Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut is a mediocre…wait for it…martial arts movie. Now there’s an original idea. Such a movie is “Man of Tai Chi”, an alternatively kick-ass and clumsy piece of junk that might satisfy fans of the genre and turn off pretty much everyone else. Reeves also plays the leader of an underground fight-to-the-death network. He’s so good at it that you believe this tired old plot might actually spring to life and relevance. No such luck. We then meet Tiger Chen, a faithful practitioner of tai chi, which means he can’t fight for money. But after a bank threatens to foreclose on the temple of his master Yang (Yu Hai), Chen receives an offer to battle for Reeves in an underground fighting ring.Tiger Chen is strong and extremely talented. And director Reeves shows a sure hand at staging the fight scenes. Too bad the film devolves into a series of repetitive clichés. “Man of Tai Chi” was almost on to something. Almost.

Rating: 2/4