[KFCC] Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Review

Story: Li Mu Bai a legendary swordsmen decides to retire from the world of martial arts. He pays a visit Yui Hsui Lien an old friend, he asks her to take his sword known as Green Destiny to Mr. Tse a family friend. Hsui Lien convinces Mu Bai to meet her in Peking at Mr. Tse's home. A few days when Mu Bai arrives in Peking he learns the Green Destiny has been stolen and discovers a rumor that Jade Fox (who murdered his master) might be hiding out in the city. Mu Bai tries to find both his swords and Jade Fox but uncovers a lot more is going on

Review: This is a new Fantasy Swordplay/Kung Fu movie, this movie is slightly different in the sense its not a HK production. So you'll notice a little variation on the traditional HK Fantasy Swordplay. The movie is set in medieval China they manage to bring to life the beauty of the old world. The story involves many things, from revenge to love and to legendary heroes but there is nothing new many of these elements have been seen in old movies of the genre. The first 30 minutes of the story are little difficult as a lot of information is being tossed towards you but after that everything pretty much settles in.

The characters were are very interesting, each of them had a fair amount of background but it took a while into the story before you found out what each of the characters were about. As for development of characters most of it was the character Jen who had a lot of issues to deal with but the development wasn't taken very far. Also there were not to many characters to worry about during the movie but there were a few people that appeared and disappeared in the movie but they were not vital to the story line.

There was quite a bit of action in this movie but the style was a little different than the average HK productions, in most of the fights that knew fantasy kung fu were almost weightless. They looked as if they floated around quite easily (not like the flying in HK movies). This weightless added an interesting element especially in the chase scene of the roofs. Yuen Wo Ping did the choreography in this movie, he is known for such movies like Iron Monkey and Tai Chi Master. You'll notice that the fight style is not up to the level of those older movies. The martial arts in this movie are more graceful and almost like a dance perhaps that was the director Ang Lee's choice. Chow Yun Fat put up a great performance but we would have like to have seen him more in the movie. Michelle Yeoh put on an excellent performance especially in the use of many types of weapons. As for the young Zhan Ziyi she simply steals the show, she might not be a martial arts expert but they certainly made look that way. If they can turn Keanu Reeves into a good kung fu fighter, imagine what they can do with a young acrobatic dancer.

The subtitles were just excellent, we didnt had any problem with it. It is surprising to see a Chinese movie released in its original language in north America. This is a good start because there are a lot of incredible Asian movies out there that many people will never get a chance to see. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a very beautiful movie, a lot of importance on the visual aspect was placed on this movie. With the lovely decor and very graceful kung fu, you can't help but be impressed by all that you see. This movie is a great introduction into Asian cinema for those who are not familiar with it and definitely a fresh new film who wash away the bland selection from Hollywood. For those who are familiar with HK cinema you will probably find this movie over hyped but it is certainly still a very nice movie to watch. So to everyone out there be sure to go and check out while its still playing in theaters.