China, 15th century. The kid Tienbo is sent to a Shaolin temple to study martial arts, but is angry that he is subordinate to Junbao, who is his age. 20 years later, they are both expelled from the temple after defying a teacher who didn't intervene when a fighter threw dust at Tienbo during a fight. In a town, they befriend Miss Li and Siu-lin, but Tienbo joins the military ranks of the powerful province governor Liu Jin. As Junbao joins the rebels who fight against Liu Jin, he inevitably becomes Tienbo's enemy. When Siu-lin captures Liu Jin and threatens to kill him with a sword, she forces the army to stand down and allow Tienbo and Junbao to fight. In the duel, Junbao kills Tienbo. Junbao leaves Siu-lin to establish his own martial arts school.
Despite references to real historical figures (Zhang Junbao and province governor Liu Jin) and some attempts at deeper Taoist parallels, cult film "Tai Chi Master" still stands out most during its creative and energetic martial arts and fight sequences, in which Jet Li simply rises to the occasion. The excellent actress Michelle Yeoh would have been an additional virtue had she not been so underused and neglected in the storyline. Despite a great transition in the opening act—when the kids Tienbo and Junbao are fighting with brooms in the temple, the camera pans to the right, across a pillar, and as it emerges on the other side, Tienbo and Junbao are now grown ups while fighting with brooms, in an inspired time jump—the rest of the film is rather conventionally directed, save for the great martial arts moments. Some of the imaginative battle sequences include Siu-lin walking on table legs to be taller, or Tienbo throwing a spear, but Junbao just jumping on the spear to walk on it and jump even further directly at his opponent. The fight around the wooden tower was also creative. However, the dialogue is underwhelming, the characters routine, whereas the segment of Junbao losing his mind for 20 minutes, and thinking, among others, that he is a duch when he is diving inside the water in a barrel, feels as if it from a lesser movie. There are some contemplations hiden in the story: even though they both started out as students in the temple, Tienbo chose the quest for power, while Junbao chose the quest for enlightenment and honor, signaling their yin and yang relationship. This could have been developed better, with a more emotional and philosophical juncture, yet "Tai Chi Master" is still a well made film that is still fresh today.
Grade:++
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