Review of Man of Tai Chi (2013) by Charles R — 26 May 2014

Keanu Reeves may be far from my favorite actor (and his appearance in this film is adequate, if not a little more compelling than his usual fare), but his directing style is spot on - the machismo from this movie doesn't come from posing and 'cool special effects', but from kinetic motion and serious characters that are fighting for real stakes.

This is a real version of Street Fighter, where competitors are given extreme amounts of money to compete in an underground circuit - Tiger Chen plays the main contender, and luckily, there's no montage of training sequences where he finds his resolve to take action.

.. he's artful and passionate from the very beginning, and it's his dedication to those strengths within the fights and without, that make this movie. I'll admit, I thought this movie was going to be a cult 'so bad it's good' flick, but it earns a solid 4/5 from me.

If it doesn't hook you all the way through, make sure you stay for Keanu's fight at the end - it's bloody and totally worth the wait.