Man of Tai Chi

I liked what I saw in the trailer, but was still not sure what Keanu Reeves would do as a director. I have heard from him in many interviews how he is a 'kung-fu film nut' but you can never be sure if actors are serious in interview or not. Once you see this movie, you can tell just how much of a kung-fu film nut he actually is. He used the camera very well in every single fight scene, none of the shaky-cam stuff we see in most action and kung-fu movies today - where the speed of the camera makes the pacing of the fight. On the contrary in Man of Tai Chi Reeves keeps the camera stationary, or only slowly panning in the fight scenes, he also used a lot fewer quick-camera cuts. Essentially he allowed the impressiveness of the moves and styles themselves to shine through. If you choreograph the fights well enough the camera does not need to be moving fast, in fact it could sit in one place and not move at all and the fight is still impressive. He still need to work a bit on his dramatic direction but he has fight scenes down pat. If he somehow reads this, or someone who knows him does - don't change a thing with your fight direction.

Man of Tai Chi. I must say, this movie portrays everything Tai Chi teaches us about ourselves, our inner demons, and how easy it is to loose yourself once you achieve Power. How Control is even more important then simply having great power. After Watching it I must admit, IMDb's review by davidvdb2 (Belgium) Signifies that Movie Critics do not know jack when it comes to the Spirit of Martial Arts and its Many uses. I urge you to see this movie, its not the greatest; But it has a valuable lesson that we must all learn while walking upon our own path to becoming a better Person, not just in Body, but in Spirit. Yin & Yang. Inner & Outer Form. Keanu Reeves Did his Homework and thus deserves an A+!

HK Police detective Sun Jingshi (Karen Mok) obsessively investigates ruthless wealthy powerful Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves) who runs an underground fight club. Tiger Chen (Tiger Hu Chen) studies under Tai Chi Master Yang. He is a meek delivery guy in his normal life. Donaka offers him fights for money which he refuses at first. When the 600 year old Temple is under threat from developers, he needs money to fix it up.

The great thing in this movie is the fight choreography. The fights are beautiful dances. It is extremely well done. There is a good character relationship between the teacher and student. It's a descend into the dark side that Darth Vader should have had. That's the good part of the movie. The bad parts are all the affectless acting led by the king Keanu Reeves. His directing debut is competent but shows a monotonous doggedness. He doesn't show much excitement other than the fights. The last fight does have some problems. It's not set up properly. Keanu Reeves needs to show his power before. There isn't much drama here but it's still worth a watch.

Man of Tai Chi may not be one of the best martial arts movie made, but i would say, its a good first attempt at directing by one of my more favored actor and an all-around good human being, Keannu Reeves. Though the acting might slightly be bland for the most part (all right then, all through out except for Karen Mok who i adore), but then again you have to admit though it's not exactly Shakespeare we're watching here. Its a pound for pound martial arts movie for action flick aficionados, too much acting or show of emotions would've made it too soft for me or pretentious. I think this movie might as well be Mr. Reeves' love letter to Chinese cinema which apparently influenced him a lot. I'm quite impressed as well that Mr. Reeves has set his Hollywood superstar status aside to make way for the little guy behind all the fancy stunts and high kicks that makes all those Hollywood action movies enjoyable. Kudos to Tiger Chen for the amazing action sequences in this film as well in the other movies he had been in as stunt coordinator and the like. Mr. Chen, is the real thing here. And in conclusion, i would like to say that i know that not all may come to appreciate this movie, only a few will, but i say its an acquired taste. Its entertaining for the most part. I'm glad its not deep which is what i like in an action flick, because i don't want to work that hard when i'm already too exhausted just following the punches thrown in this film. But its a joyride and a spectacle to savor from beginning to end. Again, congratulations Mr. Anderson... the Matrix will be proud.

I didn't really know anything about Man of Tai Chi when I watched it. I was in a mood for something; I just didn't know what. I was stunned to discover Keanu Reeves in the film and even more stunned to learn it was his directorial debut.

I've always liked Keanu Reeves films, because I was almost always entertained. Everyone has a few flubs here and there; so his few are easily forgiven.

I, myself, am a big fan of foreign films. In many cases, it's because the story lines are fresher and morals are deeper.

That being said, if you're looking for an award winning film this isn't it and it's not meant to be. I was looking to be entertained, in that aspect, Reeves delivered.

I've seen the complaints about the performances, choreography, etc. As a director he had a full plate, especially for a debut. The language barrier alone would have been difficult enough to adapt to.

I'm not going to give any details about the film. I will say that this is a film you have to have a taste for. I do like the message behind the film though, which is for you to decide on your own. Everyone can come to their own conclusion, because we can find different meanings in everything.