Ziyi Zhang is the key to this film

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2016)

Few films can offer so much all at the same time.
Directon by Lee, possibly his best-known (and most appreciated) work.
Outstanding cinematography and wire-based Wu Shu scenes.
Great script -- full of intrigue, romance, compassion.
But the essence of this "man's" film is ironically the women in it. Michelle Yeoh has never been as cool and exotic and under-stated as she is here.
And Ziyi Zhang owns this film. Exhibiting an audacious personality that far outweighs her pixie-ish form, she is the focal point for the viewer. Loving and fighting and sobbing and plotting her way through the script, never letting the viewer get tired or lose interest.
This was a great film in 2000. It is an even greater film in 2016 after the wretched sequel which offers none of the magic or the charm or the polish of the original.
You may or may not find the ending a bit melodramatic. But you will never be bored.