Man of Tai Chi 2013

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: An episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" has more variation and better lines, too. Read more

Maggie Lee, Variety: As a vehicle for Hollywood action choreographer Chen to show off his prowess as a gullible tai-chi student lured into underground fight clubs, this China-U.S. co-production is the real deal for hardcore chopsocky fans. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Feet and fists move with the camera, and angles orient the combatants in space. Even Reeves-who has a stiff-legged, Frankenstein's-monster-like fighting style-ends up looking like a formidable physical presence. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: Like Reeves' wooden dialogue, it's fun despite not being very good. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Reeves's debut shows signs of a talented filmmaker. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Reeves gets plenty of mileage from this premise, using it to comment on globalization, cinema in the Internet age, and the moral cost of selling out. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The fights are spectacular - Tiger Chen doesn't need wires - the camera work is cool, the music sizzling. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: The third act marks a commendably goofy sea change in an otherwise agreeably average throwback. Read more

Clarence Tsui, Hollywood Reporter: An adequate and ambitious effort from a first-time director who could have enhanced his on-screen philosophical arguments with a bit more depth and done with a touch less of the admittedly riveting man-to-man melee. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: The brutally efficient shooting style Reeves employs to film master choreographer Yuen Woo Ping's breathtaking fights is refreshingly grounded and old-school kinetic. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Reeves has clearly seen many Hong Kong films, and with the help of two veterans, Hollywood cinematographer Elliot Davis and HK editor Derek Hui, he's replicated one. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Say what you will about Keanu Reeves, he knows his strengths. So for his first directorial effort, he chose to do a martial-arts flick with a postmodern tinge. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Keanu Reeves's down-and-dirty and generally diverting directing debut. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Keanu Reeves makes his directorial debut in a cartoonish kung fu movie with splashy fight scenes and an underdeveloped wit. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A glorious romp of a martial-arts thwack-fest ... Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: A modestly entertaining martial arts melodrama with impressively staged fight sequences that help compensate for a stale plot and some less-than-stellar acting. Read more

Dave McGinn, Globe and Mail: [An] ambitious but generic martial-arts movie. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Without Chen in the lead role, Man of Tai Chi could easily have been chop-socky awful. Read more

Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap: Reeves' film offers serviceable action without doing much to introduce the world to the deeper complexities of tai chi. (A better title might have been "Game of Dearth.") Read more

Steve Pond, TheWrap: For anybody who can get into martial arts and doesn't demand a film that will break new ground the way, say, "The Raid: Redemption" did a couple of years ago, this is a rousing show. Read more

R. Kurt Osenlund, Time Out: [Establishes Reeves] as a deft helmer of cinematic combat ... Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: This hackneyed misfit resuscitates every cliche of the grade-B '80s Hong Kong martial arts programmer, even the plot parts that were already imitating bad American TV. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Don't get too hopeful for greatness, but the damned thing works. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Will anyone other than hardcore martial arts junkies pay good money to watch this stuff, which I admit, in smaller doses, holds a powerful visual/visceral fascination? Read more