Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
In Beijing, a young martial artist's skill places him in position to experience opportunities and sacrifices.
Man of Tai Chi is Keanu Reeves' directorial debut, which gives it some novelty value—particularly its focus on Tai Chi as a combat art rather than a meditative practice, and its authentic Beijing setting. The fight choreography is competent and cinematography captures the action cleanly. However, the plot is a fairly standard underground fighting circuit narrative with predictable beats, the acting (outside of Tiger Chen) is uneven, and the ending resolves things in a conventional, unsatisfying way. It sits solidly in B-tier action territory.