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Tai Chi Zero

Play trailer Poster for Tai Chi Zero PG-13 Released Oct 19, 2012 1h 40m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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60% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 52% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A gifted martial artist protects his adopted village from a villain who wants to build a railroad through the center of the community.
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Tai Chi Zero

Tai Chi Zero

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Critics Consensus

Tai Chi Zero may not have much to offer beyond dazzling action, but its infectious energy means fans of the genre should still come away sufficiently entertained.

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Critics Reviews

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Robert Abele Los Angeles Times "Tai Chi Zero" is often more distracting than diverting with its everything-goes aesthetic - there are strains of steampunk, manga and silent film comedy, with video-game touches. Rated: 2.5/5 Oct 19, 2012 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post "Tai Chi Zero" is loads of fun to watch, especially a battle in which watermelons, bananas and other fruits and veggies serve as flying weapons. Rated: 3/4 Oct 19, 2012 Full Review Michael O'Sullivan Washington Post A martial-arts adventure with more video-game and comic-book DNA than the traditional kung fu flick, "Tai Chi Zero" is good, if empty-headed, fun. Rated: 2/4 Oct 19, 2012 Full Review Charles Webb MTV Fun peppers his cast with Hong Kong action film royalty while filling the screen with crazy titles and text overlays, which almost distract from the problems with the way he and writer Chia-lu Chang have unfortunately structured their film. Jul 3, 2018 Full Review Annalee Newitz io9.com Fight scenes in Tai Chi Zero deliver the epic awesomeness of a true kung fu movie, but they are leavened with Jackie Chan-style silliness. May 23, 2018 Full Review Jef Rouner Houston Press It's one of the strangest films I've ever seen, but Tai Chi Zero is also without a doubt one of the absolute best. May 9, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member If you like steam punk and Kung Fu movies, you will probably enjoy this. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member It's the spirit of the Scott Pilgrim film adaptation projected into a Kung Fu movie, and it's executed better than the former. Take that for what it's worth. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member It's a shame that Tai Chi series was produced in such a fashion. Because I personally see great potential from the script itself. However, the problem is that there's just too much in this movie, as a result every element was quickly introduced and discarded making the movie feels too compact and claustrophobic; the phrase less is more definitely could applied here. Lastly, I'd just like to point out that despite the movie being called "Tai Chi Zero", I really wish there could be way more Tai Chi action scene in it. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member A rather refreshing Kung Fu movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting mix of Kung-Fu and steampunk genres. Not very deep, but lots of humor and some terrific action sequences make it worthwhile. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review jesse o Honestly, once you've seen Kung Fu Hustle, it's kinda hard to be surprised, shocked or enthralled by a film attempting to be silly, goofy and sometimes even video-game inspired. I'm not even suggesting that Kung Fu Hustle is the best kun fu film I've ever seen, because it is not, it's just that that film has an unmatched sense of style and silliness that is hard to duplicate. With that said, I did think that this was actually quite a fun martial arts films. I think they do mix it up from the usual martial arts films, while also paying tribute and including many martial arts legends, trainers and practitioners. The film does mix in a surprising steampunk element in the film what with Eddie Peng's character trying to install a railway station through his former village and the villagers, obviously set in their ways, resisting and fighting back against the western technology. In the middle of all this fits in Lu Chan, who has come to Chen village in order to learn their style of kung fu so he won't die. How they explain this is silly, really, and that is that Lu has Horn of the Three Blossoms, I think they call it, on his forehead. Every time he's hit on this 'horn' he becomes like the hulk, super strong and deadly. The thing is that it also comes with a killer nosebleed. So, essentially, every time someone hits on him this 'horn' it gets him closer to death. When the horn turns black is when Lu Chan will die. Learning the Chen style kung fu will, apparently, save his life. Got all that? Good. The film, for the most part, sees Lu trying to earn his way into the village by fighting some of the villagers. This leads to some pretty cool fight scenes. I particularly liked the one with Brother Tofu, that one was pretty entertaining. All of them were honestly, but I enjoyed that one the most. What I like about the film is that it doesn't take itself seriously, in the least. Some of the things it does aren't necessarily unexpected, but they're definitely surprising. I also liked how Peng's character progressed. I wouldn't call him villainous as much as he's dismissive of the villagers and the life they lead. Perhaps that paints him as a villain in the eyes of some, but I don't think he was. Part of me honestly think that he started out wanting to do some good and help a village that made fun of him because he was an 'outsider', so to speak. Of course that all changes later in the film, when it's clear that he's now a villain after a certain event happens. And, you know what, it's actually well-done and understandable. It's not like he wasn't a dick for no reason. He has a perfectly good reason for going to the 'dark side', if you will. So I thought that was, surprisingly, well-done. And the climactic fight was also really cool and fun. Any scene where fruits and vegetables are used to defeat soldiers with guns will always be ok in my book. The ending itself is a bit of an annoying cliffhanger to get you to want to see the sequel. Which is fine, but it felt like this film really isn't complete. It's also not a problem since Netflix also offers the sequel, Tai Chi Hero, which is the next film I'll review, but the ending is still slightly annoying. With that said, this isn't the best kung fu film you will ever see, hell even Iron Monkey, a film almost a quarter of a century old, is better than this. But I think most people will have a good time with it. I certainly did. I'd recommend it if you have Netflix. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Tai Chi Zero

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A gifted martial artist protects his adopted village from a villain who wants to build a railroad through the center of the community.
Director
Stephen Fung
Distributor
Variance Films
Production Co
Huayi Brothers & Taihe Film Investment
Rating
PG-13 (Violence|Martial Arts Action Throughout)
Genre
Action
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 19, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 22, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$159.0K
Runtime
1h 40m
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