Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) (***1/2 out of 4 stars)
Year of Release: 2000Country of Origin: Taiwan, Hong Kong, USA, China
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen
Plot outline: Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life (IMDb).
The story (****)
How the story unfolds (**** You might see the movie is a little schizophrenic, with languid scenes of stifled emotion and slow burn abutting scenes of quicker-than-the-eye tussle. What ties everything together is the grace Ang Lee creates, in both types of scenes. That floating and flying, that's the element of grace that allows the whiplash fighting to fit so smoothly into the whole of the movie. But, what is strongest about the movie is the tragic romances at its center. Without those, this would just be another fight flick. Once again in an Ang Lee movie, honor and loyalty frustrate true love, making a complete mess of the people involved.)
The characters (****)
The dialogue (****)
The acting (** Unfortunately, the acting is below par overall, especially Michelle Yeoh and Chang Chen--you can hardly say if they are acting or if they are just reading word by word from the script. Zhang Ziyi, who starred in Zhang Yimou's The Road Home, gives the best performance among all the protagonists.)
Overall rating: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
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