Man of Tai Chi

Directed by : Keanu Reeves

Script:  Michael G Kooney

Length of movie: 105 minutes

THE PLOT: ****CONTAINS SPOILERS (JUST SKIP DOWN TO “MY VIEWS” TO AVOID SPOILERS)

The movie opens with a fight unto death going at an undisclosed location.  The fighter overpowers his opponent, but refuses to land the killer blow.  A masked man comes and kills the wounded opponent.  Simultaneously, Hong Kong Police raid the place but find no one. The dead body of the fighter who refused to kill is found.  It turns out that he had informed the police prior to coming, but turning informant had cost his life.

The masked man is Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves).   He is running this illegal fight unto death clubs and filming & beaming it world wide.  

Enter Tiger Chen (Chen Hu), student of Lin Kong Tai Chi style.  His master manages a temple which has a lineage of 600 years.  Tai Chi is usually not considered  as a martial art and Tiger Chen is out to prove this wrong.  While practicing with his master who attacks him with a spear, Tiger after defending for quite some time, breaks the spear.  His master deplores him for this move and tells that he could have just deflected the spear instead of breaking it, but tiger says that why deflect when he has the power to break it.  Master retorts that breaking signifies power, but no control and it is control what a martial art student should strive for.  Tiger disagrees.  The master is wary of this trait of Tiger and his inability to distinguish between power and control.  He predicts that this will lead Tiger through a different path.  He needs to do more contemplation &meditation.  Tiger observes that no meditation or contemplation is needed.  He feels power will ultimately leads to control.  His master disagrees, and says, that is an illusion.

Tiger works as a delivery man and also fights in local competitions to prove that Tai Chi is no less martial than other styles.  Donaka Mark spots Tiger in a fight & sees potential in him.  They start to monitor & record all his activities, even tapping his phone.  Tiger gets a job offer from Donaka and when he goes for interview, he is told that all he has to do is fight and he will get paid for that.  Tiger refuses to fight for money, but Donaka asks him to reconsider his decision and gives him his card to call back.  Tiger’s Temple gets demolition orders due to some safety violations. Civic authorities are going to build something else there.  Tiger gets to know from his girlfriend that they can get a stay order if they let the temple be declared Heritage Property, but all the related maneuvers will cost money.  Tiger decides to fight for money and calls Donaka.  Tiger defeats the opponent, collect money and saves the temple.  But this leads to other fights and more fights.  Ultimately, Tiger becomes ruthless fighter.

The police officer, Sun Jing (Karen Mok) headed the police raid shown in the beginning is still following Donaka.  She spots Tiger with Donaka & assumes correctly that he is the new fighter.  She meets Tiger and tries to dissuade him, but he feigns ignorance & tells he is just working as security for Donaka.

Tiger’s aggressive behavior disqualifies him from a tournament & also leads to his Temple’s petition of heritage being rejected as Tiger’s action have brought disrepute to Tai Chi.  Tiger asks Donaka for a fight to quell his rage and to his own bewilderment attacks the opponent straight into the eyes, blinding him.  However, he does not kill his opponent, and this riles up Donaka.   Donaka walks in, wearing a mask and kills the opponent, but chides Tiger.  As he sits quietly with his bloodied hands, Tiger realizes that he has changed a lot and regrets.  He informs Donaka that he won’t fight anymore.  Donaka says that Tiger has no option but to fight.

Tiger informs the officer Sun Jing (Karen Mok) about the fighting going on.  As Tiger is always under surveillance, Donaka immediately knows about his betrayal.  In the next fight unto death, Tiger’s opponent is an Indonesian artist Gilang Sanjaya (Iko uwais – Pencak Silat style), but Tiger refuses to fight him and turns to Donaka and says I will fight you.  Sujoy tries to hit him, but tiger escapes and keeps on running round and round to buy time.  The police arrives and arrest everybody except Donaka.  Donaka threatens tiger before leaving saying “you owe me a life.”

Tiger goes to his temple where Donaka appears and they fight.  After being wounded by Donaka’s knife, Tiger uses a force, which he had never used before.  This force is not depending on power, it is more based on his will, and thus he realizes what his Master had told him earlier.  The move throws Donaka backwards and he starts vomiting blood.  Before dying, he tells Tiger that he knew Tiger was special.

The movie ends as the The temple gets the heritage status and Tiger telling his his girlfriend about his  plans to start a  training school for Tai Chi.

My views:  Chen Hu, who plays tiger is superb in action sequences.  Some of the moves have really got that wow factor.  Keanu Reeves as the villain is convincing, but his fight with Tiger in the Temple in the end was a bit of dampener. Karen Mok as the lady cop pursuing the case is superb. Overall, if you love watching martial arts movie, don’t forget to add this one to your “must watch list.”

Note:  This movie is inspired from the life of Keanu Reeves' stuntman friend Tiger Chen.
           This movie marks the directional debut of Keanu Reeves.

The Raid : Redemption

The Raid: Redemption

Director:  Gareth Evans

Script:  Gareth Evans

Writer:  Gareth Evans

Actors:  Iko Uwais

Genre: Martial Arts (Indonesian)

Plot:  An elite force consisting of 20 cops raids a building which is the HQ of a drug overlord.   The force divides itself into 2 teams and goes up.  By the time they reach 5^th floor, someone raises alarm.  On the PA system, the boss asks his tenants (who are mostly mobsters & crooks), to kill the policemen & claim permanent residence on the flat.   The police team is ambushed and lose most of the team members.   The commander of this mission gets a jolt when he is told that since this a secret mission, they won’t get any reinforcements, and they are on their own.  Rama (Iko Uwais), a rookie member of this team and an expert fighter in Pencak Silat, an Umbrella term for Indonesian Martial arts, wants to be back with his family for the anticipated birth of his first child.  He must fight his way out of the enemy citadel.

