Dir.: Yuen Woo-Ping
Cast: Jacky Wu, Christy Chung, Mark Cheng, Sibelle Hu
A.K.A. The Tai Chi Master II
Year: 1996
Tai Chi II (there appears to be no Tai Chi I because this ain't no sequel to Jet's Tai Chi!) follows the adventures of Hawk Man (Jacky Cheung) who, having lived a life of seclusion and study dictated by his stern father, longs to experience the outside world. With the help of his doting mother (Sibelle Hu), he manages to sneak away, whereupon he promptly falls in love with a young activist, the beautiful, should be on the cover of MAXIM magazine, Christy Chung, and manages to fall afoul of British opium smugglers. If doesn't sound familiar, it's because you haven't seen enough HK films yet. Surely someone would come up with a better damn story.
Tai Chi II is a strictly by-the-numbers period martial arts piece. Everything in this film can be found somewhere else, and it is especially reminiscent of Fong Sai Yuk. However, Jacky Wu is not Jet Li, and despite the directorial presence of Yuen Woo-Ping, this film is not The Tai Chi Master (In fact, it has nothing at all to do with it). But, there are some decent fight scenes and a few funny moments, and you'll probably have fun laughing at those dumb ass english acotrs that appear in this film. However, when it comes right down to it this film is sorely lacking in inspiration. Shit! I can't get over how shitty these villains in this film are. Oh well, the film isn't bad and it's one the first videos I came across. Now is it worth the 23 and change? Hmm.... I think so for not being a Jet flick. Fuck it, enjoy yourself. I rated this 7 1/2 stars out of 10.
Check ebay for a good price.