YMMV / Man of Tai Chi

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Tiger unleashing the Dangerous Forbidden Technique on Donaka ultimately killing him. Was he pushed to his breaking point and resorted to a killing blow when out of options (and bleeding heavily)? Or was it an Accidental Murder committed by a man who had only just figured the technique out and couldn't properly regulate the power? Or could the reason for the difference have been Donaka? Could Tiger have survived the technique earlier because he wasn't a psychopathic killer like Donaka was?
• Complete Monster: Donaka Mark is a corrupt businessman and violence aficionado who runs an underground fight ring and sells his audience, not on the fights themselves, but on the chance to watch a good person become a killer. When Chi-Tak, one of his fighters, refuses to kill his defeated opponent, Donaka enters the ring and personally breaks the neck of the loser. He then stabs Chi-Tak to death in the locker room, as his refusal to murder makes him a rat in Donaka's eyes. Discovering Tai Chi specialist Tiger Chen, Donaka convinces the government to sell off his master's temple, to make Tiger desperate for money; he then offers him a job in his fight ring. Placing cameras throughout Tiger's home, Donaka gives his audience the opportunity to watch Tiger's mental disintegration as the fights take their toll on his psyche. When Tiger, driven to the brink, still refuses to kill mercenary Uri Romanoff, Donaka executes Uri. He sends Tiger into another fight, with an Indonesian fighter; when Tiger tries to back out, Donaka gives the Indonesian the kill order. He also sends assassins after Detective Sung Jinshi, when she closes in on his ring. Ultimately found out by the police, Donaka flees and leaves his men in the lurch, only to reappear at Tiger's temple and force him into a Duel to the Death, declaring, "You owe me a life!" When Tiger is forced to kill him, Donaka displays only a sense of satisfaction at having made Tiger a murderer.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Donaka's obsession with Tiger is easy to see as this. He's constantly stalking and monitoring Tiger's every move in order to prove Tiger's the one he's looking for.
• Informed Wrongness: Tiger Chen is disqualified when he utterly demolishes his opponent in the kung fu tournament with his newfound rage, breaking both of his arms and a leg in quick succession. While the viewer can easily get what the scene tries to say of Chen's development, the execution itself makes little sense: from what we see in his previous two matches, the tournament is full-contact and allows joint locks, so there should be no conceivable reason to DQ' him for injuring an opponent that had not surrendered yet and before the referee intervened (not that those had any time to do so given the speed of the mauling, but that's absolutely not Chen's problem). The commentators even claim it was against the competition's spirit, despite the fact that Chen's previous opponents went absolutely bananas on him and Chen only avoided being brutalized because he happened to be so superior to them.
• Moral Event Horizon: Donaka Mark crosses it with his execution of his former fighter and said fighter's opponent. The film itself can be said to be about the MEH, as it focuses on Donaka's attempts to force Tiger across it so that his audience can watch his destruction on pay-per-view.
• Narm:
  • After watching Tiger's first true Kick the Dog moment, Donaka snarls at the camera in a manner that's far too over-the-top to take seriously.
  • The trailer recapitulating Tiger Chen's entire life shown in the Reality Show. Rather than an exhibit of Tiger's life, it's a veritable exhibit of narrative unsubtlely and Magical Security Cam.
  • Since Tiger turns on him, Donaka's dialogue in the films seems to become exclusively "you owe me a life," making it quite trite after awhile.
  • At one point during Tiger's fight with Donaka, Donaka punches Tiger off his feet. Right after that, Donaka pulls Tiger back towards him by pulling his leg in a way that completely defies physics. It's as if Keanu Reeves thought he was directing The Matrix for that one moment.
• Narm Charm: Many reviews made mention that Reeves' acting was as deadpan as ever, but it really helped sell off the idea of Donaka being The Sociopath.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Hung Ga fighter whom Tiger ultimately throws through the one way mirror. He caps off the montage of fights that Tiger easily breezes through by proving to be a tough and distinctive opponent. It's also the first time that Tiger is shown to be the aggressor in the fight.
• Rewatch Bonus: Some of Donaka's actions make a lot more sense on a rewatch. When he first notices Tiger, he tells his cameraman to "start the content" which only makes sense after the finale and Reality Show twist is revealed. He also tells his accountant that they have a contender, which makes a lot more sense when you realize that Donaka is responsible for Tiger's school going bankrupt.
• Special Effect Failure: Inspector Sun's car crash is very noticeable CG and not very convincing.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Gilang Sanjaya, the Indonesian fighter played by Iko Uwais, has an unfortunately small role. Even if he shows an impressive performance, his fight is mostly Tiger going to the defensive and trying to call the fight off, a request Gilang ultimately accepts without more trouble.
• The Woobie:
  • Again, perhaps surprisingly, Gilang. He seems a more decent guy than the rest of Donaka's fighters; he actually stops fighting when he sees his opponent doesn't want to, and even although Donaka orders him to keep on, he silently refuses. It's difficult not to feel sorry for him when he is shown quietly tilting his head while being arrested, knowing he will probably be thrown in jail with the rest of the psychos.
  • Tiger's master. Throughout the film he's losing his home to a bureaucracy he can't hope to fight and is also watching his only student slowly go off the deep end.