My views:  If you love martial arts movies, and on screen violence is okay with you, then go for it.  You will enjoy the fights choreographed with exhilarating background score.  Iko Uwais is very good as the indefatigable Rama.

Prisoners

Prisoners is an investigation thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve, which tells the story of sudden disappearance of 2 girls on the Thanks giving day & subsequent investigation.

 

Keller Dovar  (HughJackman) visits his neighbor’s (The Birches) house on the eve of Thanksgiving day along with his family.  His daughter and neighbor's daughter go out on some pretext and just disappear.  The police is informed & David Loki (JakeGylenhaal) is assigned to the case.  The only lead available is the presence and subsequent absence of a Recreational Vehicle in front of the house from where the girls went missing.

The driver of the RV, a guy named Alex Jones is arrested.  However, upon interrogation, Loki concludes that Alex is innocent, as he has an IQ of a 10 year old.  Keller counters this argument saying how can one with IQ of a 10-year-old drive an RV and be eligible for driving license.  Keller confronts Alex while he is leaving police custody & a brief scuffle ensues.  In the melee that follows, Keller hears Alex saying “They did not cry when I left them.”   Keller is convinced of Alex’s involvement now, but Alex does not repeat this statement in front of the police & his aunt who was present at the time of scuffle negates Keller’s claims and says that her nephew did not say anything to Keller.

The police is convinced that Keller is stressed because of his daughter’s disappearance and therefore must have made up the statement.  Officer Loki while combing the perimeter houses, tracks a Father who has drinking problem and who has a dead body in his cellar.  Father killed this man, who claims to be waging a war against God by kidnapping children.  The dead body is wearing a maze pendant.

Meanwhile, convinced of Alex’s involvement in kidnapping of two girls, Keller kidnaps Alex and keeps him in his dilapidated property.  He tortures him, but is still not able to get anything.

Detective Loki tracks another suspicious looking guy from a candle night vigil in remembrance of the two missing girls.  His image is circulated & residents are asked to contact Detective Loki with any sightings.   Loki finds out that Alex is missing and suspects Keller’s involvement.  Meanwhile, Keller’s lets the The Birches know about Alex’s confinement.  Though, they do not agree with Keller’s method, they chose to keep mum.

Detective Loki gets a lead about the suspect from candle night vigil.  An attendant from a departmental store calls & informs him that this guy comes occasionally to her store and buys children’s clothes.  Loki asks her to keep eyes open and call him back immediately on further sightings.

Loki finds out the dilapidated property of Keller & is just about to bust the place where Alex is confined, when he gets a call from the Departmental store attendant.   The suspect has been sighted again and is finally tracked using car license number.  He is one Bob Taylor.  His house is searched, but no bodies are found.  Only, bloodied clothes of both girls are discovered.   In police custody, he is found humming to himself & drawing a maze. 

At the same time, Alex tells Keller that he is actually not Alex and that the girls are in the maze.  Keller goes to Alex’s house to get more information from his aunt.  He casually mentions “maze” to solicit information but Alex’s aunt says Alex never talked much & feigns ignorance.

Bob Taylor commits suicide in police custody, but Joy Birch, the other girl who was kidnapped is found.  She has been heavily drugged, but somehow managed to sneak out.  On opening her eyes, she only manages to say to Keller, “ You were there.”  Keller understands what she is hinting & runs out.  The police try to unsuccessfully stop him.   Loki believes he is going to his dilapidated building property & reaches there only to find out Alex in the confinement.

Keller, in the meantime, goes to Alex’s house.  The girls all the time were drugged and held prisoners there and that is what Joy Birch meant when she said “You were there.”  Alex’s aunt understands that her game is up and she tells Keller the truth.  She & her husband were devout, but after losing their only child to cancer, lost faith.  Kidnapping & killing children, was for them, a revenge, a war against God.  Alex was the first child they kidnapped but could not kill him.  Bob Taylor also was one of their victims who survived.   Alex’s Aunt shoots Keller in the leg and puts him in a covered pit under the garage.  Keller totters about in darkness and discovers his daughter’s whistle.

Loki comes to Alex’s house to inform aunt about Alex’s whereabouts.   He discovers that Alex’s uncle’s photograph has a maze pendant.  He draws out his gun and interrupts the aunt while she is injecting Keller’s daughter with poison.  He fatally shots her and is also shot at.  He rushes Keller’s daughter to emergency ward.

Both girls come and visit Loki in his bed to say thanks.  Keller is still missing.  Keller’s wife asks Loki whether Keller will be convicted if he ever shows up, Loki answers in affirmative.  

It is night time, and Loki is at Alex’s house.  The excavation team are reluctant to work further because of snowing.  Loki hears a whistle and at first dismisses it.  Then he hears persistent whistle in the direction of the garage & the movie concludes.

MY VIEWS:  Hugh Jackman as Keller, the kidnapped girl’s father is as good as always, but for me, the scene stealer was Jake Gylenhaal (David Loki).  He breathes life into the character of David Loki as a dedicated Police Detective.   The investigation styles of both Keller & Loki are quite contrasting.  Keller is searching for his daughter, whereas for Loki, it is just another case.  Loki is working in Police Department, so he has to follow all the procedures & protocols, whereas Keller is a free bird.   For Loki, the investigation is double tough, because for him, everybody including Keller is a suspect.   However, in the end, both Keller & Loki were wrong in their assumptions.  Keller was quite confident of the guilt of Alex, where as   Loki thought Bob Taylor was the kidnapper.  However, both Alex & Bob were themselves victims of child abuse.  Overall, a good thriller, which will keep one engrossed till the end.