Like a fortune cookie.

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 2013)

From the piercing sound effects of the swords, to the beauty in the sets and costumes, and the folksy-Chinese-proverb-esque music, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a visual feast. The cinematography pops the color out of the sets like flowers in a Chinese garden, but philosophical questions are a constant output by the film's characters. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon also benefits guidance from it's excellent performance of subtleties by Michelle Yeoh.
This may be an earlier effort, but with Ang Lee's name on the director's title, we know we're in for kicked-visual ass and a strong hand in the truth on the page of the screenplay. Lee does the famous fight scenes justice with poetry and ballet mannerisms surrounding the startling violence and precise choreography. The screenplay draws interesting parallels between its two primary couples and remixes the an Asian-Western feeling amongst the romance. Some of the scripted lines are like opening a new fortune cookie every ten minutes with insightful meaning. An example: "Whatever path you decide to take in this life... be true to yourself," and "There is nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess what is real."
Problems arise, however. Some of the other dialogue in the script feels like it was generically selected from soap operas, which doesn't lessen the script's highs, but certainly creates some inconsistency in the quality. During the fabulous sword fighting scenes, a distracting element is the fantasy brought to the table. I know it was fantastically intentional, but the character's embodying Superman's ability to fly does acquire an eye roll here or there, especially with its final act. A tonal alteration at the start of Act 2 abruptly changes the course of the story, which could cause momentary vertigo.
Because the main character does so much to compromise our view of her moral actions, the film drives an open to interpretation opportunity. Ang Lee believes in her, but wants us to believe in her on our own terms. The topic of liberation is exposed to the audience a good number of times before the finale, through conversations that literally discuss it. It's the vital ingredient to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that poses a question for the ending, as well as an emotional sting.
Rating: 8
Grade: A-