Tai Chi Master/Recap

Two childhood friends, the nice if somewhat slow Junbao (Jet Li) and the more hot-tempered Tienbo, who grew up in a Shaolin Temple, would often get in trouble either because of Tienbo's temper or for being bullied by other students. Only one Master in particular liked them, though he pretended not to.

Eventually, as adults, both are thrown out of the temple after Tienbo nearly kills another student who cheated during a fight. (This despite proving themselves incredibly formidable against an army of monks.) Their old teacher gives them as a parting gift a kind of wooden scroll that they are not supposed to read until they find themselves at a crossroad in their lives.

The two of them try to earn a living at a small town but end up involving themselves in other people's problems; first they help a female warrior called Miss Li when she tries to protect a man being harassed with unfair taxes by the army. Later they save another woman, Siu Lin (Michelle Yeoh) when she comes looking for her missing husband and finds him married to the governor's niece. Hilarity (and lots of fights) ensue.

Tienbo, fascinated by the power of the army, joins it, but Junbao refuses, so they finally go their separate ways. Tienbo soon rises up the ranks, while Junbao works at a pub and becomes close to Siu. It turns out however that the pub is the headquarters of the rebellion against the corrupt government, so the two friends are now on opposite sides.

At first it looks like Tienbo will use his connections inside the army to help the rebels, and tells them when they can kidnap the governor. But it's a trap- he betrayed the rebels to make himself look better. Most of them die and the two women are captured- only Junbao escaped. Later he confronts his former friend who justifies his actions by claiming the rebels were doomed anyway. They fight and Junbao is able to rescue Siu, but Li dies.

After this incident Junbao's mind snaps as he cannot believe his childhood friend actually tried to kill him. Eventually he recovers when he remembers the scroll and opens it- it turns out to be The Book Of Chi, which explains the laws governing the forces in nature. Reading it gradually restores his sanity and increases his powers as he develops the titular style; Tai Chi.

The rebels managed to capture the governor and try to use him to get Tienbo to surrender. Tienbo fights with Junbao but cannot beat him; he then kills the Governor when he is ordered to surrender, thinking the army would follow him. This backfires when they refuse to. Tienbo dies when Junbao (accidentally) knocks him on some spears.

The movie ends with Junbao returning to the temple to become a teacher.


 * Back to