Paul Magne Haakonsen I finally got around to watching "Man of Tai Chi", albeit three years after it was initially released. And I had some level of expectation to it, I must admit. But I am sad to say that the movie didn't live up to my expectations in the least way.This marks the most laughable and generic acting performance of Keanu Reeves so far. I have never seen him more out of touch with a movie or seen him seem more distant than he did here. Sure his body was there physically, but his mind was elsewhere. And it was reflected in both his performance, but also in the way that he delivered his dialogue.The story in "Man of Tai Chi" was quite simplistic, and actually wasn't more than just a shallow story spiced up by martial arts. The story in this movie was just laughable and stupid. And it didn't really help the movie in any way that the dialogue throughout the movie was not impressive.I must say that I was initially a bit excited about seeing Karen Mok, Simon Yam, Iko Uwais, Tiger Hu Chen and Keanu Reeves together in a martial arts movie. But it was a short lived excitement, because "Man of Tai Chi" was an under mediocre experience, to be bluntly honest.While we are on the cast talents, then it was really Karen Mok who was carrying the bigger part of the movie, despite not really being the main character. Tiger Chen did alright, but he was just restrained by having nothing worthwhile of a script to work with, and while his martial arts was impressive, it can only do so little to salvage the movie. It was a shame that Simon Yam only had such a small role in the movie, because he is a great actor. Iko Uwais was also deprived of a proper chance to showcase his martial arts as his screen time was limited as well. And on a side note, then it was also a nice treat to see Sam Lee in the movie, despite only having a small role. And as I mentioned above then Keanu Reeves was nowhere near his usual performance level in "Man of Tai Chi".The martial arts in the movie was quite good, and there was a lot of it. Actually it felt like the movie was crammed with excessive martial arts scenes to make up for the lack of a plausible and entertaining storyline. And while it is enjoyable to watch martial arts, a movie should also have a proper storyline."Man of Tai Chi" was a disappointment, and it manages to score a less than mediocre rating of four out of ten stars from me, solely because of the martial arts and the impressive cast. If you enjoy martial arts movies, then there are far, far better choices available.

Mario Dati (ThePiousPatriot) WOW! Where to begin. Could the story have been a little better? Sure it could've. This is a martial arts film. With that being said, it was pretty awesome. Being a fan of martial arts films, of course I enjoyed this, but not just because it's a martial arts film. It's because compared to other films of this nature, this one has some pretty amazing fight scenes that, in my opinion, rival those of "Bloodsport". This is why I felt it was necessary to give this film an eight star rating. Keanu is a bonus, like icing on a cake. On the other hand, if you're not a fan of martial arts movies, this is definitely not for you. As stated above, the story is slightly lacking compared to great movies of other genres. However, if you compare this film to other martial arts films, the story is better than average. That's why I believe that if you're a fan of martial arts films, DO NOT PASS THIS ONE UP. It was refreshing to see fight scenes of this quality again. Enjoy

chilichilipepper This Review might contain slight spoilers because well, in order to review it, some context has to be made with other films. So the spoilers are not going to ruin the film.TLDR / If you like action movies, especially martial arts movies, this is a must watch.Man of Tai Chi is a pretty great effort for Keanu Reeves debut. The camera work was excellent, the editing was fast paced, the fights were believable (although, there was some wire kung-fu - more on that later), and in general, the movie felt like watching a modernized classic 1980's martial arts movie.It is the same basic story as thousands of films and older martial arts. Hero is innocent, hero (or town or friend or village) loses something, hero is forced to fight, and then the hero determines ultimately which path he wants to take, good or evil. The most recent movie I can think of to compare this to is Tony Jaa's Onk Bak. It really is quite a similar movie, following the plot pretty closely, but also adding it's own style and a more futuristic setting.In the film, Tiger is becoming a master of Tai Chi, an art known more for meditation than for fighting. The movie deals with his inner turmoil of disappointing his master while also trying to establish himself. On that aspect, the movie succeeds because Tiger Hu Chen plays the part pretty well, especially for a man who mostly is a stuntman. Keanu Reeves actually does a decent job in his role and is a believable villain. Although neither are exceptional, it doesn't matter because the movie, like most "pure" martial art films that have come before it, is all about the fighting.Now, a lot of reviews and comments complain about all of the "wire fu" used in this film. There isn't as much as they would lead you to believe. Most of the "wire fu" is used to fling people back further to demonstrate the strength of the many different styles in the film, or to make a character appear to be unbeatable, or to pull off a couple of the more complex stunts. In general, besides a few scenes, it is not distracting and doesn't undermine the movie in any way. If anything, it enhances some of the fights because it emphasizes Tiger's small statue and "weak" fighting style when he fights larger, more powerful foes.And that is what this film is all about is the fights. Again, like Onk Bak, the story is just a reason to watch fight after fight after fight. In this movie, that is exactly what you get. The movie is probably 20% dialogue and 80% fighting and that is where it shines. It is very clear that Keanu did his homework and basically made an homage film to kung fu movies overall. Without question, Reeves succeeded.Quite simply, if this movie had came out in 1990 and stared Jackie Chan in the lead (although that would lead to more goofy scenes but lets just pretend Jackie plays it straight) this film would have been considered revolutionary.I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm wondering if, like Ben Affleck before him, maybe Keanu Reeves is better behind the film than in the film. Sure Keanu has had a more successful career than Ben, and Ben is probably the better actor (which isn't saying much), however if this is Keanu Reeves debut, I can't help but be anxious to see what he does next.A solid 7.5 from me, which I rounded down to a 7. For those who don't read my reviews, or check my rating history, you know I am not a instant 1 or 10 reviewer / rater. I think I've given 2 10's in my entire life, and maybe a few 9's.TLDR / If you like action movies, especially martial arts movies, this is a must watch.

heartstream Warning. Some of what I'm writing below, could be considered spoiler!Well we all know that Keanu ranges from bad to appalling as an actor, and this is no exception! He goes from overacting to wooden in every scene he is in and after a while you actually start to cringe and frown as soon as you see him appear, in anticipation of what he will "deliver this time". His fighting skills are not completely horrible, but it's not enough to deliver a decent fight scene against even a moderate fighter in a non-important scene in the movie. To fight in the final showdown? Oh, dear Lord....no no no! The final fight, even though it was sadly predictable, turns into a yawn-fest and quite frankly I found myself laughing at how ridiculous his fighting and acting was here. The movie itself is a mish-mash. Keanu tries to put: culture, old vs new china, a "new" fighting style, a touch of love story, police corruption, illegal fighting with cameras and .....well it keeps on a bit more. Lets just say he tries to put in a lot of stories and angles into this movie, which is always hard to then tell properly, and in a fighting movie it gets almost impossible. The fighting scenes are OK, some are quite good, but the story leaves very much to be desired! It scratches the surface on a lot of subjects and leaves most of it hanging like broken webs in the wind. My expectation for this movie was quite low, so it didn't have to deliver much to make me pleasantly surprised, but it failed miserably.There's so many b-movies with way better fighting than this, and better acting too I'm afraid, so no....don't watch this unless you're a Keanu-fan. You'd be better of watching an old Van Damme or Jackie Chan movie for the 15th time =)