Man of Tai Chi (2013)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen
Writer: Michael G. Cooney
Director: Keanu Reeves
Synopsis (Anchor Bay):
Keanu Reeves stars as a wealthy owner
of a Beijing underground fight club who recruits a humble Tai Chi
student to his closed-circuit battles. But when the young man is
seduced by money and power, it will trigger a war between the Hong
Kong police, the world's deadliest combatants, and a peaceful
spiritual discipline turned lethal new fighting style.
Review:
Man of Tai Chi is great action wrapped
around a pedestrian narrative. It's kind of like a video game. One of
those fighters from Dreamcast or Playstation 2 era that tries to add some depth to the characters, but in the end you don't give a
shit, because you just want to fight. This flick would have a
seriously high replay value if it were 105 minutes of straight ass
kicking. It's the story that weighs it down a bit, along with a
pretty hilarious performance from Keanu Reeves.
Saying Reeves is a terrible actor is
somewhat of a double edged sword for me. On one hand, I do believe
that assessment is accurate- while on the other I surprisingly like
a whole hell of a lot of films he's been in. That being said, it's
interesting to see him take on more of a villainous role in Man of
Tai Chi. If you look at the film from a video game style perspective,
his performance makes sense. He's really hamming it up here. Though,
what's confusing is whether or not he's trying to. It also sorta
feels like he's still stuck in his Matrix glory, but it's really hard
to blame him. That movie made him look fairly cool.
Man of Tai Chi
has fight choreography from legendary Yuen Woo Ping, and Tiger Chen –
who worked stunts for the Matrix trilogy – takes the lead role. Mad
credit can be given to Chen, as he really stands out as a character
conflicted with the good and evil of the world. As far as acting
goes, he runs circles around Reeves. Fights circles around him too, for that matter.
There's a review blurb on the back of
the Blu-ray case that cites Man of Tai Chi as being the best martial
arts film since The Raid. That's a seriously bold statement, and one
that I can't agree with. Taking nothing away from Man of Tai Chi, as
the fights are indeed awesome, but they don't pack the same punch. Not even close. More importantly, at the end
of the day, this is a much different type of film. So, be advised not
to fully read into that comparison. With that out of the way, the
fighting in this film is fast paced and highly exciting, and Reeves
is spot on as far as camera placement to capture it all. It's very
obvious that he's a fan of the genre.
Additionally, there's some great
choices of music that accompanies all the ass kicking. Well, not even
just for the fighting. Sometimes the music does a fantastic job of
making Tiger Chen look straight up awesome while he's walking around
the city and whatnot. It made me feel cool just watching it.
Final Words:
All in all, not a bad directorial debut
for Keanu Reeves. It would be nice to see more come from him behind
the camera. Man of Tai Chi is light on story and often silly, but
there's enough feet and fists vs. faces and other body parts to keep you entertained.
Anchor Bay/Starz releases Man of Tai Chi on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, December 10th, 2013. Special features include a "Making of Man of Tai Chi" featurette and an audio commentary with Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen. Order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
- Eric (Brobocop)
