History Film / ManOfTaiChi

* FauxAffiblyEvil: Donaka is a CompleteMonster, but he's unfailingly polite.

* BadassInANiceSuit: Subverted and deconstructed. Tiger shows up to his "interview" in what is presumably his best suit. Subverted because it is not a nice suit by any means. Deconstructed because the beginning of the fight is almost exclusively his opponent controlling the fight by holding onto his necktie.

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Inovked and ultimately avoided. Donaka Mark is trying to turn Tiger's life into one of these, and nearly succeeds, leaving him severely emotionally damaged. However, in the end Tiger reclaims the moral high ground, helps the police bring Donaka's operation down and [[spoiler:only kills when there is literally no other choice.]]

* UnnecessaryRoughness: Tiger gets thrown out of the national tournament he was competing in after he snaps and breaks an opponent's arm. It's the single biggest sign that his fights for Donaka are effecting his mind.

* MotiveDecay: Tiger joins up with Donaka in order to earn enough money to save the temple, but discovers he likes the fighting and stays in because of that.

->''"So when you hear that [Creator/KeanuReeves] made friends with a Chinese stuntman while making the Film/{{Matrix}} movies and decided that his new pal was so cool that he was going to dedicate several years and a bunch of his own money to make a philosophical action movie loosely based on the guy's background... yeah, that sounds like something Keanu Reeves would do. And in fact did."''

* SlasherSmile: Donaka Mark cracks out a great one during his battle with Tiger.

-->--Creator/'''BobChipman''', ''Escape to the Movies''

-->--Creator/BobChipman, '''Escape to the Movies'''

->"So when you hear that [Creator/KeanuReeves] made friends with a Chinese stuntman while making the Film/{{Matrix}} movies and decided that his new pal was so cool that he was going to dedicate several years and a bunch of his own money to make a philosophical action movie loosely based on the guy's background... yeah, that sounds like something Keanu Reeves would do. And in fact did."
-->--Creator/BobChipman, ''Escape to the Movies''

* TheBadGuyWins: Donaka manages to [[spoiler:get Tiger to kill. Even though he's the one killed, he doesn't seem to mind, as his goal was the corruption of an innocent. The fact his last line was seemingly gloating about being killed supports this]]. Though given that Tiger recovers from this act, and is moving on with his life by the end, means that Donaka ultimately failed to scar him forever.

* ImplacableMan: Donaka Mark becomes one of these during his battle with Tiger at the end. He's not as fast as Tiger, and his movements are stiffer, but nothing that Tiger does will make Donaka stay down, or even seem to inflict any lasting damage. As the fight progresses, Tiger is visibly getting tired, while Donaka is unaffected and keeps right on coming.

* TheBigBad: Donaka Mark.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Due to its lethality. Tiger's master uses it against Tiger early on but doesn't connect and it still causes severe bruising and BloodFromTheMouth. It's only used in earnest[[spoiler: when Tiger kills Donaka]].

* FamousLastWords: "I knew you had it in you." Spoken by [[spoiler:Donaka Mark to Tiger Chen.]]

* EvilCostumeSwitch: Tiger wears white at the start of the film like his master, only to begin wearing darker colors as he continues to compete. Before one of his final matches (where he's expected to kill) there's a black and red outfit hanging up for him to wear.
* EvilWearsBlack: Donaka wears black almost exclusively. Also see EvilCostumeSwitch.

* MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, Donaka is trying to drive Tiger past the MEH by getting him to kill in the ring.

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted by Sun Jing Shi who helps Tiger Chen bring Donaka Mark's operation down, despite the objections of her crooked superior officer.

* SiblingTeam: It isn't stated flatout, but Zi-an and Zi-hou are a pair of BashBrothers who share a last name, indicating a relationship of some sort.

* TheBadGuyWins: Donaka manages to [[spoiler:get Tiger to kill. Even though he's the one killed, he doesn't seem to mind, as his goal was the corruption of an innocent. The fact his last line was seemingly gloating about being killed supports this]].

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The story is partly inspired by Tiger Shen's life.

* ActorAllusion: During the final battle, Keanu Reeves' character repeatedly encourages Tiger to [[Film/TheMatrix "show me"]].

Stuntman Tiger Chen stars as a Chinese delivery boy and student of Tai Chi who enters into an underground fighting tournament against his master's orders in order to win the money necessary to keep the temple where he trains afloat. The criminal mastermind behind the tournament, Donaka Mark (Reeves), is impressed by Tiger's fighting abilities, and pushes him to fight more and more, to the point where Tiger begins to risk losing his soul to violence.

Tiger Chen stars as a Chinese delivery boy and student of Tai Chi who enters into an underground fighting tournament against his master's orders in order to win the money necessary to keep the temple where he trains afloat. The criminal mastermind behind the tournament, Donaka Mark (Reeves), is impressed by Tiger's fighting abilities, and pushes him to fight more and more, to the point where Tiger begins to risk losing his soul to violence.

* TheBigBad: Donaka Mark

* CoolMask: Donaka Mark wears a black mask whenever he enters the ring.

* TheBadGuyWins: Donaka manages to [[spoiler: get Tiger to kill. Even though he's the one killed, he doesn't seem to mind, as his goal was the corruption of an innocent. The fact his last line was seemingly gloating about being killed supports this]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: At least part of Tiger's motivation for entering the tournament is to remind people that Tai Chi is a serious form of martial arts, and not simply and exercise technique.

* DramaticDislocation: See BitsOfMeKeepPassingOut; Tiger gets his should dislocated during an underground fight.