Review: The Man of Tai-Chi

(Tiger) Hu Chen stars as Tiger, a student of Tai-Chi who proves so impressive at a martial arts tournament that he earns the attention of sleazy businessman Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves!) who invites him to fight for money in his own underground tournament. Tiger has been brought up to believe that using such skills for financial gain is morally wrong, but when he finds out that his Master’s ancestral temple is to be torn down, he finds what he believes as an honourable motive for fighting for cash in a tournament streamed worldwide on the web. Meanwhile, HK police officers Karen Mok and Simon Yam are looking to nab Donaka Mark for his illegal activities.

 

So the time has come that Keanu Reeves makes his directorial debut with this martial arts flick from 2013 that has about 5,000 producers and EPs. You’ve never heard of it, but Keanu the director doesn’t offer up an “On Deadly Ground” (Steven Seagal), if miles away from “Night of the Hunter” (Charles Laughton) or “Frailty” (Bill Paxton). It’s pretty standard martial arts tournament stuff, but aside from one ill-advised strobe lighting and a touch too much wire-fu from choreographer Yuen Wo-Ping (“Kung Fu Hustle”, “The Matrix”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) in the 2 on 1 fight, the fight scenes are actually pretty enjoyable and varied, and seemingly free of the wire-fu. They are mostly bloodless, but certainly more impactful and violent than you’d expect from a film featuring Tai-Chi. But this ain’t no ordinary Tai-Chi being used. Like the Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films that dealt with the spiritual origins of the martial art before ultimately using it to kick arse, Tai-Chi is made to look pretty impactful on screen. I have no idea how close this relates to real-life, but who cares? It’s a martial arts movie for cryin’ out loud. The film definitely has the protagonist’s Master frown upon his application of Tai-Chi for brutal and money-making reasons (which go against the very teachings of the rather peaceful Tai-Chi), but the film makes it clear that Tiger must fight for money in order to save his Master’s temple from being torn down.

 

The film has an enjoyably retro quality, mostly playing like a Shaw Brothers film but with an imported star, mixed with a little American martial arts tournament movie vibe. The use of technology to show the fights to overseas markets is a bit “Tekken” or “Death Race” and rather clichéd, but at least most of the fights here are enjoyable. That’s the important thing, and thankfully this isn’t another bloated wuxia epic. I’ve gotten a bit sick of those, and Thailand and Indonesia are kicking China’s arse in the martial arts game these days anyway (look for “The Raid” star Iko Uwais in a perhaps too-small part), so a change is welcome. Kudos too for the promo video for the big fight which is hilarious and OTT, which is no complaint. So the film doesn’t take itself so seriously that it thinks it’s reinventing the wheel or something.

 

(Tiger) Hu Chen is the film’s main star, and I must say he looks like Gordon Liu with Fisher Stevens’ haircut circa “Hackers” or John Cazale in “Dog Day Afternoon”. He’s a talented bloody fighter, no doubt about it, and I’d like to see him in other, better films than this.

 

It’s a good thing that Reeves the director has made this with more of an Asian feel to it, because it means there’s only one real dud element to the film: Reeves the actor. Oh boy, where do I begin? Reeves gets picked on as an actor quite frequently, but in films like “Parenthood”, the “Bill & Ted” movies, “The Matrix”, and “Point Break”, he can be used effectively. In “The Gift” he even made a decent stab at being an abusive redneck piece of shit. His performance as the villain in this film, however, is somewhere in between his awful serial killer in “The Watcher” and whatever the hell he thought he was doing in “Johnny Mnemonic”. In fact, he’s even worse, which I never thought was possible. This is his worst screen performance to date, unless you count his laughable James Dean impersonation in Paula Abdul’s ‘Rush Rush’ clip (Seriously, YouTube it sometime. He’s hysterically funny). His presence in the film cheapens it and makes it seem more like a cheesy Americanised “Mortal Kombat” film, sadly dragging things down a couple of notches. The man needs to choose roles that suit his idiot surfer dude speaking style. A corporate baddie who holds underground MMA fights is no such role. FBI agent masquerading as surfer dude? Perfect. Reeves has one moment here that is the single most unintentionally funny moment of his career. I don’t need to tell you what it is, because you’ll spot it a mile away. It’s stupendously silly, and some of his facial expressions throughout the film are ridiculously perplexing. It’s like he’s an alien attempting to impersonate a human, and getting it all wrong. Really embarrassing, and such a shame given the rest of the film is fine, if formulaic. As for his big fight with Hu Chen, well only a stunt double is listed but I swear Mr. Reeves grows about three inches taller and looks pretty different to me. I could be entirely wrong, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest Keanu’s not on screen for the entirety of his shots in that scene. The man’s a block of wood and it’s a shame the role didn’t go to Scott Adkins, Mark Dacascos, or Siu Wong Fan, as they can all fight and act. Hell, co-star Simon Yam would’ve done a better job, instead of being wasted in a nothing role. One bad actor spoils the fun in an otherwise respectable, if insubstantial underground fight tournament movie. I liked its old-school vibe and the fights are mostly fun, but Keanu the actor drags down Keanu the director’s debut.

 

The screenplay is by Michael G. Cooney, who comes from quite a prolific short film background). It’s a watchable film and exponentially better than I was expecting, but could’ve been more than that with a better villain and more for the talented Simon Yam and Karen Mok to do.

 

Rating: C+