DRUNKEN TAI CHI is FAR less funny than many (any?) of the Old School Kung Fu Comedies that preceded it. One can't just say "F--- physics" and call it Funny; STUPID is what it is. (And, yes, there IS a difference between Funny and Stupid; a sometimes subtle difference that apparently not a lot of Filmmakers understand...) In this one, it's a baby-faced Donnie Chen who dangles endlessly from the harnesses during some terminally interminable scenes. (It's nigh impossible to tell if Chen was ever really any good at the whole Kung Fu thing: he spent so much time swinging from wires and being "enhanced" by cg that an accurate assessment just isn't possible.) And loads of pyrotechnics don't help- not one bit. Take from the equation what makes these movies truly unique- the Human Element, honed to a razor's edge- and what's left isn't worth watching. Wireless was better.

I have to start off by saying that after seeing Iron Monkey, I went out and looked for every Donnie Yen movie I could find. And after all of that hard work, I realized that they all sucked! From his John Woo-like flop Ballistic Kiss to his numerous appearances (and subsequent deaths) in films like Highlander, Blade 2, and Shanghai Knights, on thing is apparent: Mr. Yen has got to get a new agent. His ability in martial arts is virtually unsurpassed, but the only other movie I've seen that challenges his abilities like in Iron Monkey was Drunken Tai Chi. With a goofy storyline of revenge (surprise!) and training to become stronger than the bad guy, Yuen Woo Ping has expertly melded comedy and action to create a fantastic party movie, something that anyone with a sense of humor can appriceate. Donnie is in top form, which is surprising given that this was his first starring role. He shows fantastic flexibility and a certain charisma that's hard to explain. I seriously hope that Donnie gets together with Yuen Woo Ping and creates another masterpiece soon, because getting killed in every film you're in is no way to make a legacy. (Ask Sean Bean.)

I loved Woo-ping's and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master, packed with some of the best fighting (especialy the drunken boxing) you will ever see on film. The only thing I didn't liked about that movie was the strange and simple humour. Well... Drunken Tai Chi is full of that! Stupid slapstick complete with the stupid sound effects that go along with that. Ok, there are some great fight scenes. Donnie Yen is one of the best kickers! But there is too many unapealing slapstick. And you will never forget the image of Donnie Yen dressed like a puppet BREAKDANCING!And now for the biggest disapointment... THERE IS NO DRUNKEN BOXING! It's about a tai chi master that is drunk most of the time. If you want to see some drunken boxing see Drunken Master, Drunken Master 2!!! or even Jet Li's Last hero in China!

Look up 'Shameless ripoff' in the dictionary, and you'll find a picture of Donnie Yen practising tai chi. The startlingly original plot -- our hero gets beaten up and sees his family killed, forcing him to learn a new style of martial arts so he can defeat the evil killer -- is enhanced by... well, okay. Not enhanced. But there are a few slight variations from tradition in an effort to give this film some semblance of a plot, such as the evil baddie being a loving daddy. But let us gloss over such trivia as plot --as did the director -- in favour of the characters and the kung-fu, the two essential ingredients in any movie of this type. Plot? Pah!Anyway, the Sam the Seed character is a drunken tai chi master (that's a master of tai chi who's drunken, not a master of drunken tai chi. If you you were expecting differently from the film's title, tough). There are no amusing styles, and the tai chi bears as much resemblance to the actual art as does real-life kung fu to its cinematic equivalent. Do I sound like I didn't like the film? I hope not, because I *did* enjoy it, while recognising that it hadn't a shred of originality or thought behind it. Most of the fight scenes were good fun, and the bits in between, while unfunny, weren't as painfully so as they usually are in this sort of film. Yuen Woo Ping's reputation was made by Drunken Master, and this film was his most obvious attempt to cash in. I'm inclined to blame the studio more than the director for this though; not that blame particularly needs to be apportioned. You won't come away from this film thinking it was a masterpiece, but you won't be grumbling and demanding your money back either.