Synopsis
In Beijing, a young martial artist's skill places him in position to experience opportunities and sacrifices.
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Cast
- Tiger Hu ChenChen Lin-Hu
- Keanu ReevesDonaka Mark
- Karen Mok Man-WaiSuen Jing Shi
- Hai YuMaster Yang
- Ye QingChing Sha
- Simon YamInspector Wong
- Julius Brian SiswojoGong Au Young
- Michael TongShek Kuan
- Sam LeeTak Ming
- Iko UwaisGilang Sanjaya
Recommendations
- 83
The A.V. Club
For fans of wushu flicks — or action movies in general — Man Of Tai Chi presents a rare appreciation for the art of conveying movement on screen, while also serving as an impressive physical showcase for its star, stuntman Tiger Chen. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
While weighed down by digressions and contraptions, Man of Tai Chi is an adequate and ambitious effort from a first-time director, who could have enhanced his on-screen philosophical arguments with a bit more depth and done with a touch less of the admittedly riveting man-to-man melee. - 60
Time Out
Keanu Reeves’s five-years-in-the-making directorial debut won’t dispel the notion that his acting range begins and ends with monotonous recitations of “whoa.” But this wuxia does establish him as a deft helmer of cinematic combat. - 50
Variety
There’s little in the way of drama, character depth or mise-en-scene to distract from Tiger Chen’s technically dazzling display of human combat in Keanu Reeves’ helming debut. - 50
The Playlist
Exceptionally gorgeous and exceptionally silly. - 50
Slant Magazine
The film ultimately doesn't live up to this early potential, as Keanu Reeves loses his way in the third act with too many false climaxes. - 50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The script here is pretty stale stuff, with an under-developed side story of the cop (Karen Mok) on Donako’s trail and dialogue (in English and Chinese) that is often banal. - 50
Austin Chronicle
Suffice to realize that Reeves’ opening salvo is an ambitious and heady mix of the glorious (if overtold) past, the tense present, and the imperfectly perfect realm of Chen’s fighter, his conscience, and blow upon blow upon blow. The concoction works, despite – or maybe because of – its unjaded, fantastical familiarity
