Tai Chi Master

Other titles: "Tai ji: Zhang San Feng" - Hong Kong (original title), "Twin Warriors" - UK, USA (DVD title), "The Tai-Chi Master" - Hong Kong (English title)


Realeased: 1993
Starring: Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Chin Siu Ho
Director: Woo-ping Yuen
Fight Choreography: Woo-Ping Yuen, Huan-Chiu Ku, Cheung-Yan Yuen
Jun Bo (Jet Li) and Chin Bo (Chin Siu Ho) are two monks who grow up together at a Shaolin Temple. They have frequent little competitions or matches between each other that often get them into trouble. As they grow older into their teens, they attend a match to see who will be promoted to study "advanced martial arts techniques." When Chin Bo is caught off guard by his opponent who has a concealed weapon, Jun Bo tries to help. They are expelled and have to wander the streets of China, their first time ever outside of the temple. While both former monks try to make a living on their own, they split paths and meet years later on the battlefield, this time from opposing sides. Chin Bo is now a power hungry general of an army, and Jun Bo is now a freedom-fighting rebel.

This film is extremely action-packed, has great choreography, and a little comedy to top it all off. One minute you are laughing, the next you are on the edge of your seat.

The choreography is intricate, as is expected from Woo-Ping Yuen. There is a wide variety of traditional martial arts without too much cable work. But yes, there is still cable work. The martial arts styles featured include: Shaolin Kung Fu, Wushu, Tai Chi, and various weapons used in those styles. A few of the styles/movements are a little fantasized, but Jet Li's precise movements are pleasing to the eye, and Michelle Yeoh's martial arts skill is brought to life in the combat scenes.

Another satisfying feature of this film is the quickly-paced storyline and the countless fight scenes. Even at only twelve minutes into the film, the action blows you away with 20+ monks armed with bo staffs moving in perfect synchronization.

I highly recommend this film to anybody interested in Chinese martial arts, and to all the fans of Jet Li and Woo-Ping Yuen.





Brutality: 4 out of 5 Bruises
Overall: 4 out of 5 Shuriken