the aftermath *spoilers*

Rating: 4/10 (14 November 2004)

I grew up watching wuxia (chinese martial arts) films and my favourite shows were the 'Once upon a time in China' series starring Jet Li and a couple of other well-loved Hongkong wuxia serials. Perhaps they mayn't be the best but CTHD was nowhere near their standard.
From the start, the strangely-accented Mandarin of Li Mu Bai, Shu Lian and Dark Cloud jarred the entire feeling and mood of the movie. (No offense to Chow Yun Fatt and Michelle Yeoh.) Zhang Ziyi came close but only when Master Tie spoke did one get the feeling that this was a Chinese film.
Next was the simply-rendered dialogue, which one can hear on the streets today. It was simply unbearable. There was none of the formal speech of those times. (Just watch any Jin Yong series and you'll get an idea. All those witty conversations using idioms and verses are really cool..)
The movie was anything but traditional. We hardly see Jen's parents enough to feel the oppressiveness that she felt. The only paternal presence that could be felt was in the form of Master Tie. In fact, it seemed to be more of a teenage-angst type of movie, like the O.C. or Friends, where the youth just did whatever they wanted. The parents etc... seemed to be placed there only as an dummy obstacle.
Being filled with a lot of teenage angst from Miss Jen, it is rather mind-boggling as to what she is really angry about. Her wedding? Fair enough. But that doesn't warrant picking a fight with the pugilists in sight, running off to Shu Lian to cry after that and then suddenly breaking off all ties with her, when she was the one who initiated the friendship first? She may be a strong-headed person, but also most certainly insincere and a bit psychotic, I might add.
Furthermore, there is very little character development here. Shu Lian confided in Jen but still one knows nothing about how Shu Lian and Li Mu Bai actually grew closer together and who they really are, to appreciate the close bond between them.
And oh yes, the plot. What plot, really? A princess falling in love and eloping with a bohemian in the desert sounds really exotic, I guess but the bohemian wasn't even suave enough to sweep one off one's feet. Plus his Mandarin sounded terrible. Perhaps it was just to show off the fighting skills, which admittedly were awesome but the lack of tension during these scenes made one feel like it was a match between two robots.
And don't get me started on Jade Fox. Bleah. I started off watching in a happy mood and one hour after it ended, I'm still in a bad mood. See the dark clouds over my head? The only good things in the movie are Chow Yun Fatt and the calligraphy scene but Chow's 1-D role does him little justice. Watch Jin Yong shows instead. The fighting is better; the plot and characters a hundred times more interesting.