Tai Chi Master

"Tai Chi Master" (also known as "Twin Warriors") is a 1993 martial arts films starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. It tells the story of two childhood friends, the nice if somewhat slow Junbao (Li) and the more hot-tempered Tienbo, who grew up in a Shaolin Temple. They would often get in trouble either because of Tienbo's temper or for being bullied by other students. Only one Master in particular liked them, though he pretended not to.

Eventually, as adults, both are thrown out of the temple after Tienbo nearly kills another student who cheated during a fight.(This despite proving themselves incredibly formidable against an army of monks.) Their old teacher gives them as a parting gift a kind of wooden scroll that they are not supposed to read until they find themselves at a crossroad in their lives.

The two of them try to earn a living at a small town but end up involving themselves in other people's problems; first they help a female warrior called Miss Li when she tries to protect a man being harassed with unfair taxes by the army. Later they save another woman, Siu Lin (Yeoh) when she comes looking for her missing husband and finds him married to the governor's niece. Hilarity (and lots of fights) ensue.

Tienbo, fascinated by the power of the army, joins it, but Junbao refuses, so they finally go their separate ways. Tienbo soon rises up the ranks, while Junbao works at a pub and becomes close to Siu. It turns out however that the pub is the headquarters of the rebellion against the corrupt government, so the two friends are now on opposite sides.

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Tropes in this film:
""Earning money is so easy!""
 * Action Girl: Siu, Li, and even the Governor's niece.
 * Adorkable: Junbao may be a Badass, but he's pretty naive on worldly matters for the first half of the movie.
 * Badass: Tianbo, Junbao, the monks.
 * Bad Boss:
 * Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Chaste Hero: Junbao during the first half of the movie was actually scared of touching Siu. He was raised to be a monk, so this is justifiable.
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Combat Medic: The rebels have one, who pretends to be a kooky fortuneteller.
 * Counter Attack: Just look at the title.
 * Crapsack World: The government is corrupt, the peasants will kill you if offered money... even in the temple there were bullies.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Junbao's fights after developing Tai Chi becomes this.
 * Deadly Counter: Junbao does this after developing Tai Chi, most notably against.
 * Face Heel Turn:.
 * Heroic BSOD:  has a BIG one.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tianbo.
 * La Résistance
 * Love Interest: The two women seem to be this for our protagonists. However
 * Made of Iron: Junbao and Tianbo. A group of hired guards beat them up at one point. Their reaction? Pick the coins on the ground.
 * Made of Iron: Junbao and Tianbo. A group of hired guards beat them up at one point. Their reaction? Pick the coins on the ground.


 * Martial Pacifist: Junbao, especially after his powerup.
 * Meaningful Name: Junbao was renamed Zhang Sanfeng by the doctor who tried to treat his madness. Sanfeng was explained in-movie as meaning "3-times crazy". Junbao later mistook the Feng part to be prosperity.
 * Mid-Season Upgrade: or rather mid-movie upgrade.
 * Training Montage: Several times.
 * The Mole: Tienbo..
 * Mood Whiplash: The movie feels like a comedy for the first half; afterwards... It Got Worse.
 * This troper thinks watching Junbao as a crazy man was still pretty funny. Sad, but funny.
 * Wuxia
 * Wire Fu