Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Tai Chi Zero Blu-ray Movie Review

Maybe even less than zero.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 3, 2013

Sometimes it’s best to trust your first impression. As soon as Tai Chi Zero started up with a flurry of interlocking gears through which the camera tracked (more than a bit reminiscent of a certain film called Hugo), I mused that it would have been a fantastic 3D effect. A bit of internet sleuthing then revealed that Tai Chi Zero was in fact released theatrically as a 3D feature, which then begs the question why this new Blu-ray only offers a 2D version. It’s especially unfortunate, because visual flair is by far the best thing about Tai Chi Zero, a film which is agreeable enough on its own terms, but which is dramatically (or even comedically) about as flat as a veritable pancake. There have been lots of comic books which have been made into films, but Tai Chi Zero takes the opposite tack, attempting to invest a more or less traditional martial arts film with a comic book (or videogame) ethos, replete with too cute for their own good textual introductions to most of the major cast (introductions that last virtually the entire running length of the film), lots of supertitles offering “meta” commentary (including some elements that verge perilously close to being “thought bubbles”), and an overall cartoonish ambience in everything from the credits sequence (which is animated) to the general tenor of much of the film. Though the film was marketed as a “steampunk” take on the martial arts idiom, and there is that kind of Wild, Wild West late 19th century mechanized element at play (something that’s part of the central conflict with the more agrarian lifestyle of the “simple” Chinese villagers), Tai Chi Zero is pretty rote in its storytelling, if not in its actual presentation.

How many martial arts films are built around the premise of the young neophyte aching to learn at the feet (and hands) of the wise master? Too many to count, which is one reason that Tai Chi Zero seems rather hackneyed at its core. Despite its visual flash, Tai Chi Zero is little more than an Eastern iteration of The Karate Kid. Yuan Xiaochao (AKA Jayden Yuan), who (according to just one of the gamut of “introductory” titles emblazoned across the film as various actors appear) was a wushu Gold Medalist in the 2010 Asian Games as well as an Olympic Gold Medalist, portrays Lu Chan, a young man with a rather pronounced “skin tag” on his forehead which, when pushed like a button, transforms him into a martial arts demon of sorts with glowing white eyes and, well, fists of fury. Why this happens is never really adequately explained, and in fact it’s only used a couple of times in the film, which soon drifts into less supernatural and more standard territory when Lu Chan chases after a mysterious master who teaches an “internal” form of Tai Chi in a little village called Chen.

The residents of Chen don’t exactly take kindly to strangers, and Lu Chan is repeatedly told that Chen’s proprietary version of martial arts is not “available” for him to learn. Lu Chan finds one unlikely friend in a homeless laborer (Tony Leung), and it doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that this individual may in fact have a not so secret identity. Chen is also home to a pretty young girl named Yunia (the wonderfully named Angelababy), who has the hots for a Westernized Chen transplant named Zijing (Eddie Feng), a young man who wears a top hat and waistcoat and wants to bring a host of industrialized “improvements” to the primitive enclave he’s called home for years. Zijing in the meantime is leading along not just Yunia but another comely lass named Claire (Mandy Lieu), an even more Westernized girl who works for the East India Company and longs to (literally) steamroll the village of Chen into industrialized oblivion. When Zijing’s perhaps noble attempts to introduce electricity to Chen backfires (again, literally), his darker elements begin calling and he and Claire show up in a gigantic domed steam powered contraption that looks exactly like some nefarious beast none other than Dr. Loveless would have come up in the old Wild, Wild West series.

The central conflict here seems to be a twist on the “Divine Primitive” motif versus the big, evil steam spewing mechanization of the West, but it’s a fitful conflict at best, especially since the actual battles are internecine, between various factions of Chinese. And aside from a few passing references to the timeframe, Tai Chi Zero pretty much jettisons any attempt to really capitalize on its late 19th century setting. What’s left, then, are some very well choreographed fight scenes, and the delight (juvenile as it may be) of watching Yuan respond to virtually everything with the incredulous mantra of “What the hell?”

The film is quite handsome, though, almost in spite of itself, with some fun production design, not only limited to the labyrinthine interior of the steam breathing beast that threatens the village of Chen. The village itself is very well rendered, and some of the special effects are quite whimsical, including a great little segue when Lu Chan is following the homeless laborer, who suddenly skirts up the side of a cliff at an angle that would suggest he’s a fan of M.C. Escher. From a visual standpoint, then, Tai Chi Zero is often quite a bit of fun. But it’s often like pretty window dressing that surrounds nothing other than lifeless mannequins. For such a supposed “steampunk” enterprise, there’s a decidedly lethargic feel to the actual storytelling at hand in this film.

Tai Chi Zero Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tai Chi Zero is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a largely flawless transfer that is easily able to handle everything from minute grains of sand in one of the opening battle sequences to large vistas of Chinese forests with only very, very minor stability problems cropping up occasionally. Colors are beautifully saturated and fine detail is often exceptional, especially in extreme close-ups (take a look at the third screenshot accompanying this review for a sterling example). Both exterior and interior scenes boast excellent contrast, solid black levels and fulsome shadow detail.

Tai Chi Zero Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tai Chi Zero features lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks in Mandarin (for the most part) and English. Some of even the original language track is spoken in halting English, with some character names like "Claire" getting multi-syllabic remakes that are fascinating to hear. The English dub only compounds the lunacy at time, and may provide at least some unintentional laughs. The original language track is quite aggressive in terms of overall mix, with a lot of noisy sound effects winging around and through the surrounds during various battle scenes. Dialogue is occasionally nicely directional as well, but tends to be anchored fairly securely in the front channels. The huge steam driven beast provides some great sounding (if a tad unusual) LFE, and there's one climactic explosion that is actually kind of strangely muted. Fidelity remains excellent and dynamic range is wide.

Tai Chi Zero Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Zenes (SD; 5:43). Get it? "Zenes" with a "z", as in Zero? That's about as original as this standard EPK gets.


• Muzic Videoz (SD; 3:52) doesn't identify the "artists" or "tunes", which may be a blessing in disguise.


• Trailerz (HD; 4:19)

Tai Chi Zero Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tai Chi Zero already has a sequel in the can, one which is set up rather nicely in a brief sequence that plays out after the credits almost begin to roll (as with so much else in this film, even the credits are fodder for playtime by the graphics team). Hopefully the second film, apparently titled Tai Chi Hero, will try to deliver a more compelling story, whether that be played strictly for laughs or taken more seriously, than this film's half hearted approach. There really is a lot to like about Tai Chi Zero, including a winning performance by Yuan, despite the fact that his character is an unadulterated dolt for most of the film. The fight sequences are well staged and from a visual standpoint alone, the film is quite winning. The good news about a sequel is, when you're starting out from zero, there's nowhere to go but up.