Man of Tai Chi

Man of Tai Chi
China poster
Directed by Keanu Reeves
Produced by Lemore Syvan
Daxing Zhang
Written by Michael G. Cooney
Starring Keanu Reeves
Tiger Chen
Iko Uwais
Karen Mok
Simon Yam
Music by Chan Kwong-wing
Cinematography Elliot Davis
Edited by Derek Hui
Production
company
Distributed by United States:
RADiUS-TWC
Canada:
Entertainment One
Australia/New Zealand/Singapore:
Roadshow Entertainment
China:
China Film Group
Wanda Media
International:
Universal Pictures
Release date
  • 5 July 2013 (2013-07-05) (China)
  • 1 November 2013 (2013-11-01) (United States)
Running time
 105 minutes
Country China
United States
Language Mandarin
English
Cantonese[1]
Budget US$25 million[2]
Box office US$5.5 million[3]

Man of Tai Chi is a 2013 Chinese-American martial arts film directed by and starring Keanu Reeves in his directorial debut, and co-stars Tiger Chen, Iko Uwais, Karen Mok and Simon Yam.[4][5][6] Man of Tai Chi is a multilingual narrative, partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen.

Plot Summary

The elderly master Yang has a single hope for the continuity of the Ling Kong Tai Chi martial art style's legacy: Tiger Chen Linhu. Though Tiger excels in the physical aspects of his training, he has yet to fully comprehend its philosophical significance, which worries Master Yang. Determined to prove the brute effectiveness of the style, Tiger enters the local Wulin (武林) Competition which crosses his path with that of the mysterious Donaka Mark, a suspect on investigator Sun Jing Shi's radar for running an underground fighting ring.

The encounter with the elusive Donaka soon proves to be Tiger Chen's most formidable challenge yet, testing not only Tiger's staying power to his own nobility and truth, but threatening the irreversible collapse of the Ling Kong Tai Chi tradition.

Cast

Production

Pre-production began in 2008 with years-long script refinements. When the project eventually moved into the production phase, principal photography occurred on mainland China and Hong Kong.

Release

The film premiered in 2013 with showings at the Beijing Film Festival[7] and Cannes Film Festival.[8] It was also scheduled to be shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[9] It became available for purchase on 27 September, 2013 via the iTunes Store (VOD) video on demand, and had its theatrical release in the US on November 1, 2013.

Reception

The work was awarded in Beijing and praised by action film director John Woo.[10] It has a rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes with the critics consensus saying: "It may not be groundbreaking, but Man of Tai Chi represents an agreeably old-fashioned picture for martial arts fans -- and a solid debut for first-time director Keanu Reeves".[11]

Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times called it "a movie streamlined to evoke the timeless zip of martial arts movies past" and praised the "refreshingly grounded and old-school kinetic" action.[12] Sheila O'Malley, writing at RogerEbert.com, also praised the "thrilling immediacy" of the fight scenes: "you realize you are actually seeing these guys actually do this, as opposed to watching something pieced together later in the editing room".[13] Dave McGinn of the Globe and Mail, in contrast, called the film "ambitious but generic" and filled with "stale conventions".[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Weintraub, Steve 'Frosty' (23 August 2012). "Keanu Reeves Talks SIDE BY SIDE, 47 RONIN, His Directorial Debut MAN OF TAI CHI, BILL & TED 3, and POINT BREAK LIVE". collider.com. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Out in Theaters: MAN OF TAI CHI". Silverscreenriot.com.
  3. ↑ "Man of Tai Chi (2013) - International Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo".
  4. ↑ Liz Shackleton (7 June 2012). "China's new global strategy". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Al Young (19 December 2011). "Karen Mok Joins Keanu Reeves' MAN OF TAI CHI". Twitch. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Gavin Lower (29 June 2012). "Village Roadshow Unit Puts IPO Plans on Hold". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Mike Davidson (20 May 2013). "Keanu Reeves spent five years on his latest film: Why?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  8. ↑ Mike Davidson (20 May 2013). "Keanu Reeves makes director debut with Kung Fu film". Reuters. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Toronto film festival 2013: the full line-up". The Guardian. London. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Man of Tai Chi (2013) - Kung-fu Kingdom". Kung-fu Kingdom. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  11. ↑ "Man of Tai Chi". Rotten Tomatoes. 1 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Review: Keanu Reeves, as director, gives 'Man of Tai Chi' zip". Los Angeles Times. 2013-10-31. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  13. ↑ O'Malley, Sheila. "Man of Tai Chi Movie Review & Film Summary (2013) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  14. ↑ "Review: Keanu Reeves, as director, gives 'Man of Tai Chi' zip". Los Angeles Times. 2013-10-31. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
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