TAI CHI ZERO (Stephen Fung). 95 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (October 19). See times. Rating: NNN
Say what you will about Stephen Fung – when the guy makes a movie, he doesn’t do half measures. His kung fu steampunk action romance comedy, Tai Chi Zero, opening commercially a month after its bow at TIFF, fills every frame with manic activity.
In the late 19th century, ailing young warrior Lu Chan (screen newcomer Yuan Xiaochao) travels to a remote village in order to learn the secrets of a fighting style that might save his life. But the inhabitants of that village – among them an old labourer (Tony Leung) and a fetching young woman (Angelababy) – are too busy keeping the railroad from plowing through town to welcome him.
Fung turns the standard kung fu origin story about a young man who sets out on a journey of destiny into a wacked-out mashup of westerns, action movies, video games and self-reflexive comedy. He borrows the pop-up aesthetic of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World to introduce characters with on-screen graphics, and illustrates their martial artistry like a commentator drawing football plays with a telestrator. When Lu Chan is critically injured, his life points click down before our eyes.
It’s inventive and occasionally ingenious, but dear god is it exhausting. And it isn’t even a complete narrative, but the first of two parts – the entire film serves as the setup for Tai Chi Hero, coming soon.
