The Full Screen, shot-on-video format caught me by surprise, but I quickly got used to it. In fact, THE TAI CHI MASTER often holds up favorably when compared to bigger-budget Film fare. Because of the extended running time (over two hours), it's more engaging than most martial arts movies: we spend more time with the characters, and get to know and like them better as a result. The one complaint I have (as usual) is the cgi: it's so out of place in such an emotionally involving story that it detracts from it- one finds oneself almost laughing out loud at the lousy wirework and crummy cgi. Yang's ascension to the top of the pagoda (straight out of Bruce Lee's GAME OF DEATH) could've been handled more dramatically WITHOUT the intrusion of cgi wirework. The humor helps a lot (it's never out of context) and the performances all around are noteworthy.
Review of The Tai Chi Master
