Review of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) by Brett C — 07 Jul 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

I was a little disappointed with this film. The film's human drama failed to captivate me, featuring a storyline that concerns the problems of a young woman who internally is in search for a role model and is also torn whether or not she should conform to her family's wishes or instead run away with a bandit whom she has had a relationship with in the past. In reading this, it really does sound interesting and I truly wanted to like this, but maybe I was just unprepared with what this film has to deliver. I was expecting a little bit of sophistication and a sense of realism in its story; I wasn't able to let myself go and conform to its demands, aside from its action sequences. The melodrama in this film was quite strong, and it is emphasised through its dialogue and its accelerated pacing. Maybe I feel this way because my expectations were high for Lee with standout films like Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi; and both were executed in such a way that had me invested with its characters and a story that provided a sense of purpose to revisit time and time again. The main reasons why I would consider coming back to this film are the action sequences and if I undergo an Ang Lee marathon. The action sequences were definitely impressive, but not as much as the hype claimed it would be. It was hard for me to accept the feather-like style of its fighting sequences but after the second confrontation, I was able to accept this and enjoy its complexities. The film features great photography that captures the intensity of its scenes, it is just too bad it didn't feature a story to match it. The acting in this film was surprisingly good, with standout performances from Yun-Fat Chow and Ziyi Zhang. Before coming back to this film in the future, I would try and watch more from the director's filmography. After that, I would watch all of his films in a row and give each one a second opinion.