Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one disappointed

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2001)

Someone else in these comments referred to "The Emperor's New Clothes", and that's just what I was thinking about when I left the theatre. I was wondering whether my husband and I were the only ones who wanted to shout "But he has nothing on!".
We don't go to the movies much, so when we go, we try to make sure that we'll see something really good that will justify the cost of the babysitter, admission, and popcorn. So I'm doubly disappointed - that the movie wasn't better, and that we spent all that money for little reward.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm a Westerner who's incredibly ignorant about Chinese culture. Also, I'm not good with subtlety. I need to be hit over the head to get the point of movies and books, which is why I love schlock like "Independence Day". However, I KNEW that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" wouldn't be that kind of movie, and I was prepared for that. I knew that there'd be subtitles, and that was fine. What I wasn't prepared for was the incredible slowness of the plot. Chow Yun Fat is such a talented actor - why, oh why, was he so wooden in this movie? We kept hearing about the great unrealized love between his character and Michelle Yeoh's: why did we see absolutely no evidence of this? I kept wanting to scream "STOP YAPPING AND JUST KISS HER, ALREADY!".
Also, the "flying". I'm sorry, but to me it just looked silly. I knew there'd be wire work, and I was looking forward to it - I thought I'd see the actors' moves aided and exaggerated slightly by the wires. I didn't expect to see them FLOAT. I was one of the ignoramuses who giggled when Jen leapt across a lake, touching down one toe for a microsecond before taking off again. It didn't look graceful or balletic to me; it looked phoney as hell. As for the ending - well, just as I was thinking "That can't be the end", on come the closing credits. Oh well. That was one of the few times I've ever been relieved to see the closing credits.
My husband and I discussed the movie afterwards, and we were both bewildered. Were we missing something? Why were all the critics raving about it when we were so disappointed? So I got on IMDB the first chance I got - and what a relief to see that so many of you feel the same way!