I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Keanu Reeves' directional debut is an expertly choreographed martial arts feature that will delight the genre fans with its old-school, action-packed premise but it also features a highly predictable plot, clichéd characters & near absence of genuine, believable emotions that ultimately prevents it from leaving a memorable imprint.Man of Tai Chi tells the story of a young martial artist who is gifted in Tai Chi skills but is impatient & rebellious when it comes to the philosophical aspects of his style. Things are set in motion when he is invited to join a highly lucrative underworld fight club for easy money and eventually finds out the sinister intent behind its existence.Directed by Keanu Reeves, the film marks his first stint behind the camera and he does a neat job at it, for his debut effort in the director's chair is simple, grounded, entertaining & well aware of its limitations. The action choreography is excellent & benefits a lot from its kinetic camera-work while all its events unfold at a brisk pace.The story is lazily scripted, for it could've delved deeper into the world of illegal fighting operations & its equally perverse audience but refuses to look beneath the surface. The fight scenes are good yet they fail to stimulate on an emotional level. Performances are mediocre, at times laughable and the generic background score doesn't help either.On an overall scale, Man of Tai Chi begins Keanu Reeves' directional career on a quiet note and is best enjoyed when expectations are thrown out the window. Reeves in a negative role is quite fun to watch despite his hollow, cringeworthy expressions while the movie as a whole chooses to stay within its confines by never aiming for a shot at greatness. In short, there is nothing special about it.

Let's talk about the "MAN" behind the "Man of Tai Chi" — Keanu Reeves — first...As an actor, Keanu Reeves has that unusual blend of stilted stiffness (not always the boldness) which is awkward but mostly gracious that is pure and interestingly, his own. And that makes him sometimes seem quite strange. But not bizarre, which is what most people frequently slander him with. He's good looking, attractive and probably was born to be a weird version of 007 if he was an assassin. His facial expressions speaks for itself. Always damn rough, tough and you know. Which can, however, set the mood for the ladies and can seem kinda' cool to a lot of guys (best bet if you were almost a full- grown guy living in the 90's). But what to do when his ruggedness is right up there all the time. He even seems "serious" when he laughs (like he's faking it like an orgasm...?). To make things worse, his line readings in perplexing and what up with all these accents (almost per scene). Sure, it's weird, sometimes, but that's it. And while this is something which can either work or not work for other actors (or probably destroy some of their careers most certainly) — all that bizarre agendas, however, seems to work perfectly for Reeves. It's almost the exact opposite. Maybe it's one of those reasons why he is called the "Man". Because somehow Keanu Reeves has been pulling it off oh so proudly and splendidly for years and years. He somehow successfully managed to change our minds, get our support and most of us have accepted the fact that "Hey it's Keanu, you know, the MAN." In any case, his straightforward feeling of truth and touching trust in the material (whatever it might be) is one reason his profession has endured so long. Regarded widely as one of the most dedicated and hard working actors in the industry, there isn't a single amount of ego or selfishness in him. But there is indeed a giant amount of sense and responsibility and the sense of respect in his work. It's reviving. Refreshing."Man of Tai Chi", Reeves' element film directorial debut makes a big difference. Yet somehow his appearance held onto the same "once in a while" ungainly mix that Reeves conveys to the table as an on-screen character (That same sometimes-awkward blend one might say) and which works again, perfectly. The film is super genuine as well (as befitting the hand to hand fighting kind, where everything involves decisive), with snapshots of peculiar stilted discourse (likewise decent) and scene after scene of exciting physical battle, taped with effortlessness and assurance and no little measure of wonderment for the competitors included.Cinematographer Elliot Davis films the fight scenes with thrilling immediacy: lots of long takes, so you realise you are actually seeing these guys actually do this, as opposed to watching something pieced together later in the editing room. The setting is surreal: the circular stage painted with psychedelic dizzying swirls and the circular tables surrounding said stage, not to mention the bored elegant silent crowd, is reminiscent of the midnight theatre scene in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" or the freaky tiered nightclub in Josef von Sternberg's "Shanghai Gesture". Each fight gets more dangerous. The stakes rise. Death is the main conceivable result. Keanu Reeves approaches the class with deference and energy. This is all about Reeves' vision. His beliefs. And this is Tiger Chen's picture all the way. You watch him transform, and you watch his soul go dark. But Reeves was already there, just waiting for him. "Man of Tai Chi" — is tremendously engaging. Acceptable directorial piece from "The Man" — Keanu Reeves. Praise worthy, seemingly outstanding debut and of course lauded by fans.

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.

For Keanu Reeves' directorial debut, it isn't terrible but not that great either. The strengths of this movie (and what most people watching it will care about) lie in the well-staged, well-filmed and well-choreographed fight sequences, as well as some decent cinematography. As this was filmed in China, there is also some great location shooting. However, the script is fairly lacking and simplistic in its approach. Movies like this have been done hundreds of times, and with a self-confessed kung fu aficionado like Keanu Reeves, I honestly expected better considering what he's been in over the course of his career. The plot is about Tiger, a student of Tai Chi, who is noticed by Keanu Reeves and drawn into an underground fight club. If I had to describe or compare it to something, it's like a cross between MORTAL KOMBAT, FIGHT CLUB and a reality TV show. In fact, Tiger's life after joining this illicit organization quite literally is put on display (mostly unbeknownst to him, though). This one innovation is what saves the movie from being utterly rote and formulaic, but then the plot is needlessly complicated by having a subplot involving a detective on the trail of Keanu Reeves' character, Donaka Mark. If there was any part of the movie that could have been cut it was that. It weighs the movie down, affecting the pacing and quite frankly they don't spend too much time developing that part of the narrative anyway. The real story is the somewhat cliché, but well-handled, arc for Tiger. Over the course of the movie, you can see him change from an idealistic student to a man on the edge, drunk off the power of his own body. Fortunately, he has a conscience in the form of his teacher who helps him to realize that a balance is needed between power and meditation. Acting-wise, nobody gives a spectacular performance (as could be expected), but there are a few that stand out as particularly bad. Unfortunately, Keanu Reeves is one of these. For some reason, he cast himself as the villain in his own movie and the performance comes off as very stiff. At the end, you do get to see him fight a little bit, but there was a noticeable difference in the way that fight was filmed compared to the other ones, probably because Reeves is not a trained martial artist. There was also a barely touched upon a romantic subplot that could have been done without. So, in conclusion, Keanu Reeves delivers in the fight department, but overall the movie isn't as fun as just going back and watching older martial arts classics.