Thanks V for sending in the link.
Will over at Reel Hungry has put together a list of his most anticipated movies for 2013.He purposely did not include any superhero films or big franchise sequels. Man of Tai Chi topped his list. MOTC did not earn the spot for it’s story (since little is know about it) or its cast but instead for the revolutionary technology that was used to film it. The Bot and Dolly will, as Will says,:
…help directors capture action scenes with great fluidity and creative dynamism. It basically means more intricate action scenes, new angles and longer uninterrupted shots at the director’s disposal. Such scenes would be inconceivable without the aid of CGI before the implementation of this new equipment.
It is also worth mentioning that this will be Keanu Reeves’s directorial debut and shot entirely in mainland china. The Raid: Redemption star Iko Uwais will be among the cast and for extra credibility Reeves has acquired help from legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping as his action director. Man of Tai Chi could be a real game changer not just for martial arts films but for the entire film industry and it’ll be interesting to see how it’ll turn out.
By all accounts, Keanu is a perfectionist, pulls out all the stops when preparing for a role or in this case project, and doesn’t seem to do anything half-a$$ed. When all is said and done, it comes as no surprise that he went in search of cutting edge technology to film his directorial debut. He said in interviews earlier on when talking about Man of Tai Chi that he wanted to film a good kung-fu movie. From accounts that have leaked out from the test screening earlier in March in the UK, the fight scenes are awesome and it looks like he has achieved that objective. I’m not one for kung-fu movies but even I have to admit that the proof of concept clip testing the Bot and Dolly was most impressive.
The entire list is here.