The Martial Arts Action Flop You Didn't Realize Keanu Reeves Directed
Keanu Reeves may be one of the most beloved movie stars currently working, beloved more for his real-life personality and well-documented generosity than he is for his range as an actor. Reeves has a talent for playing taciturn action heroes and comic foils but tends to flounder when asked to play richer, more sophisticated characters. Compare his hilarious turn in "Always Be My Maybe," or his impressive physical performances in the "John Wick" movies to, say, "Bram Stoker's Dracula" wherein he struggles to keep his British accent.
Moreso than his acting, though, Reeves seems to be loved for being a fathomlessly decent human being. He runs his own leukemia charity. When he caught people trespassing on his property, he invited them in for drinks. He famously gives expensive gifts to the crewmates on many of his movies, like Rolex watches for the "John Wick" crew, or motorcycles for the stunt performers who worked on "The Matrix Reloaded." He often goes out of his way to interact with fans and sign autographs. He was once quoted as saying that he has enough money, and he's happy to give most of his film salaries away to charities. More rich people could learn from Keanu.
Of all the films, documentaries, cartoons, and TV shows that Reeves has appeared in, though, he has only once taken a crack at directing. In 2013, Reeves helmed the somewhat obscure martial arts film "Man of Tai Chi," in which he also played the villain. "Man of Tai Chi" was well-received by the critics who saw it (it sports a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but it didn't generate much enthusiasm. /Film wrote about its trailer back in the day, but "Man of Tai Chi" is rarely talked about anymore. Let's take a moment to reflect on it.
Man of Tai Chi was liked by critics, but bombed at the box office
"Man of Tai Chi" was, according to the critics, something of a throwback film, attempting to re-create the story and the tone of Chinese martial arts films of the 1970s. Tiger Chen plays a version of himself, a student of Tai Chi who uses the martial art as a form of meditation and exercise. Reeves plays Donaka Mark, the head honcho of a shady, underground fighting tournament. Mark attempts to recruit Chen into his brutal fight club, but Chen initially refuses. When Chen finds that his Tai Chi temple needs a structural upgrade, however, he agrees to participate in the tournament, hoping to win a big enough cash prize to get it fixed up.
Over the course of Chen's fights, however, he finds himself getting more and more violent, having to become increasingly brutal to win. Chen is horrified by his own actions, of course, but Mark, it turns out, orchestrated it. Mark was the one who called the building inspectors to Chen's temple to lure him into the tourney. It seems he wanted to conduct a Joker-like morality experiment to see if a noble, calm, ethical Tai Chi master could be forced by circumstance into greed and violence. The final moral reckoning: can Mark force Chen to kill?
Few were interested in finding the answer, though. On a modest $25 million budget, "Man of Tai Chi" only made $5 million at the box office, internationally. Only about $100,000 of that came from American ticket sales. Its low numbers may have resulted from a strange release pattern: "Man of Tai Chi" was made available for download on September 27, 2013, but then received a very small theatrical release on November 1. Any Keanu fans who were interested in seeing "Man of Tai Chi" as soon as possible likely purchased it at home before it opened in theaters. $4.28 million of the flick's grosses came from Chinese ticket sales.
Tiger Chen and Keanu Reeves worked together before Man of Tai Chi
It's easy to see why Reeves would want to direct "Man of Tai Chi." Tiger Chen was a central member of Yuen Woo-ping's fight choreography team on "The Matrix" back in 1999, and Reeves worked with Chen extensively. The two became fast friends, and he would go on to work with Reeves again on "The Matrix Reloaded," in which he had a brief cameo. Chen also had bit parts in the Keanu Reeves-starring films "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" and "The Matrix Resurrections." This was in addition to serving as the fight choreographer for "Charlie's Angels" and "Kill Bill." Chen has also appeared in multiple films released in his native China, as well as in the international star vehicle "Triple Threat" starring Chen, Iko Uwais, and Tony Jaa.
"Man of Tai Chi" was clearly a pet project for Chen and Reeves, giving them both an opportunity to work together again and for Chen to play a more visible, leading role. It's kind of a pity the film didn't do better in the United States, as Chen could easily have become a legitimate on-screen Hollywood powerhouse, at least in action films and fight movies. Instead, he will have to comfort himself with a decent Chinese film career, and the many, many awards he has won from his martial arts skills; Chen is a National Karate champion.
"Man of Tai Chi" also starred other notable international stars like Karen Mok and Ye Qing. Uwais also has a small part in the movie, and a close look might reveal a cameo from Yuen Woo-ping himself. Fans of martial arts movies would do well to give "Man of Tai Chi" a once over. Eventually, if enough people rent it, the film may finally break even.