 minutes of Man of Tai Chi/太極俠 goes screaming off a narrative cliff.

That overlooks a garbage dump.

A potential climactic fight between Tiger Chen and RAID star Iko Uwais is cut short by the narrative, making way for a climactic battle between Tiger Chen and Keanu Reeves.

And if you thought Keanu’sacting was wooden…

A lot of the shots in this fight look an awful lot like rehearsal walk-throughs.

And I don’t blame Tiger Chen (read: Keanu Reeves).

But at least in the action scenes he doesn’t say anything.

Because during the dramatic segments, every time Keanu Reeves opens his mouth the movie comes to a screeching halt.

This isn’t a photo; it’s a video clip.

I really can’t wait for Bill and Ted Part 3. 

It will be nice to see Keanu Reeves back where he belongs.

**[sarcasm]*