Due to a hectic-ass Friday, I woke up late and my first real post for Saturday Morning Kung Fu Theater is happening on Saturday Afternoon. I had been doing so good; for the last three weeks I have been waking up at like seven o'clock in the morning while the rest of my family sleeps to have some "alone time" with my wonderful television and a martial arts movie of my choice. I still had the house to myself after 2, so it's all good.I wanted to start the blog off right so I decided to go with one of my personal top 5 martial arts flicks of all time. "Tai Chi Master" is one of the fist movies I had seen from the "new school" martial arts genre, with the crazy wire assisted fight scenes (popularly known as Wire-Fu). For those who haven't seen it, think puppets flipping all over the place and beating the shit out of each other. I personally prefer the old school joints (Shaw Brothers fans, where you at??) , but I consider this film to be a classic and Jet Li's finest performance. It also stars Michelle Yeoh of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" fame, who my man OG affectionately refers to as "Crouching Cougar Hidden Milf." She is truly one beautiful ass whooping machine.
The story starts off in the Shaolin Temple, where we see two childhood friends, Jun Bao (Jet Li) and Chin Bo (Chin Siu Ho), grow from boys to men in the Temple during the Manchu Dynasty. Even as children it is clearly evident that Chin Bo is a controlling and emotional person, while Jun Bao is a gentle soul who wants to follow the path of righteousness. Even with the opposite personalities, they are the best of friends that are constantly getting into different types of competitions to see who is stronger.
Chin Bo enters a martial arts competition at the Temple that would lead to a promotion within Shaolin. The other student throws something in Chin Bo's eyes to attempt to win the fight. This only pisses Chin Bo off, and he uses no restraint and opens up a shiny can of whoop ass on the cheater. The master refuses to believe that their was foul play involved, and after Jun Bao tries to come to his friends aid, they are both kicked out of the temple. Not before they both have to fight the rest of the students that were at the competition, which to me is one of the best scenes in the movie. If you are a fan of the staff as a weapon, this is a must see! Watch near the end of the scene (5:24 in to be exact) as Chin Bo rides one of the students like a surfboard while fighting!!
After getting kicked out of the Shaolin Temple, both friends are having a hard time adapting to the outside world. They befriend a group of local rebels who like to steal from corrupt government officials and give the $$$ back to the poor. Jun Bao see's the righteous ways of the rebels helping the simple folk, while Chin Bo is attracted to the money, power, and fame that comes with being a high government official. The two friends take opposite paths, Chin Bo leaves to become a Manchu solider while Jun Bao decides to stay and help the rebels.
Chin Bo acts like everything is copacetic between him and Jun Bao, but this is just a front to set up the rebels and help him rise in the rankings. Most of the rebels are killed in an epic scene, Siu Lin (Yeoh) is kidnapped, and Jun Bao barely escapes. Feeling guilty for the death of his friends and betrayed by Chin Bo, Jun Bao goes back to help save Siu Lin and settle the score with the traitor that set him up. Another classic fight scene takes place.
Jun Bao manages to escape with Siu Lin, but Chin Bo proves to be the more skilled fighter in this scene. The weight of betrayal is too much for Jun Bao to bear, and he goes through a spell of temporary insanity. With the help of Siu Lin,Reverand Ling (Yeung Cheung San), and a scroll that was given to him and Chin Bo by his Shaolin Master, Jun Bao learns the ways of Tai Chi and gains his strength, skill and sanity back.
Jun Bao and Siu Lin ambush Chin Bo's corrupt boss on his way to Beijing, and this leads to another classic scene.
Using Chin Bo's boss as a hostage, Jun Bao meets up with his old-friend-turned-nemesis for the climatic final scene. Jun Bao has no choice but to kill Chin Bo, realizing his boyhood friend is beyond saving.
"Tai-Chi Master" is a must see for any martial arts enthusiast. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh both give top notch performances. The fight scenes are pretty much all incredible. My only criticism is that in some of the scenes you can see the wire (especially on Michelle Yeoh) lifting and dropping the actors during the fight scenes. Also, the copy that I have now on DVD is in English, and the voice overs are kind of corny. I preferred the VHS version I owned back in the day with the subtitles.
On a personal note, I love women that can fight. When I see a woman that can really kick some ass it actually turns me on. "Tai-Chi Master" holds a special place in my heart. Michelle Yeoh and the other female actresses really hold their own in this film.
I am going to be using the Fist ranking method to rate the movies, 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
"Tai-Chi Master" gets 5 Fists
