Great drama, good action

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2001)

I thought this movie was excellent. The cinematography was breathtaking, the locations used were beautiful, the choreography in the fight scenes was very intricate and astounding, the acting was above par in all cases, and the cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma were beautiful.
However, i do have a few complaints about the film. I won't spoil the ending by saying anything specific, but the overall conclusion to the film was overly melodramatic, which i really don't like in a film, especially one that otherwise would've been much better.
And i have a problem with all the wire suspension tricks in the film. Certainly it gives the fight scenes an interesting style, but in a film like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which is for the most part very realistic, the flying stunts just don't fit. There were certain scenes when a character would jump, and another would grab that character by the foot, and instead of crashing to the ground, the jumping character would just stay stationary in mid-air, through some phenomenon that goes unexplained, except by the vague comment that Li Mu Bai makes, "had enough flying?"
In my opinion, this is a better historical drama than it is an action movie. Sure, the actions scenes are beautifully choreographed and shot, but the impossible wire suspension stunts remove the element of believability that is necessary to excite the audience. Despite it's flaws, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," succeeds as a drama, with some very memorable images and characters.