Review of Tai Chi Master

Chin-Bo & Junbao are expelled when Chin-Bo snaps on his opponent for cheating. Despite trying to explain, they get thrown out anyway. Junbao begins to get worried about Chin-Bo's incessant need for power. When Chin-Bo joins the rebellion, Junbao's fears come to life when Chin-Bo betrays Junbao. Ah, wires. I really don't like it when they use them in action movies. I think they look silly and highly unbelievable. I am a firm believer in hand to hand combat. All wires do is increase the spectacle, but I believe that it hinders it, in lieu of augmenting it. This movie is a good story about abusing power and letting greed consume you; however. If you're here to watch a Jet Li film with mind blowing action, you've come to the right place. Despite the usage of wires, some of the fight scenes are truly spectacular. There is some fantastic Tai- Chi in this movie, with Jet Li at his best. For the examples of the fights, check out the fight involving a big stack of logs. Michelle Yeoh kicking some ass, while walking on stilts is pretty bad-ass as well. I have to give credit to some of the rigorous training scenes. A couple of them were really creative. The only other carp about this movie, is that the friendship between Junbao & Chin Bo isn't intense enough. They were friends for 20 years, but I felt they could have been far more intense with it. Junbao (Jet Li) goes through a lengthy shock period, but most of it is done for comedic effect and slapstick. The slapstick is amusing, but it wasn't the proper time for it. The showdown at the end between Junabo & Chin Bo is extremely exciting, but typically one-sided for the most part. Li is solid as usual, delivering in the fight scenes like not many people can. Yeoh is solid as well.

This is a pretty entertaining movie, filled with terrific fight scenes. It's so entertaining, that I'm more than willing to give some of the flaws a Mulligan.

7.5/10