Things You Probably Didn't (or Wouldn't) Notice In The MAN OF TAI CHI

me watching the movie MAN OF TAI CHI is seriously out of the blue. i just got dragged by my friends who were about to watch the movie, but luckily, there was an extra ticket for me.

i have no idea what the movie was about except for Keanu Reeves directing and starring in it, along with a stuntman-turned-lead-actor Tiger Chen from Hongkong.

if you haven't watched it, but want to, i suggest you stop reading now. i might give away spoilers.

• there are three languages used in this movie: English (which is used when talking to Keanu), Mandarin (used when the set location is in Beijing), and Cantonese (used by the HK police characters).
• the statuette gifted to Tiger Chen Lin Hu is Guan Yu of Wu Hu Jiang from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. how do i recognize it? i have been following the Three Kingdoms novel for years now and i took notice of the statuette's armor. Guan Yu has a guan dao, a pole with a crescent blade called the Green Dragon Crescent Blade (青龍偃月刀 (qīng lóng yǎn yuè dāo)).  i think the statuette has a hidden camera in it. 
• the film was located in Beijing, Hongkong and Macau.
• if you'd listen to the intro song, it was like a Chinese version of Queen's We Will Rock You. or at least it will remind you of it.
• Tai Chi (太极) is actually a defense training and meditation calm and clear the mind so i really can't understand where the aggressiveness of Tiger comes from.
• Tiger Chen competed with fighters of  different martial arts: Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Jiujitsu, Wushu to name a few i have recognized.
• i don't know about the others, but i seem to notice similarities to Fearless (霍元甲, starring Jet Li in 2006), The Truman Show (starring Jim Carrey), Kung Fu Panda (seriously, it didn't come from me although, yes kind of, but i won't tell how. find out for yourself) and The Matrix (hey, it's Keanu!).

to sum it up, i enjoyed the movie as much as i have enjoyed watching other kung fu films. it wasn't that exceptional but i must say it was a good try for a first time director (Keanu Reeves). it wasn't trying hard unlike other actors who suddenly became directors. but what i am most proud of is that it wasn't peppered with other Hollywood stars just so it would cater to the American audience. i mean, really, they aren't the only movie-watchers in the world, right?