Verdict
Summary
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a fabulous martial arts epic, however if you’re looking for a sumptuous looking martial arts movie with great action and an excellent cast I think I would rather watch Hero starring Jet Li and Donnie Yen.
Plot: 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.
Review: Crouching Tiger has to be one of the most beautiful martial arts movies you’ll ever see. There are so many breathtaking visuals that it will stick with you long after watching. Who can forget the treetop fight or all the stunning vistas and music?
It’s an excellent film… but did it deserve to beat Gladiator at the Oscars? Absolutely not in any way. Let’s face it, it’s pretty boring in places.
There’s a whole lotta tea drinking going on whenever people should be getting decapitated, but it’s all very well acted and every scene looks stunning.
Chow Yun Fat just needs to walk on screen to class up a movie and this is one of his best roles. Michelle Yeoh almost steals the movie as Yu Shu Lien who has a fantastic fight scene with Ziyi Zhang. This was the first movie I saw Ziyi Zhang and not only is she lovely to look at it but she can fight like the best of them and has real screen presence.
It must have taken months to prepare the sets which all have amazing attention to detail; I would recommend checking out the subtitled version as the dubbed version just sounds silly.
Ang Lee directs everything lovingly, not rushing from scene to scene but gives the characters time to breathe, but like I side, it is a bit slow and ponderous in places.
As previously mentioned the music is fantastic and achingly sad in places. It gives the movie such an epic scope… but Zimmer’s score for Gladiator is better.
Overall, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a fabulous martial arts epic, however if you’re looking for a sumptuous looking martial arts movie with great action and an excellent cast I think I would rather watch Hero starring Jet Li and Donnie Yen.