The Tai-Chi Master


[a.k.a. Twin Warriors]
Dir: Yuen Wo Ping
Starring: Jet Li, Chin Siu Ko, Michelle Yeoh

Released under the name of Twin Warriors in the West, presumably to cash in on Jackie Chan's Twin Dragons and avoid any implications of elderly gentlemen swaying gently in the morning sun, the new title is only half-accurate. Jet Li and Chin Siu Ko are definitely not twins, but warriors they most certainly are. They play long-time friends who find themselves on opposite sides, one a rebel, one an army leader, through a combination of circumstances that are of no real consequence here. Neither the plot nor the acting will set the world on fire, yet these are of no real consequence either. Indeed, it's probably good that they stand back and let the action speak for itself, since Yuen Wo Ping delivers at least five sequences which would be worthy of standing as the climax to any lesser movie. These include what are probably the two finest "seriously outnumbered" battles I've seen, and the fabulous (if inevitable) battle between Li and Chin, justifying once again his position as the god-emperor of martial arts movies. Let's put it this way: Chris was sitting next to me, wrapping my Christmas presents, and I didn't even notice. Until I get a widescreen copy of Crouching Tiger, I shall console myself with this one.

A-


Li and Yeoh wait for their
Hollywood careers to take off
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