CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON

2000

Chinese director Ang Lee's film has been hailed as a masterpiece on the festival circuit this year... from Cannes to Toronto to New York. I just don't get it, because I found it to be stupid, unintentionally hilarious, boring, and completely ridiculous! A daring attempt to blend the oxymoron-like genres of epic/love story/ and martial arts, this film comes off as a joke. I always thought of martial arts films as B-movies for guys who like video games. They could be fun (Jackie Chan films,) or they could be spoofs ("Charlie's Angels,") but they can't be taken seriously, can they? In this film there are more people on wires than there are in a touring company of "Peter Pan," and more high-kicks than you get from the Rockettes at Christmas-time. Buried under all the flying Chinese, is the age-old story of a Mulan-like warrior princess who can take on an army of men... and win. Talk about empowerment, ladies. Wow! It's almost worth the price of admission to see Chow Youn Fat dodge thousands of poisoned darts and come out almost completely unscathed. On second thought, it isn't worth the price. If I had to find something to justify the 1-star that I'm giving it, it would be either the beautiful Chinese landscapes, or the cello solo by Yo-Yo-Ma!

1 Star

NJB

Just when you thought it was safe to say that you hated movies with subtitles... yet another excellent foreign film. Director Ang Lee presents us with multi-layered story of good and evil, of love and hate and lots and lots of cool martial arts fighting. A famous warrior (Chow Yun Fat) attempts to recruit a gifted but rebellious young woman (Zhang Ziya) who could shift the balance between good and evil, all the while trying to avenge his master's death and to get closer to the woman he loves (Michelle Yeoh). What ensues is a magical and exciting journey with characters that are emotionally deep and utterly human. A great score, strong performances and breathtaking cinematography make this one of the best foreign film I've ever seen.

5 Stars

CDF