Review of Man of Tai Chi (2013) by Alex M — 07 Nov 2013

Keanu Reeves' directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi, is an old school martial arts homage and for the most part it does a pretty good job at it. The story follows Tiger Chen, the sole student of a powerful style of Tai Chi.

Despite his spiritual training, he's convinced power is stronger than the mind and is eventually tempted by an underground fight promoter named Donaka Mark (Reeves) after he sees one of Tiger's competition fights.

Tiger begins to loose himself in the violence of the underground fight ring and this is reflected in his attitude and emotions. The editing and the cinematography, along side the great choreography from verteran Woo Ping (The Matrix, Kill Bill) are top grade, with longer and wider shots that don't confuse the audience, allowing us to really appreciate the skill on screen.

On the flip side, what would've been the greatest fight of the year in film (Chen vs. Iko Uwais from 2011's The Raid) was so underwhelming it hurt the overall flow of the film. As a fan of the Raid, I was envisioning what could have been, and it's a huge shame that it didn't come to be.

Another thing is the intense monotone drone of Keanu. It works in some cases but it can become rather distracting when he's asking, for example, why Chen is actually fighting. The line "you owe me life" however poorly delivered is an interesting line though once I thought about it, how life is almost seen as currency to a villain and I thought it was a nice touch in it's own way.

In the end, Man of Tai Chi gets props for being a solid martial arts flick and a solid directorial debut which is in three languages. It's a lot better than I thought it was going to be and if it weren't for a few minor instances that dragged it down, Man of Tai Chi could have been this years Raid.

But fans of martial arts films probably won't mind as the fights and story themselves will certainly appeal.